Laurie
and I have been spoiled since moving to East Tennessee from the Chicago
area. Our winters are mild and snowfall
with resulting slippery roads is quite infrequent… We generally avoid heading
north after the first of November. In
the spring we avoid driving north until late in March or around the first of
April.
But
sometimes we do gamble on the weather and road conditions. Thanksgiving and a ‘flock’ of important
birthdays can cause us to live dangerously… So, this past November we headed
out to Omaha for a family visit over the Thanksgiving weekend…
We try
to time our visits to Omaha so that we can maximize the time we can spend with
our grandsons…as well as our son David and daughter in law Amy. Holiday weekends, spring break and summer
vacation are the best times to guarantee any significant ‘face time’ with the
family. Their ‘life schedule’ is hectic
in any case and it is a bit crazy during the school year.
The day
we arrived, our youngest grandson, Emmett Lee, was prepping part of our evening
meal. He was very focused!
Emmett
was working in tandem with his dad, David II.
David II does a fair amount of cooking in the household… I’m only good
for grilling or making breakfast so he’s a step or two above me skill-wise.
During any
Thanksgiving visit with David II and the family, we always celebrate 3
birthdays that are grouped relatively close together. Emmett Lee just turned 12 years old… With kids today, it’s mostly all about video
games and electronics. We were very
happy that Emmett had listed a number of actual print copy books on his wish
list!
On the
other hand, David III celebrated his 15th birthday with video
games! He still does read print books
though and he seems to enjoy the National Geographic subscription that we renew
for him at Christmas every year…
The
third birthday that we celebrate during these visits is Nana’s. (Aka Laurie or
grandma) Her age is classified and is released on a ‘need-to-know’ basis only
but suffice it to say she is a heck of a lot younger than yours truly! Laurie really cashed in with a purse, a bunch
of books and a movie CD. She is an avid
reader and what woman doesn’t like purses!
The
birthday “cake of choice” of choice was this giant chocolate chip cookie. Emmett Lee is always first to blow out the
candles…sometimes even before birthday wishes are formulated!
And so
we progressed to Thanksgiving… Amy and David II worked as a team in the kitchen
prepping and cooking our holiday meal. He looks good in an apron, doesn’t he?
Recently
Laurie finally got it through my head that I need to wear an apron whenever I
cook…i.e. grill or fry. Her logic was
simple… Wear an apron or do your own laundry!
I caved in immediately!
How
about that turkey! It was great looking and
it was cooked perfectly…
FYI…my
main assignment on Turkey Day takes place right after the family feast. I am the expert ‘carcass stripper’, tasked
with the duty of recovering as much usable meat from the bird as possible. Leftovers are critical…otherwise how could
David II and I pig out on piled high turkey and stuffing sandwiches!?
Laurie
took this family photo at the dining room table. From the left, David III, David II, me, Amy,
Emmett Lee, RuRu (grandma), Amy’s sister Shelby and her son Dalton.
Laurie
was thoughtful enough to take a photo of her dinner plate. Looks pretty good! The set of china was passed down to David and
Amy from my mother…
Amy
took this nice photo of Laurie and I with ‘the boys’!
Amy
loves to take photographs…and she’s good at it too! We went for a drive looking for venues that
suited her creative needs. We found a
nice setting on a school campus.
I am
about 6 ft. tall… Fifteen year old David II is standing a little closer to the
camera but there is no doubt that he has vertically surpassed me! The doctor has told his parents that he’s
likely to top out at around 6 ft. 7 in.
Emmett Lee won’t be short either…probably around 6 ft. 3 in. If I do say so myself, they are a couple of
good looking boys and they’re good kids too! Both very smart as well and excellent in school!
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for a family visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
How fun that Emmett Lee is learning to cook. Men in the kitchen rock in my estimation. In fact my husband taught me to cook, not my mother, who wouldn't let me in the kitchen. Looks like you celebrated lots of b'days and that always make the visit special. I'm still not used to seeing you with your "new" look, but I really like it. To me, it makes you look younger, but Laure gets the final say. It's always good when "Mama's happy".
ReplyDeleteSam
I would point out that I wear an apron primarily because I also do the laundry!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I wear an apron because Laurie does the laundry! If I didn't wear one, I'd be doing the laundry so it was a no brainer for me too...
DeleteHa, ha, ha! Just saw Dave's remark above this! He should be adding comedian to his resume!!! Great family post, BDD! It's always good when the guys know their way around in the kitchen! You have a tall crew also, like ours.
ReplyDeleteMercy, I just noticed that you have a beard! Due to playing nurse, I haven't been around blogland lately, so will have to check out your old posts. Wonderful pic of the boys with you guys! Nice post. Have a great week! It was only a little over 40 degrees here today in Cary, I can tell you miss it. :-)