Thanksgiving 2008

For as many years as I can remember, my family always did the same thing every Thanksgiving. My mom, sister, brother and I packed up the car on Wednesday evening, drove to my maternal grandparents house, ate waffles for dinner and then visited with everyone until bedtime (my dad would always join us later in the evening). On Thanksgiving Day, everyone woke up to a big breakfast, watched the Macy's Day Parade on tv and got ready to go to the "country", aka my paternal great-uncle's farm, located in the middle of nowhere SC. Our "country" Thanksgivings continue to be a hit. Everyone who is anyone on my father's side of the family is present for the feast. 2008 was no exception. There were over 100 people present on the farm. Most of the 100+ had never met MK so the day was a bit overwhelming for her. She took it all in and even shared a few hugs with some chosen ones. She loved feeding the goats and having her Pop help her jump off of the haystacks. My boys were in heaven as they jumped from haystack to haystack, played football, fed the goats and ate whatever they pleased. My grandmother, Nannie to all of us, was present. She is 88 years old. As we drove from our afternoon in the "country" to Ryan's family's gathering, I thought about how thankful I am to have had the opportunity to really know each one of my grandparents into my adult life. I love that my children have grandparents and a great grandparent in their lives to share with them about their own life experiences....I learned from mine and now my children are learning from theirs. Later we arrived at the Drafts' family gathering.....Thanksgiving is normally the only holiday when Ryan, his three siblings and all of the nieces and nephews are present under the same roof with his parents. It is a special time for us to be with them. Ryan is the baby of the family. His siblings were all in their teens when he was born. It is always fun to hear a good "little Ryan" story when we are with them. After our day was done, we were driving home and I realized that it was this time 13 years ago that Ryan and I first met....how time flies when you are having fun. I hope that all of you had a Happy Thanksgiving!


Tisdale Family / Drafts Family
(a small portion of the 100+ crowd)

A surprise trip to cousin Glenn's firestation!

Pryce says "Life is Good" -

hangin with his two cousins Lauren and Olivia