Thanksgiving 2009 (part 2)

For the Goldsmith family, the Thanksgiving holiday is more than just the daytime meal....it starts the week before when the New Jerseyans get to town, and ends when we return from our trip down to CT (for us, that was last night). Thanksgiving day is great...dont get me wrong....but the real fun always seems to start when the guests leave, and we're left with the Goldsmith family, the Favry family, and good ol' Papa "Ortiz" Goldsmith staying overnight (Barbara always has to work on Thanksgiving, so Ortiz makes the trip solo....). This is always a great time, mostly because we make fun of dad for the whole time he is here. So we've got that going for us....

After the guests had gone home, and Jackson had gone to bed, Callum was still a bit restless from the days activities. So the Goldsmith men all huddled together and watched some Cookie Monster, Ernie and Bert, and Elmo videos on the Mac....Doesnt Callum look comfy?


Here, Papa reads Callum a bedtime story about a family that celebrates Hanukkah. Maybe Callum will be able to play Dreidel this year....
The piece de resistance of Ortiz sleeping over is the traditional "Thanksgiving night TABOO" game. My dad is the best Taboo player in the history of education. I could go into detail about his intellectual prowess.....but I will not at this time. Suffice to say we all look forward to Thanksgiving night games!

Another great tradition is the "morning after" breakfast. Usually, we go out to eat. But now, with the two boys being on schedules that necessitate a morning naps, we cook "in." Anthony made a stellar spread, complete with eggs, bacon, sausage, Amish Friendship Bread, and hash brown casserole. I have no idea how we were all hungry enough to eat...but we were!
And Papa got to spend some quality time with the boys before he left late on Friday morning....
On Friday, Kris and Amanda got to spend some time together with the boys, and Anthony and I did some errands and got a few drinks at the VooDoo Grill in Mystic. It was a great day! THEN, as if we were still needing more reason to have heart disease, we ordered some Valentino's pizza....the ONE and ONLY Valentino's pizza. Amazing stuff.....

The holidays are here.....