Thanksgiving with the Erbs (and lots of other people)

We took off to visit our friends in D.C. for the Thanksgiving holiday. The weather cooperated and we made it there safe and sound Tuesday night. Wednesday we saw the sites, and on Thursday we headed over to Reston, VA to have dinner with some dear friends of Jill and Jeremy's (Calderwoods). They were wonderful hosts and just opened their home up to us. We had a really fun time. The food was SO GOOD, we played pool and Rock Band, and Audrey got all of her energy out in their play room (and with her new little friend, Lily).

Upon arriving we met all the nice people swarming around her lovely (and huge) kitchen. It smelled wonderful, of course. Audrey and I helped make the Turkey napkin holders. I will take the opportunity now to note that Sid and Kevin's house is BEAUTIFUL. Sid said that no matter how big your house is, though, everyone is always in the kitchen (which is why she chose to make hers the biggest room in the house). It's so true. It was a nice gathering place.


Audrey was thrilled about making these little turkeys. She didn't really help as much as she just told everyone who passed by what those were. :)


They turned out pretty cute. They also had little feather name cards on the glasses. Nice touch.

The roast beast. It was so so good. They had a deep fried one (which I acutally didn't taste) and a regular roasted one. And the plain roasted one was so good, I'll bet the fried one was mouth-watering.

Food, glorious food! There was turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, green bean casserole, traditional rice, corn, funeral potatoes, AMAZING sweet potato casserole, veggie trays, jello, frozen fruit cake (didn't try it, but everyone said it was great), and orange rolls. MMMMMM!!!
We heard a troupe of clowns were coming so we made sure we were ready for them . . .

There were lots of people there. This was one room of dinner guests. The dinning room was also full. We sat at the table with Jill and Jeremy, the matriarch and patriarch of the Calderwood family (the sweetest people), and an amazingly interesting man named Nasser--he fled his country (Iran?) several years ago and became a convert to the church. A very sweet and polite man. Scratch. I have my own titanium pool cue and everything in a cool carrying case. I do have a cue, and I love to play, but I'm not very good.

This picture kills me. These girls are so silly. Lily sang a little song for everyone that she wrote (so so cute). She's the youngest of a large family, so she's a little grown-up at age 5. She loved Audrey following her around. While Lily sang to everyone, Audrey danced her little heart out for everyone. While Lily chattered about anything, Audrey giggled and looked on adoringly. These glasses that Audrey is wearing (upside down) were the funniest things ever.

Ah the Hunt family juggling act. You all know how it is gathering children after a big exciting day. Craziness. We were lucky to escape with both kids. :)