This Thanksgiving we were all together, my parents (Rose and Ed), all my siblings (Theresa, Margie, Celie, Tony, Mary, John), spouses (Dani, Paul, Jeremy and Pat), dogs (Dub and Sammy), children (Rosie, John Paul, Adam, Andres, Miguel) and three on the way (Cat due Jan25, Margie and Theresa due March30). Not to mention we threw in Paul's friend from Oregon and his girlfriend and Tony's girlfriend and family. It was crazy fun. I think the first picture captures how much fun we all had.
We had our Thanksgiving "feast" at my cousin Chris' house, where we have been celebrating Thanksgiving since I can remember. The house used to belong to my aunt and uncle and now Chris owns it, with the stipulation that he continue to host this family gathering. It is casual, fun with great food-there is a huge backyard where the kids can run around, climb trees and get dirty. We had a blast picking and eating from the citrus trees that grow in his backyard. 
Rosie and Sarah picked and ate many. I'm not quite sure Rosie even had turkey.
We started off the day with our traditional Turkey Bowl. I can't remember who won (typical). The first year Paul played we ended in a tie and he was disgusted. He couldn't believe we would do such a thing. The Bowl was a success this year, Paul pulled his hamstring.
John Paul would have loved to play but instead he took a knee on the sideline. It is only a matter of time before he is showing up his uncles and dad.
A little action shot. It was Pat's first Turkey Bowl and he had a good showing, he was wary of the Bowl's validity because we were slow getting the teams formed but we pulled through with enough to play. Makes it hard when three of the normal players are pregnant.
The older we all get the harder it is to get the entire family together. This Thanksgiving we had Theresa from Spain, Margie from Pensacola, Celie from Jacksonville (recently moved from Maine), Tony from Denver, and Mary from DC. This picture is just my parents and siblings...I would have liked to get the "outlaws" in the picture but they were held up in the garage-they like getting together as a group as much as we do as brothers and sisters.
Rosie loves hanging out with my uncle's girls, her "cousins", and family gatherings are a great opportunity. I don't think I saw her the entire night she was so busy running around with these two.
Having five girls in my family we were bound to have a handful of us pregnant at the same time, but growing up (and until recently) I never thought about or considered it. Theresa and I have been pregnant the same time for maybe a couple of months but this time we are all due within 2 months of each other. Margie and Theresa are due the same time (end of March) and I am only a couple of months before them (end of Jan). I love being pregnant at the same time and I am even more excited to have children the same age. There is something about sharing this experience with a sister.
Thanksgiving was a complete success, lots of well managed chaos. It was great having everyone together and I look forward to next year when all our newest members will be there too. It was so much fun Paul and I need to go on vacation to recover.
