Allistair, Knubs and I took of last week for a great weekend in Corvallis, Oregon with the Cary folks. Did you know that our cat can hang with an 11 hour road trip? We didn’t either! What a good baby-cat! We enjoyed the scenic drive through northern California and Oregon and commented frequently on how beautiful and green it all was. Can you tell we were in Los Angeles too long when the color green is shocking?

We arrived at our hotel tired and hungry but mustered up the energy to visit for a while with Grandma and Dale. That was the beginning of many hours of visiting, talking, laughing and enjoying the best Thanksgiving I’ve spent ever. It is an old, old tradition that the Cary’s gather in Corvallis where it’s been held for generations- literally. Up until a few years ago, my great-grandmother would have been present. She lived into her 100’s and remained a feisty lady with a crotchet hat.

Allistair was a hit and is allowed back according to several sources. We ate and ate and ate and even had time to go to Portland for the day and also hit up some outlet malls for window shopping. We even got to take in some margarita’s near the hotel with my aunt, uncle and cousins. It was quite a night. In all, we can safely say— THANKSGIVING ‘O9! WOOOOO!

That’s grandma Joanne. Fiesty, sarcastic and a funny, kind lady. She and Allistair it off!

A SMALL sampling of the madness:

Cousins!!

Me and my Uncle Ron taking shots. Thanksgiving ‘09! Wooo!

My Aunt Theresa and my pops. We dragged the WHOOOOLLLLEEEE gang out for debauchery!

Typical family holiday. Right?

I strongly believe that it is not a real Thanksgiving without a dog pile. Duh.

Poooor Knubs! He had drank some beer and was coping with the loud, drunk, obnoxious humans.

Family portraits, muscles included.

Let’s just say, the next morning was rough, but getting there was oh so fun!

Here are a few statistics as rounded up by the cousin ringleader:

68 for the sit-down dinner at noon on Thursday. Later that day 2 more joined us, with 2 others on Friday for a total of 70 people for Thanksgiving weekend. There were 23 family members not able to make it, while 56 did.

We had 2 turkeys and 2 hams. We ran out of both at the Friday evening meal (feeding 60+ people 4 times will do that). We also filled 16 feet of table with T-day favorites and another 16 feet of desserts and snacks. It was the usual fare.

Allistair and I even got to escape for part of the day to Portland. A road trip, beautiful weather and a fun boyfriend!

Rings made of Scrabble pieces at the Sunday market.

Here are the things that Allistair learned are some of my traits due to genetics:

* Clumsiness

* The love of pickles

* Intense sarcasm

* Smart-ass responses

* Being tall

* Love and obsession with chocolate

* Playing board games

* Talking a lot

* Being social

* Saying punny things

* Talking loud

I can now, officially, say that all of the above is ‘not my fault’. What a relief!

It is so wonderful to have such a warm and loving man to share life with. And that’s what I’m thankful for this year.