More Thanksgiving Family Shots

Mom and Dad

3 or the 4 siblings (Rick, Judy and Ronnie)

Kelly and Meredith

Meredith

Mom and Dad

Sherrie and Steve plus 2 of their 4 kids (Michelle and Stephen) plus me

How it All Began

Sherrie's family

Decorating the Christmas tree and setting out the train!

My Favorite!

Thanksgiving Day without Glenn but with Family

On Thanksgiving Day,  I drove mom down to East Texas for the traditional Helms side of the family Thanksgiving Dinner.  It use to be that we gathered at the community center where Big Mama (my great grandmother) would come and fix the dinner.  This was in the old school house.

Now, Big Mamma has passed away and all of her kids (my grandfather plus aunts and uncle). But the tradition lives on as the great grandkids make it a point to meet, greet and eat every Thanksgiving.  It is a once-a-year thing.

Here are some photos of food, family and friends.

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;

Oh, Those Grandkids!

Glenn and I took advantage of the $84.00 roundtrip airfare I found for DFW-DEN-DFW!  We were so thrilled to be able to make a quick 3 day visit to see Ellen and Luke and also "spoil" David, Emily, Lucy and Elizabeth.

GrandDad had lots of time reading to Elizabeth

David was proud of the Batman Symbol that Uncle Gary gave to him recently.

Sisters, Sisters...

Free Day at the Denver Zoo was one of the many highlights

Boy, we love Chick-Fil-A plus we took them to the library for Story Time

Look at the process.  Lucy combing Ellen's hair, Ellen braiding Emily's hair and Emily watering down baby Elizabeth's head, and Elizabeth taking it all in.

Emily - age 5 1/2

Glenn even had time to help Ellen's friends purchase a Toyota in just under 2 hours!

Basketball practice

We are so thankful we had a chance to be with the grandkids just for 3 days.  It went fast!  I loved helping Ellen in the kitchen, taking the kids off her hands so she could concentrate on some editing jobs she has, plus give her a little break by providing "babysitting" service for them to go out on a date-night.

Grandmommy visits Aunt Hattie

Recently we drove down to Austin, TX to take my parents to visit Aunt Hattie.

Aunt Hattie and my grandmother, Polly, are sisters.  Polly (my grandmother) was 22 years old and pregnant with my mom when Aunt Hattie was born.  So, my mother and Aunt Hattie grew up as sisters, but really they were Aunt and Niece, about the same age.  Now they are 90 years old (Aunt Hattie) and 89 (Mom), who will soon be 90 in January.

When we arrived at her Austin apartment, we were greeted with open arms by Aunt Hattie.  She promptly sat down and asked if she could give us instructions on how to finish our lunch meal that she was beginning to prepare.  

Long story short - I had never made Fried Chicken in my entire life.  I have always been fearful of frying anything.  But with careful instructions we spiced up the chicken and it was a success.

Our nephew, Kyle, drove up 1/2 hour to Austin to have lunch with us and enjoy the conversations.

Some more photos:

I'm so thankful that we could take a quick 12 hour trip down I-35 and visit Mom's aunt.  Although mom didn't do much talking, it was fun to hear Aunt Hattie's stories of times when she and mom would spend out in the cotton field or playing dolls.