lelftovers

And by that I mean these are the memories that linger after the event has passed.

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with our friends Jimmy and Barbara. Jimmy thoughtfully took a turn behind the camera so that I might actually show up in a photo. One of these days I'll learn how to get him into the picture via photoshop.

We were at Melrose for the long weekend, something I didn't mention out of a sense of caution not to advertise our absence from home. I've never worried about that before, but this time I erred on the side of, well, caution! Friday morning we had some dense fog, and it occurred to me that some pictures besides the obscured front view might be out there somewhere. Here's one.

 

 We promised Mom a picture of the Thanksgiving spread. Melrose is a place of hospitality, and over the years gatherings of all sizes have been seated at this table. Ken, especially, wanted Mom to see Melrose hospitality being enjoyed at his favorite holiday. Alas, we do not have a group shot of everyone at the table.

 

Here's Jude, at 4 and a half months looking every bit the chunky monkey (Trisha's phrase!) wearing 12-month clothes. I was reminded by his attire that I had forgotten all about a "my first thanksgiving" bib I bought for him. Note to self: Ashley covers all those bases, so I don't need to do so in the future. I now have a bib I can gift to someone else at some point.

 

And here's Cross, wearing a thanksgiving headpiece (made by his Mom--where does she find the time?) and a look deserving a caption. Anyone? 

And finally, at least for this round, another Pinterest copy! I decided that a project with the boys (collecting sticks from the yard) to create this vase/candle holder would be a fun thing to do. They were all about gathering sticks, and watched with some fascination as I glued the first two onto the vase. Beyond that, not so much. Poor Cross, he couldn't grasp why I didn't immediately attach the 1-foot, 1-inch diameter piece of kindling onto the glass.  Just a note should anyone else want to tackle this very easy project--it's more time-consuming than it looks, especially in a group of nine with three young'uns commanding attention.  Kenneth picked up where I left off when I needed to shift my focus to dinner. Who knew an army ranger was  so handy with a glue gun?

And that, friends, is a wrap for now. We did capture a great family photo that is being used for our Christmas card. Once those go out I'll post it here. I don't want to steal the impact for those of you who receive our card.