Thanksgiving...a few weeks early...

My mom's side of the family has gotten together for Thanksgiving early for years to avoid the traffic in and around LA which occurs on the actual day. This year it worked out that the day most of the family members could do it was Nov. 4th. So, last weekend we headed up to my great-aunt's house in Redlands. This year we thought it was going to be the first time in 6 years that our entire family--Mom, Dad, Marcia, Brent, and Ryan--were going to be there. However, Brent got a flat tire and by the time he got it fixed, it wasn't worth the two hour drive out there for him. So, once again we were not all there. However, we did have a great time of fellowship with the 40 members of our extended family that were able to come. Nazgul also was able to come with us and participate in her first Thanksgiving celebration. She enjoyed talking to one of my second cousins who lived in her country for a year and spoke a little Russian. We also taught her to play monopoly. Here we are playing--I took the picture. Our game was interrupted for pie, however, and we never got back to it.