Adventures in Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving had some twists and turns this year...I don't have much time right now but I wanted to post these pics.

Obviously, the first is a hockey game! Joal's boss at NWYC let us use his season tickets to see the Dallas Stars play the Nashville Predators in Dallas on Wednesday. We were on the eighth row!! The Preds allowed the Stars one goal deep in the third period and unfortunately that's all it took for the Preds to go down, but we had a great time. It was a really good game...although I like it much better when the score goes our way. :)

It was a little disconcerting to be 2 of maybe 6 Preds fans in the house. We tried to behave so no one threw anything at us. It was harder for Joal than it was for me.

We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson (near Joal's office) and boy...it was nice. I do love a great hotel! Fountains...interesting art...it was a really nice place. Second photo is of the neatest glass plate-like sculptures that were displayed all over the lobby of the hotel. Bright, bold, huge...very cool. (Yes, I took a picture and yes, my husband rolled his eyes.)

On Thursday, we got up too early (I really wanted to sleep longer...the boys were with Nana and that bed was really comfy!) and went to my parents. We picked up our sons and went to my grandmother's.

Thanksgiving at my grandmother's was mostly like every other year...except that my brother was missing. He text messaged me and my sister to say hi...but it wasn't the same. My grandmother (who we think is approaching 86...we're not sure) forgot to make the sweet potato casserole and decided she didn't want to make the chicken and dressing. We never do turkey...long story. Anyway, the key ingredients in Thanksgiving lunch Burnett-style is potato salad, ham, Pistachio Salad and pies. There are other things...but those are the most important to me. :)

My grandmother makes old-fashioned Chocolate Pie and Coconut Pie (with browned merainge that stands higher that a fence post) that are seriously to die for. She even makes the crust! I would kill for the Coconut! I only eat pie one time a year. Thanksgiving Day. Any other pie is an insult to my Grandmother's pie!

The green stuff is my mother's famous Pistachio Salad. It's always the hit of any family gathering and gets made far more often than pie. I took pictures of the food this year because so many of our family traditions revolve around food. Even Grandmother mentioned that she wondered who would make the pies when she was gone. Honestly, I don't think anyone would even want to try.

It just wouldn't be right.

I'm grateful for my family and our qwerky traditions. It was a good holiday. I hope yours was too.

PS While we were in Dallas, I had a chance to make a stop at Scrap Spot. (It was about 3 miles from our hotel.) It was a cool little store. Slightly crowded (as in crowded with a bunch of stuff, not people) but a fun place. I found a line of paper that I hadn't seen before...I bought several sheet of this from Creative Imaginations...love this! It's die cut!! And this and this and this! That Karen Russel is one cool chickadee. See the whole collection here!

Happy Saturday!