Thanksgiving

Corinne and Anders were in Seattle the weekend prior to Thanksgiving for the rescheduled Seattle shower, so they just stayed there for the following week. Actually, getting them to Seattle actually turned out to be a logistical challenge. Corinne didn't really want to do that whole drive by herself with Rocket; if he got cranky or hungry on the trip she would have to stop to resolve it, prolonging the trip. And since I was planning to work the Monday through Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, it didn't make much sense for me to go with them. We ended up having Donna take the train to Vancouver, WA where Corinne picked her up and she acted as a driving companion. Rocket ended up sleeping for the whole trip after all, but it was a less stressful trip as a result of having the backup available.

Leif and I drove up early on Thursday morning to join the rest of the family for the holidays. We stopped along the way to take some photos of a wooded area that burned about a year ago. The overcast sky and low-hanging fog made for an interesting setting.

In Seattle we didn't have much in particular planned. There was, of course, the traditional dinner, only ours included two turkeys - Taryn and Aunt Joie each prepared one using the Cook's Illustrated "High-Roast Butterflied Turkey" technique. I brought the dressing again this year, and last year's dual-purpose turkey dressing and oyster casserole was repeated. Everything was delicious, as usual.

One common activity on lazy mornings with Corinne's family is to stay in pajamas, grab some coffee, and all pile into bed together. Great conversation always ensues. Here we have Donna, Rocket and Corinne, Taryn, Mazzi (Taryn's dog), and Aunt Joie (who asked to be cropped out). This was Rocket's first experience with this tradition, and he had a nice snooze while they all chatted.

One evening Pete and I made homemade sausage. I brought all of the ingredients with me, including venison that was given to me by a friend who, for the purposes of this blog, shall remain nameless. I hadn't made sausage in quite some time, but the free venison was an opportunity that I figured I shouldn't pass up.

Other than that, there was a lot of ooing and aahing over Rocket, with time for everyone to hold him.

We had originally planned to return home on Saturday, but it didn't take much convincing to get us to stay that additional day before heading home. Thanksgiving only comes once a year, after all!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket