Thanksgiving Sweater

The story of Thanksgiving 2011 begins with this sweater.  I bought it once upon a time at a boutique where I'm sure I thought it would be "so cute" to wear for Halloween or Thanksgiving.  It was pricey.  As it turns out, orange is not exactly my color and more than one Halloween and Thanksgiving passed me by while the sweater hung patiently in my closet waiting to be worn in all its glory.  Normally, in a case like this, I would have piled the sweater in a bag of Good Will items and wished it well on its way to a new owner.  I am in fact an expert at giving things away because of a principle I learned and internalized from my Econ 101 class.  It's called "sunk cost" or--your money's gone whether you keep the thing or donate it.  I found myself going soft with this sweater though, rescuing it time and again.  And I finally know why--it was destined from the beginning of its existence to be.....our Thanksgiving sweater.  Each year, someone will wear it to eat at our table.  Last year, it was me, sweating and smiling.  This year, Abby volunteered to do the honors and, I must say, completely rocked it.  If the tradition weren't so young, I might consider retiring it after her performance.  So the question is--who will wear it next year?  We are taking applications now.  Just sign your name and give us the one reason why you and only you should wear the sweater next year.

Kids with Kid at Heart

more pre-feast hangout

cooking together--Maggie's "best part"

double fisted with sweet potato casserole

YUM!

Not quite the whole gang but you get the idea

Dad and Dame

Better

Carving

My plate

We just realized we completely forgot the cranberries.  So sorry Henkels!

Toasts

This was so fun.  We all put our names in and did a toast for someone at the table.  As it turned out, most of the Henkels got each other as did the Doyles.  Stephen started us off and we all had wet eyes after he toasted his dear dad.  Family rocks and these kids know it.

lonely table post-feast

Abby continued to rock the sweater on a walk around the neighborhood.

Seriously--can you imagine a better combo than those purple shorts?

Madeleine's kind of artwork

Fun with light sabers

We made a fire in our chiminea

Mia ate more than her weight in dessert

On a side note, we think Sophie may be confused about the story of the first Thanksgiving

Ella waits for charades to begin

Is it a song?  a movie?

Chaucer--ever with Mia

Taylor Swift?

Definitely all heart.

Believe it or not, there's still more.  See you back here soon!