Small Thanksgiving in Philly 


Only 30 people, 5 dogs and a sheep 

This Thanksgiving was probably the smallest one we've ever had. All of the Arbittier siblings made it, as did 3 out of 4 of Mom & Dad's brothers and their wives and Grandmom, but the cousin showing was weak. As more and more of us marry off, it's getting harder to ditch the in-laws to gather together. Even so, this was an important one -- Mom was finally home from 2 weeks of intense experimental Myositis treatment at the National Institute of Health and while she was weak, she swore that being with all of her "chickens" was the best strength she could get. She also had all of her 8 grandchildren around her, which was great for morale but not so good considering her immune system was basically nonexistent (wearing a surgical mask only goes so far when your grandsons use it to play peek-a-boo with you).






Here, everyone shows up for the meal (Thumper the sheep is one of Liz's pets -- not part of the meal):



Setup is super-easy, since we had the food catered:



We decided to go buffet style, but once everyone was sitting down, we had a big toast AND Rosie serenaded us with a song she had composed (watch out, Uncle Rob).



As usual, the meal went by quick and we were back to catching up, and playing with the animals. Liz's pets were the best -- not sure I could sneak off with Thumper, but possibly Gladys:



The most organized after dinner activity was a fiercely competitive game of arm wrestling. We were all shocked when Aunt Lisa proved to be freakishly strong, but there was no competition once we convinced Liz's boyfriend Steve to partake. Go figure, the guy basically lifts horses for a living. The best fight was probably between Dad and his little brother Jerry. Dad won, but quickly admitted to cheating... nice.



We were sad to head out on Saturday morning, but it was a wonderful (and rare) thing to have had so much quality time with the whole immediate family. Next time this happens will probably be in July, for our big family vacation in honor of mom & dad's 45 years of marriage. And to think Marc and I were proud of 3!
 

Posted: Mon - November 28, 2005 at 09:14 AM          

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