ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

Blake: "Why is it called a Christmas tree? Shouldn't it be called a December tree since it's up all of December and not just on Christmas?"

The menu included brined turkey (best turkey I've had I think), spiral-sliced ham, mashed potatoes, country green beans, sweet carrots, macaroni and cheese, two types of stuffing, fruit salad, fresh veggies, rolls and maybe some other stuff I'm forgetting.


I also made 4 pumpkin pies from scratch (filling from scratch, crust was frozen) and others brought other desserts.


Andy was determined to fit everybody on the main level of our house which meant lots of tables in the living room.

I took a few pics at Thanksgiving but haven't been able to find my camera since. Photos courtesy of Andy's brother, Mark.

All of the cousins on Andy's side except for Althea. She'll be in the pic next year because her parents say they'll be coming to Kansas every Thanksgiving from now on.

Micah (almost 2), Isaac (9 1/2), Bree (2 1/2), Mia (almost 6), Payton (almost 13), Lizzie (almost 2), Alan (6/7 months), Blake (6) and Joey (almost 5)

Dan's birthday is usually very close to Thanksgiving so we end up celebrating that at the same time. This year his birthday happened to be on Thanksgiving.


Ping pong tournaments alll day in our garage. So much fun.


The kids played the Wii (brought by Uncle Nick) all day long and had so much fun. I hear that all of them have pretty much asked Santa for Wiis for Christmas this year. :)


Winding down after a long day... (Mark's roommate Tali on the left)


Ending the day w/a hand of poker which Andy's dad won...


The next day, we headed up to KC and everybody went to Nick's for a night of poker. 11 of us played and I won but best of all, I beat David who has teased me constantly after beating me last year. Shut him up for at least a month when we go to visit him in South Carolina.


On Saturday, many people headed to Maria's to watch college football but Katrina and I took our kids to see Enchanted. I thought it was funny and cute and it was nice to see Disney making fun of itself.

On Sunday, most people went to the Chiefs game but my mom and I took my kids to Crown Center for some shopping and Blake sat on Santa's lap. I don't think he's ever done that so I was super excited and got his pic put into a snow globe because that's what he wanted. I'd take a pic to show you but....no camera. :(

Overall, we had a very busy 4 days but had so much fun. We're really looking forward to our busy days coming up where I go to NYC, then we spend 4 days in KC for Christmas and then 5 days in SC visiting David, Liz and Althea.

We did Elf Yourself last year but this year's is even more fun. Click here to see us dance.