Thanksgiving Day, 2001

We were pleased to see Wayne Ivey on Thanksgiving morning. This was the first time we had seen him since the death of his wife, Brenda, this summer. It was a good time of sharing. Mark came up and enjoyed playing with the girls.

The morning was spent in the busy preparation for the Thanksgiving feast. The guys didn't do much, but helped entertain the kids.

Our main dish this Thanksgiving was the turduchen which Jeff and Darla brought from New Orleans. We polished most of it off.

Ashleigh was at the table first, and she was sitting there repeating "We can't eat until we say the blessing."

Soon the blessing was said and we dug in, after briefly sharing the blessing that we were most thankful for on that day.

Andy came by in the afternoon, so we had a good gathering overall and enjoyed seeing everyone.

We enjoyed the gathering of the family on Thanksgiving day for a big dinner. Mark, Jeff, Rod and Darnell are shown here, hanging out in the back yard.

Ashleigh was persuaded to sit for a while at the doorway and greet people. We tried to get Jordan pinned down too, but she was enjoying running around too much.

Having gathered downstairs in the evening, we spent a good bit of time playing with the girls. At left above, Mark is encouraging Ashleigh to feel of his beard, and then making a growling lunge for her hand like he was a mean dog. Jordan didn't seem all that alarmed about Ashleigh doing it, but when invited to try it, she shook her head vigorously "No!".

Both girls got into the act with Mark and Marty putting them on their shoulders and then swinging them downward over their heads. At that, Jordan was fearless - she just didn't want anything to do with that "dog".