Thanksgiving in Virginia

Good morning everyone. I had to post - trying to figure out the blog title "Harrisville Hurricane"... snow, a flurry of activity?

We have a quiet house today - just the four of us. Brittany came Wednesday and left yesterday morning. Sarah always gets sad when TK or B leave after a quick visit. We haven't seen B since last August so over a year.

Thanksgiving was good -relaxed, everyone in the kitchen talking, cooking, visiting. Tom's sisters Wendy and Sandi and families came over for dinner which was only 30 minutes later than planned. Tom made a Italian Sweet sausage/fennel stuffing that was a big hit - I don't have the recipe. I found a garlic, ginger green bean recipe online that was also a success - and that is basically the recipe - add 1/3 c. chicken stock and you're done. The turkey was moist, the prime rib roast was perfectly cooked and our buffet pans on the sideboard were a big help keeping the food warm. We're bringing them up to the Coast Christmas - if they're needed - racks, pans and sterno - I'm happy just thinking about how helpful they were.

Sandi and Greg spent Thursday night, then the older children stayed another night - Newell, Savannah, and Tanner. They watched movies, rode bikes, played xbox and playstation games and generally got to hang out. I took them down to town yesterday - I thought I'd be able to find a parking spot easily but everyone else thought DC was a good place to visit on Thanksgiving weekend. Sandi and Greg met us in town and found a $5 garage so I went there- and was easily the largest vehicle there. I had no problem driving in DC - I knew that I would come out on top, literally, if I had any traffic issues.

We went to the Museum of American History - the kids all went their own way - cells phones are really handy for coordination. We left town at about 5:15 - lots of traffic still in town but no problem once I got over the Potomac River. The Washington Monument lit up at night was worth the night time driving.

Can't wait to see everyone in a couple of weeks.

Jan