| Thanksgiving
Day
We called for everybody to sit down to dinner
at 4:30 but our crew has its own agenda. Next year we're going to invite
everybody over the night before and start the day at 7:30 am with turkey
sausage and turkey bacon and eggs. (Chicken eggs, not turkey eggs) We
did two turkeys this year... one on the Barbie and one in the Oven.
Remember, "Nothin' says lovin' like something from the
oven!" |
The last shall be first, or some such biblical stuff. This is our
group shot minus me. I'm in the one at the bottom of the page. |
Diana and I make a great team. She does the design and I do the
heavy lifting. This is the table arrangement for the "big
people". |
Perry took this to prove that I was really here. Well, I'm not
really here, but I'm someplace other than here. Body is here but the
mind is, oh heck, you get it. |
Maria knows how to unscrew, I mean use a screw, I mean uncork a
bottle, oh heck, you know what I, well, maybe you don't.
Oh, unscrew it... she serves the wine that Marc brought. |
Marc brought wine. He has to drink lots because he just found out
the guy he was supposed to bring turned out to be a girl.
That's not a bad thing for Marc since the girl is much prettier than
the guy was.
If Marc looks confused it is because he is. |
Alex just did something typically Alex. I'm not sure what happened.
I haven't had anything to drink yet so it is no wonder that I'm
confused. |
The dining room for the "big people". |
Matt Gates sure takes up a lot of real estate. I remember him when
he was "thisssssss big" and he wasn't an Offensive Tackle that
you'll see in the NFL in about six years.
We calculated that he is over six times bigger than Alex (our Alex)
but he doesn't let it get to him when Alex tries to beat him up.
Our Alex has more guts than brains, sometimes. |
Maria gets a seat on the couch before Matt settles in. |
Matt and Alex and Alex play with the trains. Neither of them had a
chance. Our Alex just loves these two. |
I get to play with two of my four favorite girls. |
Maria gets Ashley. Ashley and I have something in common... we both
like girls better than boys. If Maria was holding me like that I'd smile
too. She would grimace because unlike Ashley, I'm 230 and that's heavy. |
| This is the only photo I have
of Perry that I can show.
Wait a sec, I don't have a photo of Perry. Shoot. How can I prove he
was here?
|
Well, heck with it. I've got Jody and Tex.
(Perry? What Perry? We don't need no stinkin'
Perry.)
|
Alex arrives with a hug for Grandma. |
This is supposed to be Marc and Mike. Marc is with someone who looks
suspiciously like Judy, but can't be because Judy is supposed to be in
Texas. Therefore we can only assume that Mike had a sex change operation
and plastic surgery to make himself look like Judy. He did a great job,
dontchathink? |
Jody makes a mean pie. Heck, she makes five mean pies. She also
wields a mean knife. |
Ashley looks cute and eats at the same time. I can't look cute and
chew gum at the same time. Ashley is smarter than me. |
DJ and Neen relax on the couch. |
"I'm ready for my close up, Mr. Wisch." |
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I'm not sure what Ashley is telling them. Well, to be fair, they are
not sure what Ashley is telling them. She only has six words in her
vocabulary and none of them are in recognizable English except
"No". |
Marc and Judy gave Diana a present that she was trying to buy on
eBay. It seems that they bought it first which is no mean trick since
Marc doesn't have a computer and can't buy things on eBay. |
Ashley has big shoes to fill. |
I don't remember what the joke was but Neen finally got it five
minutes after the punch line. |
"WOW"
"MON" |
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| It's
a very Gates Thanksgiving when the Gates family jumps on the
couch. |
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| Alex
took the kids to see the trains. His layout has been extensively
modified and he is also allowed to run analog trains on my layout. He is
proud of himself, as he should be. |
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Alex was asleep in 60 seconds when his head hit the pillow. It took
me a minute and a half. |
| Friday
Morning
The day starts promptly at 6:35 am when Alex
decides it should. He built a fort in the living room out of all the
chairs, pillows and blankets he could find. When Rachael arrived with
Ashley he decided to enlist the aid of Auntie Toes and Uncle Aaron. The
girls went shopping. The guys went shooting. We all met up at JC Penny
for the 2004 Family Holiday Card portraits. You'll see them here first.
Next month. Wait for it. |
Under construction. |
Engineer and Sidekick. |
Aaron's toes. |
The Rest of the Story. |
Dismantling the evidence. |
Proud Mother of the Chief Engineer of the Fort. |
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| Saturday
Morning
Aaron and Neen had to leave for LA and his
family. Therefore, we started off with breakfast to make sure that they
were on the road with food in them. I was up at my usual 6:30 am and the
kids got here at 8:00. |
The kids decide that Grandma has had enough.
Sleep, that is.
|
Uncle Aaron is considering the question of having children of his
own just after the OPK's leave the room |
She thinks she looks stupid and I think she looks adorable. I own
the website so my opinion is the operative one. |
Normally I would be afraid to put a photo like this on the website
but not today. I told her not to try to wiggle out of this. |
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This is the Saturday Morning Group Shot with me in it. I'm the one
who looks out of place in the back. Don't worry, you're not going
crazy... it is bad Photoshop work in action. |
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| The
Party's Over
Marc and I decided to end the weekend with
scotch and cigars. He brought the scotch and I brought the cigars. We
also had turkey soup. It is a fitting way to end the weekend... turkeys
blasted on scotch. |
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