A Seabrook Thanksgiving

Ryan's family tradition as a child on Thanksgiving was to visit Seabrook Island. We were fortunate this year to be able to unite with everyone, 21 family members, to celebrate the holiday. Ryan is the youngest sibling in his family. His brother and two sisters were teenagers when he was born. We have 7 nieces (and a niece-in-law?) and nephews on his side of the family. Our children are the babies of the bunch and make up the 8, 9 and 10 of the grandchildren.

We are thankful to the aunts, uncles and cousins who openly included the youngest three in their games.....favorites of the weekend were Apples To Apples, Scattergories and 21. P will tell you that his favorite part of Thanksgiving was playing 21.

And we are thankful for G-Mom and G-Dad. G-Mom and G-Dad are very dear to our family and have saved the day on many occasions over our almost 12 year union. One of the most notable saves came when P was born. We were living in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. No family around. My parents arrived shortly after P's birth and had to leave the day I was released from the hospital. I had some complications following his birth. G-Mom arrived when P was just 6 days old. G-Mom walked into our house, placed her bags on the floor, the two of us loaded P into the car and off we went to the dr.'s office. This was about 3 in the afternoon. Ryan was at the airport waiting on a flight to interview for a job in Florida. Colin, then only 2, was being watched by a friend. The doctors appointment did not go so well and I was told that I would be having surgery that very night. Frantically, we called Ryan, who was boarding a plane, and he rushed home to be with me. And then there were my two precious boys, just 2 and 6 days old. G-Mom didn't know what she was walking into when she came to visit but fortunately she was up for a surprise overnight babysitting adventure. As we were leaving to go to the hospital that night for the surgery, I remember Ryan's mother asking me in a desperate voice, "Beth, what am I going to feed the baby? Will he even take a bottle?" G-Mom handled it well, they all three survived and P has had a special bond with G-Mom ever since.

And we are thankful for Seabrook Island. And the beach. We can't seem to get enough.

And we are thankful for modern technology. C's weekend included numerous football games with the cousins and computer hopping. If C could not be found on one computer in the house, he was on another.

And we are thankful for rest we were able to enjoy. I was able to take numerous photos of P sleeping. He plays hard and crashes harder - this pic was taken around 7:30 one evening, can you tell which one took a nap earlier?