Thanksgiving Chez Burke

The holiday of Thanksgiving in the US is much like boxing day in the UK, without the wrapping paper and turkey curry. A lot of our friends have spent the month thinking of things for which they are thankful every day. I have very much enjoyed joining in with the tradition, and like many, spread my thanks throughout my network through the medium of Facebook. It's either sappy or fortifying, depending on which side of the fence you stand. Personally, I think it's great.

Dean and Heidi invited us to hang out with them and the boys for Thanksgiving . It is generally a time that people spend with their family and loved ones. Since out family is in the UK and most of theirs is in Texas, we said, 'Agreed' (check out KungFU Panda for the quote).



We started the festivities at 12pm with some witty conversation and a great game called 'Apples for apples' where you are given a set of word cards. Another card is drawn with a different word and you have to choose the one of yours that most fits eg. Dangerous might be met with Gym Lockers, Guns, Mussolini... much fun.



Heidi had worked until midnight the previous evening and somehow still managed to whip up the most amazing spread. She had also spent the last 3 weeks scouring the superkmarkets and tv shows for suitable gluten-free products and recipes! Thanks Heidi! So we had Turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, Heidi's Grandmother's stuffing, wild rice stuffing, sundried tomato corn bread, southern green beans, biscuits (scones) made by Talon, carrots, sweet potatoes and apple, wine....three servings, and a tight stomach skin. I was in a food coma by the second mouthful.

Boo, the cat, had to stay outside.



After a short walk, some staring into space, video game playing and viola recital, we were ready to move again. Talon, Logan and I played a favorite of mine, numbers. SOmeone calls out a number and you have to put that many body parts on the floor. Glad I'd had time to digest.

Logan got hold of the camera and decided to document the world from his view point. These were some of the results:





The star of the evening was Talon. After seeing me play, he reluctantly decided to have a go. Now most kids, after say 3 minutes and some less than committed attempts, hand the thing back, say thank you, and return to the video games (For those who know, that is a 16 1/2" viola). Talon did not. He was an absolute natural and covered about 3 months worth of bow technique in 10 minutes with no instruction. I think I have a new convert. Go Talon!