Thanksgiving 2010 Highlights: Part 1

This was such a great Thanksgiving. I've been meaning to write about it for some time, but we've been traveling so much, I just haven't been able to focus on it. It was a wonderful trip, though, and Mike and I were so grateful to be able to spend time with family. It's tough to say what the best part was.

Every time I go through pictures I take, I discard about half. Some I keep because I think they're interesting, some make me smile or laugh, and some I actually think might be pretty good. But a few bring back such fond memories that I pause and savor the picture. The photographs may not be pretty or artsy or anything, but they're the ones that mean the most because of the feelings and memories they evoke.

As I went through the 350 pictures we took (yes, I am my father's daughter), there were 15 pictures that summed up the trip for me, that I could look at over and over again.

I have to say this off the bat: my brother Richard married such a fantastic gal. Janelle was my first in-law and what a blessing she has been to our entire family. She picked us up from the airport and we stayed with them the first night. And what did we do together? Just like when Richard and I were kids, we watched an episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe! In the episode, Skeletor stole a replicating machine and made a bunch of "Skeletoids" in an attempt to take over Eternia. I had forgotten how fantastically cheesy He-Man was. We had a good laugh at the moral at the end: too much of a good thing (like replicated villains) is not good for you (because the replicants will turn on you in the end) and you will never, ever conquer the kingdom of your dreams.

We decided to take advantage of the fact that we were in New York and we took a quick trip to Liberty and Ellis Islands. We got there kind of late in the afternoon, so we didn't have much time to waste. We booked it around Liberty Island, stopping here and there to take pictures. This is the only one we got with both of us in it.

We then went to Ellis Island. Mike and I are standing at the podium where the immigrants would declare their names and be registered. It was fascinating to find out how much people had to go through to be allowed into the country. They had to pass medical and eye exams and intelligence tests and show that they wouldn't be a burden on society. It must have been so anxiety-provoking. It made us appreciate how blessed we are to have been born in this country.

After the parade (which will be in a separate blog), we went to Bonnie and Noel's house in Connecticut for Thanksgiving dinner. Nicholas was so cute! He carried that stuffed bear with him everywhere. Even though this shows him hiding under Noel's legs, he's a pretty friendly little guy. Mike and I were really excited to see how Cliffton and Nicholas would play together, and they actually got along well and had fun.

Bonnie and Noel had a Fisher Price nativity set that all the kids loved playing with. Notice Violet's hair. It somehow got matted on the drive from New York to Connecticut and she walked around with the back of her hair stuck straight up. It was really tangled. If a wet poodle got electrocuted then sent through a dryer, its hair wouldn't have been any more matted than Violet's. When they left Bonnie and Noel's the next morning, her hair was even worse after a night of sleeping on it. Richard said it was too nappy to comb out and felt that when they got home they should just shave the back of her head and start afresh. I don't know the end to this story.

On Friday, Mike and I took a drive to America's Stonehenge in Salem, New Hampshire. They're ruins that date back 3500 to 4000 years ago. No one quite knows who made them for sure.

There's a sacrificial stone on part of the grounds. It was sort of roped off, but no one was guarding it, so I sneaked in to get this picture and now here is proof of my lawless ways.