Thanksgiving, Behind the scenes

We broke out thefour wheelers early this morning and Seth led the pack in both speed and stunts.Sarah and Fabian made the mistake of offering the ATV’s as a distraction. Fabian said that they have not had very much run time in the past few months so it was a win-win situation. The boys ran both of them out of gas over a five to six hour period. That was an easy fix. Other minor mechanical issues plagued them through the afternoon and evening but nothing slowed them down much.


I had to shut Seth and my nephew Brian down about 5 p.m. because they were starting to get bored with ¼ mile wheelees at forty miles an hour and three feet of air ramping over the driveway at Sarah and Fabian’s property. I thought if I did not put a stop to the”fun” we all might have serious regrets. It was time. It was getting dark and very cold.

About 10 a.m. the South wind died and abruply shifted north. The temperature dropped over thrty degrees in less than four hours. We are seeing temperatures of 15 degrees F predicted in Amarillo. Here it will stay above freezing but the winds are still howling at 35-40mph. When I called it a night, the boys were frozen but were too macho to admit it. I figured four-wheeling was done for the weekend.

Now the dishes are washed and put away and the left overs – which are few with the crowd we had here – are repackaged for the night. I can say honestly it was really fun. We have enjoyed the company of family and I think my mom and dad enjoyed it thoroughly also. Mom was in some pain but she hung in for most of the day and left only when she could no longer sit comfortably.

Of my family, my two younger brothers, Tony and Danny were here and my three younger sisters Janet, Martha and of course, Sarah, were here also. Tony’s wife, Barbara, and his three kids Chris, Stephanie and Brian were here. Janet and her husband Tim and their two girls, Hannah and Esther were here. Our Mom and Dad were here. Martha and her daughter Trish were here. So with our four and Sarah and Fabian and their two kids, we filled out the house.

Conversations were many, varied and loud and Mama remarked that she had not seen me talk as much as she had this day in most of our married life. When we both realized that we have not seen some of my sibling in as much as ten years, there was a great deal of catching up to do – on both parts. And it was entertaining to for the most part.

Tony’s first reamark to me after a six or seven year absence was “Wow. Do you ever look just like Dad!” Fortunately, we both consider that a compliment.