Eleven of us gathered in our home in Rolling Hills at 12 p.m. for Thanksgiving dinner on November 25, 2021.
Back on the farm in Michigan, we always had dinner at noonāāthe late afternoon meal was called supper. On this day, we had four guests who had long drives, so we ate our meal at 2 p.m.
Top left: Stan & Barbara Top center: Cassidy & Dave Top right: Jessica & Jason
Bottom left: Charlotte & Mike Bottom center: Carrie & Gene Bottom right: Jason & Liz
Key information on each of the participants:
Dave is Stanās son and Cassidy is his girlfriendāāthey live in Oxnard. Daveās twin daughters Sammy & Maddie (ages 25) were unable to join us.
Jason is the husband of Stanās daughter Tiffany. Jessica (age 18) is their oldest daughter. Tiffany and their daughter Juliet (age 11) couldnāt make itāāthey were at Mammoth Mountain for the week where Juliet is in training with the Mammoth Ski Team. They live in Newbury Park (San Fernando Valley).
Mike is my son. His wife is Carrie, and his daughter is Charlotte (age 16). They recently bought a home near us in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Liz is my youngest sister (#8 out of 11 ā I am #1). Liz lives in El Segundo.
Gene is an old friend who lives in Manhattan Beach. Gene was with Stan and 10-year-old Dave in 1972 (49 years ago), on the rafting trip through the Grand Canyon where Stan and I first met! {Tiffany gave him the nickname Genie Weenie, which we have always called him since š.}
Stan set up the table extension that he made, and I set the table. Stan cooked a large turkey. I made a dressing from scratch, set up a few hors dāoeuvres, and supplied the pies & ice cream.
Charlotte beside the dining table
Everyone brought wonderful homemade dishes to complete the spreadāāmashed potatoes & gravy, two different dishes of Brussel sprouts, two different dishes of string beans, five-bean salad, cranberry sauce, and crab dip & pita chips. What a feast! How does anyone ever prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal on their own?
In addition to our guests, Dave & Cassidy brought their two dogs (DB, which stands for Death Biter, and Bones) to keep our two (Henry & Ginger) company. All four were quite well behaved.
Left: Stan carves the turkey, while Ginger longingly watches, hoping for a bite.
Top right: DB & Bones. Bottom right: Henry and Gene.
I created a short video of the best photos to capture the event. My thanks to sister Liz who took most of the photos.
Jessica and Charlotte sat next to each other during the meal. Jessica shared two photos taken 14 years ago in January 2007 of the two of them in our home, which I made into a Then & Now collage.
Top: Charlotte (age 1 Ā½) & Jessica (age 3 Ā½) reading a book in January 2007.
Bottom left: Jessica (age 3 Ā½) & Charlotte (age 1 Ā½) at our piano in January 2007.
Bottom right: At our Thanksgiving dinner, Jessica (age 18) is showing old photos of her sister Juliet and Charlotte on their iPhones, while Charlotte (age 16) watches.
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