An Alway Family Thanksgiving

Well, nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like the stomach flu. But I'll get to that a little later.

Stew and I headed out of town on Wednesday afternoon at about 2pm. Three and a half hours later we arrived in Olympia, just 60 miles south. I knew the traffic would be terrible, but I had no idea it would be that bad! (Remind me next year to just go ahead and take the entire day off work and head south at the crack of dawn). But eventually we arrived at the Alway's in Vancouver ready for a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!



Patty bought me this adorable apron so I
could help in the kitchen this year.

Getting the turkey and all the yummy sides ready.



Beautiful table and delicious appetizers.



After noon... time to open the wine!

Lounging around in sweats watching football...
What could be more Thanksgiving than that?!

The rest of the family arrives...

David & Ginger enjoying pre-dinner drinks.

Tracy and Kelly... cheers!

Stew being childish.

The Thanksgiving feast.

Annual picture of Russ and John in their aprons. Cute, guys.

Lovely dinner table... we all have so much to be thankful for!

Before and after shots. That's Stew's "after" plate. I didn't actually
eat much of my dinner because I was already starting to feel queasy...

John and Kelly.

Bunco! Many years, after Thanksgiving dinner is over we have a Bunco tournament.
So much fun! Here I am at the loser table with Tracy, Russ and Bryon.

Kelly and Patrick, still at Table 2.

Dessert, food coma, and nap time! I never did eat any dessert...

Tabitha LOVES Stew.

It was at about this point that I started throwing up, which continued (among other unpleasant things) for the next 12 hours straight. Let me tell you, vomiting every 30 minutes in a house full of my in-laws is not my favorite way to spend a holiday. And I'm not sure stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes will ever seem appealing again.

My inopportune timing meant the inevitable cancellation of a Black Friday shopping day with Patty and Mom, which I was really looking forward to. It also meant there would be no visit with the Wells family on Saturday (they had also come down with the bug). Instead, I watched slept on the couch while the Huskies got smacked down by the Cougars, and on Saturday managed to leave the house to watch the Civil War (U of O vs. OSU) game with Stew's extended family. A nauseating ride to Olympia followed, and I spent Sunday on the couch at home watching the Dolphins beat the Hawks in a frustrating loss.

If I hadn't been fighting off body aches, hot and cold flashes, nausea and stomach cramps, it would have been a very relaxing weekend filled with food, family, and football. I'm so bummed that I ended up being such a party pooper (literally? ew) but at least Thanksgiving day was fun before the nasty little bug attacked. I'm still on the mend. On the bright side, at least I don't have to worry about packing on any extra holiday pounds.

But we hope that everyone else had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!