Thanksgiving Goodness (oh, and WHOOP!)

Thanksgiving rocked. Matt and I arrived at the mini-ranch on Wednesday afternoon. Carolyn, Mom, Dad, Murphy, cousin Lisa and her husband Eric, and their two dogs Darby and Travis were already there. Oh, and Helmut, Lisa's unborn child. Okay, that's not really what they are naming him, but when we were laughing at the horrible baby names in the baby name book, that's the one we got kind of stuck on the little person-to-be. Leslie and Bryan arrived after we'd started consuming a wonderful beef stew made by Mom. They had flown into Austin and borrowed a Klingner car to drive to us. We finished eating and sat around a wonderful bonfire - it was the perfect temperature outside to be warmed by the fire, but not too hot or too cold - and looked at the stars. I got reacquainted with Travis and Darby too. Travis is a 2-year-old lab(?) mix and Darby is 12-year-old half golden retriever and some Rhodesian ridgeback. They are both sweet dogs, and Travis is super energetic and playful, and therefore great fun.

Leslie, Bryan, Matt and I were staying at the Pous' lake house because the mini-ranch was pretty full. We got settled and chatted for a while and then had to hit the sack. On Thanksgiving morning I got up early and watched "You've Got Mail" while everyone else slept. Then as they began to stir and the outside had warmed up some, I went for a little run. After I ran by the ranch house, I heard the whir of Daisy the golf cart and turned to see Dad coming after me. He was coming to give me a stick in case I had to beat off the vicious dogs owned by the lovely mobile home neighbors. Luckily it was a light stick. I went around the neighborhood, and wound my way around to the back of M&D's property, climbing through the back gate so I could meet the new horse Lucky.

Leslie and Bryan had already come over, and I ended up eating a piece of toast at the house while Matt rode Mo the golf cart over and joined us. I gave Murphy a bath and then went back to the Pous' to clean up myself. Uncle Mike and his girlfriend Eve drove in on Thursday morning, as did Uncle J, Stephanie, and Cousin Michael (who had just flown in the night before from Armenia - he was there for work). At 11 we celebrated Carolyn's 80th birthday; it was awesome having everyone there for her birthday. Then we killed some time until it was time for our big Thanksgiving meal (one major activity - feeding the horses and bathing Travis after he rolled in poo). Our meal was the traditional turkey, sweet potato casserole, green jello salad, rolls, Carolyn's oyster dressing, and veggies. And it was fabulous. We ate at some banquet tables out in the pavilion and the weather was gorgeous - warm enough to not need a sweater, but cool and breezy and sunny.

Next, full and sleepy, we sat in front of the TV to watch the Cowboys dominate Tampa Bay after seeing J and Stephanie off to their next Thanksgiving dinner. Matt and I threw the football a bit during halftime, and I wandered out to swing in the hammocks with Leslie and Bryan at some point when I got full of football. Matt and Dad particularly had a spectacular time watching the game and making boy noises. At some point ping pong was played, conversations were had, leftovers and pie were consumed, beer was drank, darts were thrown, softballs were pitched and hit, and bonfires roared back to life. At one point we ended up all sitting in the den in an oval talking (12 of us plus three dogs)...one highlight was hearing the story about Michael getting peed on by a girl once...I suggest you ask him about it sometime; I'm sure he'd be thrilled to retell it. After that we had to wave goodbye to Mike and Eve as they left to go to Dallas and visit some of her friends. Then we all sat down to watch Grey's Anatomy, while I rubbed pregnant Lisa's sore little feet (and I mean LITTLE, they were tiny) and we broke the rules and let the dogs on the couch. The 4 kids staying at the Pous headed back to over there, joined by Mom and Dad, who hopped in the hot tub with Leslie and Bryan.

This morning we had a great pancake breakfast and then Leslie and Bryan had to leave to go to Austin for their Thanksgiving #2 with the Kingners. The rest of us watched the A&M-UT game...it was great having some real Longhorn fans to join us for the game (Lisa, Eric, Michael), especially because the Aggies WON! Whoop! And I was very proud that Mom and Dad were unconditionally rooting for A&M (it is all Leslie's fault about that, but luckily she doesn't care at all). After the game, the dejected Longhorns set off for Austin while Matt and I came back here to CS. We had to get back so the cats didn't starve and/or destroy the duplex (Emily's in Galveston with Rick's family until Sunday). Matt has sports to watch all weekend long and is in football & basketball heaven, and I'll probably play some WoW while he watches all of them. It won't be long before I get my fourth level 60 character (a rogue this time), and she's quite fun to play. And I imagine we'll be letting the Pipes out in the yard to play a lot since the weather is still so nice.