Saturday, November 30, 2013

"Family is not an important thing. It's everything." Michael J. Fox

And so - Thanksgiving! One large rented home in Saratoga, NY - 20+ people - 3 generations!  Great company! Great conversation! Great food! Great karoake! Oh - and a new Thanksgiving tradition!  And - many , many thanks to Alison and Mark for pulling this all together. You two are great!


 The whir of activity - a kitchen that will fit just about everyone - and "the young people" right in there preparing dishes along with everyone else!  I'm not going to explain each picture, but I think that you will get the sense that a wonderful time was had by all!  There are a lot of pictures - but what would I have left out?



The first thing that you see when you look up upon entering this open-concept home is a mural on the ceiling. Before one sister arrived, my sister Alison told her that there was a nude on the ceiling. Caitlin said "Like Michaelangelo?" "No," Alison replied, "like a super-hero."  Well - it certainly was a conversation piece!






Many of the younger generation brought new people to Thanksgiving - everyone getting to know one-another!









Yes - there was a huge, bronze horse in the living-room!  It helps to know that Saratoga is home to world-famous race-horsing.













And then the new Thanksgiving tradition!  Pass the Squash!  Started on a whim around the table at the end of Thanksgiving dinner, a squash was passed around underneath the table while one person was chosen to guess who they thought was holding it.  If they guessed correctly, the holder was told "You've been squashed!"  If, after three tries, the person doesn't guess correctly - well - they have been squashed!  We are nothing if not creative!  My nephew Scott's wife, Changting, arrived three weeks ago from China - her first time in the U.S. She learned many, many new things in those few days  - but had to be assured that "Pass the Squash" was not an old, traditional Thanksgiving game!



The singing began at the dinner table - as it always did around my grandparents' Thanksgiving table.  For the first time however - it moved on to Karaoke!  Oh my word - laughing and singing till we cried - another new tradition is born!





























Family - that's what it is all about.