Thanksgiving 2014

 Although I am two months overdue in blogging about our Thanksgiving celebration, it is such an important part of our family history that I am going ahead to post about it now.

Thanksgiving 2014 was our first LeFebvre Family Reunion! We had every member of Michael's immediate family present except for one sister-in-law.

 It was an amazing three days together! Full of catching up, getting to know aunts and uncles and cousins, and making memories.

Here is Uncle David with some pretty big fans of his.

And all the cousins got to be together!!!!!

 Michael's aunt and two cousins came down from Chicago to join us as well! Here is Cousin Zac enjoying some pie.

 This is Michael's youngest brother, Micah, and Rachael.

 I love this picture because it captures the spirit of the weekend so well: the sitting comfortably around, drinking coffee, chatting, remembering, and laughing!!!

Various groups spread out to form their own conversations:

 Here's Professor Joe who actually oozed some "professor-ness":

 And Auntie Cole (married to Professor Joe) has a gift for loving the girls and making them feel so special. She volunteered to take Rachel and Kyleigh to the mall on Black Friday(!!) and even got their nails done.

 Cousin Zac gave Rachel a few lessons in improvisation:

One of the best parts of the weekend were the two impromptu talent shows that happened late at night. Suddenly we found people performing on the piano, singing songs they had written themselves as they played the guitar, playing the flute, and showing us what "hooping" is all about. It was one of those moments that feels like a magic bubble that you don't want to burst.

Here is Rachael showing us how amazing hooping can be.

 We spent a lot of time sitting around the living room

And of course we had to eat too!! Here's a look at the pie spread on Thanksgiving evening: we had all kinds, from vegan pumpkin to gluten free pecan.

Thanksgiving night we did a White Elephant Gift Exchange. Here are the kids lined up to begin theirs.

Then it was time for the adults. It was great, hilarious fun.
 

My sister-in-law, Wendee, and I organized a few activities for the little kids on Friday. I helped them make sugar cookies and Wendee brought the "melty beads" which they spent hours with.

 Andrew gets some Grandpa time.

 And here the younger cousins are with the melty beads. They LOVED it!

 Friday evening we had a cake to celebrate all kinds of special days...

A few moments of girl talk:

 The big kids spent time on their devices, of course:

And the little ones got in time with Grandma:

 It was a special treat to have Aunt Loreda with us!

 Here's a view of the appetizer table on Thanksgiving.

And the hang out room:

Here is the Thanksgiving buffet:

There were tables in the kitchen and in the front room so everyone (28 of us) could sit down:

Lots of great fellowship over food!

Here's my plate:

Michael's grandmother passed away just a few weeks before Thanksgiving (at the age of 99 3/4 yrs) so after Thanksgiving dinner we took some time to reminisce about her life and look at photos.

 And just because you need to see another shot of the pies -- the pecan was one of my favorites!

 We managed to get a sibling picture of Michael, his four brothers, and one sister.

Friday we had turkey sandwiches for lunch.

 Here is Rachel and Kyleigh. These two had a lot of fun together!!

And that's a little snapshot of the wonderful time we had over Thanksgiving!!! I hope we can make it a regular event. I'm already looking forward to next time.

Many thanks to my sister-in-law, Wendee, and my brother-in-law, Daniel for sharing their pictures with me.