Thanksgiving Fun

Our Thanksgiving Feast was held at Grandma Whipple's (DoJo's mom) house this year. There were 20 of us all together, but it feels like 50 in Grandma's house. Plus, Whipples are not known for their petite physiques. However, the more the merrier!



This is my brother-in-law Ace. He volunteered to carve the turkey. See how much happier he looks once we told him he could use a knife!
Check out Ace now after eating his handiwork. Good job, Ace! From the left, around the table, my sister-in-law, Ileen, The Turkey Carver, Grandma Whipple, brother-in-law Shirland (other half to Ileen and DoJo's brother), my niece Becky, and Tonya (Ace's other half and DoJo's sister.) After dinner, Ileen taught us a fun dice game called Yoink. Lots of fun, but when playing with teenagers you need body armor!

This is my niece Kyra. She's Shirland and Ileen's oldest. Kyra is 15 or 16 (You know how us old folks are with numbers!) and complained about being bored, so she exchanged phone numbers with Uncle DoJo and they spent some time texting. Poor kid! Even I don't exchange texts with the big guy! At one point in the day I handed her my camera. The following is a glimpse of a Whipple Thanksgiving from Kyra's point-of-view.

The teenage boy is Justin, Shirland and Ileen's second child. My granddaughters were enamored with him. He reminded me a lot of a young and pesky Shirland. The fake mouse in the foreground was Justin's prank of the day. Everyone had to deal with the mouse at some point. To Justin's right is Heather (Ace and Tonya's daughter), and next to her is my beloved Kourtney.

Don't ask me why, but teenagers like to take pictures that are "askew". I've even noticed some highschool senior portraits taken from this angle. If you are younger than 25, you probaby get it, but if you are an adult, just tilt your head to the left to "get it". From the left, around the table: Heather Pooh-Cakes Bailey, My Beloved Kourtney, My Sweet Alexis, and Darling Nicole Whipple (Shirland and Ileen's youngest). You can see the top of Trenton's head. Trenton belongs to Ace and Tonya.

Here is a shot of Trenton. He is currently sporting quite a shiner, obtained, he claims, in a game of touch football. Sheesh! Kids in Arizona must be tough! What kind of touch are we talking about here?
And what would Thanksgiving be without DoJo planning his Black Friday spree? Here he shares shopping secrets with Sweet Pea Olivia.

And last, but not least, Becky (formerly Whipple) and Noah Coleman. Becky and Noah are newly weds, married last May one week before KK and Reed. This was Noah's expression when we explained to him the sleeping arrangements at Grandma's. Since he was the newest member of the family present, his choice was between the mattress leaning against the wall behind the kids' table or sleep at my house. He chose my house. Good choice, Noah! These two kiddos are a treat to be around. They are best friends besides being in love. I love that about them. Good choice, Becky! These are just a few of my favorite things, and just a smidgen of all that I have to be thankful for this year.

Our Latest Addition!

KK and Reed made an announcement...they have a puppy! Me, not being a real pet lover, had to see the little guy in person before I could understand what all the excitement was about. I thought a dog was a dog was a dog...BUT, NOT SO! This dog is really cute. His name is Rudy and he is playful, making him a perfect fit for the entire family.

You know how some parents are anxious for their kids to do all the fun things other kids do? KK and Reed are no exception.

Don't worry, Rudy was not hurt in the filming of this video. I used to take the cushions off the lawn furniture to create a landing pad for the grandkids. Guess I'm going to have to do the same for Rudy. Furthermore, all good parents "clean up" after their children before they leave grandma's house. Usually I don't mind pitching in, but in this case, eeeeewuh!

My question is why would you watch something like this on purpose? I think I know the answer...they are wondering if it is time to potty-train. Oh, the adventures of parenting...

Cake Pops

On Saturday evening, the men were otherwise occupied with a church meeting, so the womenfolk gathered to do what they do best, cook and talk. This is what I enjoy most about having adult children...they will talk to me like I am a real human. This is opposed to having not-quite-adult-children (who shall remain nameless) who speak real slowly when I'm around...like I'm a foreigner or mentally challenged. The nice thing about these two daughters is that they ask me real questions, listen to my answers, and often ask follow-up questions. Genius runs in the family! So their genius idea is to make these cake-pops while the men are away. I was all for it since it didn't involve messing up MY kitchen. Let's just say melted chocolate and sprinkles will give me an OCD episode. (OCD also runs in the family...just in the womenfolk.) The girls got their idea from Bakerella. When I saw Bakerella's blog, I knew immediately that our cake pops were NOT going to look like hers, but, oh well, I'm always up for a challenge...and like I said before, it wasn't in my kitchen. It was a lot of fun. I mostly just watched, since Lexi and Kourtney did all the hard parts.

This is the other part that runs in the family! We like to eat what we create. Truth? Not one of us could eat more than one of those little demons. Swear to you, they were so sweet that after one bite, I could feel a sugar coma coming on. One cake pop IS one bite, so after the first one (red velvet/cream cheese covered in white chocolate), I waited a proper amount of time (20-30 seconds) before trying the chocolate/chocolate/chocolate one. Swearing again here, but I really couldn't finish it. When I woke up (on the floor), the girls were standing over me with a veggie plate and chunks of grilled chicken breast telling me that I was going to be okay. Seriously sweet, but you may want to make some just for the sugar coma...LOTS of pretty colors....oooooh! Next time we get rid of the menfolk, I'm going to introduce these girls to the pleasures of crochet. It's less self-destructive! Thanks girls for including me in all the fun and not treating me like I'm "special"!