A holiday to remember

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Family
I've been relaxing at my parents house since Tuesday night. My brother and sister-in-law, along with their seven year old boy and 20-month old girl, have been here to enjoy the time with our kids and my parents. That makes my entire immediate family here for three full days, the longest we've all been together in a while. Definitely the first time since Liler'E was born nine months ago. My niece has had a bit of a sinus infection, and Liler'E is pretty much over his ear infection. Sleep has been plentiful. Thanksgiving lunch was great - my uncle and aunt, their daughter and her husband and daughter came in and we had a great meal. We contributed a chocolate pecan pie (needed more chocolate) and ate much turkey and all the fixin's. We're headed home tomorrow and plan on stopping to visit Mrs. E's grandparents in Temple on the way. Overall, a great time with family.

Snow
Yes, you heard me right: snow! Starting around noon on Thanksgiving, the snow began to fall. It kept up all day and into the night, leaving about three inches on the ground. It was a beautiful, fine powder. Living in Houston, Lil'E has only seen snow once before, and never really seen it snowing or had the change to play in it. She had a blast! Snow balls, snow angels, leaving tracks, catching snowflakes on her tongue - the whole nine yards. The real challenge was to keep her from freezing her rear end off out there because she never wanted to come in. It's all melted by now (Friday afternoon), but it was fun while it lasted. My memories of Thanksgiving growing up in Abilene involved more short pants than heavy coats, but it was a beautiful sight.

Nephew
I said before that my entire immediate family was here at my parents house. That is not precisely true. I got to meet my nephew, my brother's son, for the first time at breakfast the day before Thanksgiving. He is 20. The son of my brother's high school girlfriend, he was given for adoption at birth. (The same adoption agency is who my brother and sister-in-law turned to for the adoption of their daughter.) As he turned eighteen, my brother had the chance to contact him for the first time, and he wanted to know his birth parents. They have gotten together a few times before, but this was my first chance to meet him. He is a music major at Hardin Simmons University here in Abilene, and plays the violin. My grandmother, his natural great-grandmother, played the violin in the Abilene Philharmonic, and even had a half-hour weekly radio show for a time (back in the 1940's). The resemblance to my brother is clear. The time with him was brief, but good. I look forward to getting to know him more in the future.

I hope your holiday has been as good as mine. Get your football watched and your shopping done. It's back to work next week, and looking to the end of the year. Who knows, maybe it'll snow in Houston for Christmas?

Tags: Thanksgiving, Family, Snow, Abilene, Nephew, Holiday, Fun, Adoption