Thanksgiving at the Groves house. 2014

So, here we go... Thanksgiving 2014!  

And can you believe who was the first to arrive!?  Hunter Bunter and his girlfriend, Heather. 

Next up, Hayden and his little family, Rachel and Sydney.

Can you believe I am a GreatMO?!

I love these pics of my big boys, all growing into manhood and such.

They even obliged ol' Mo with a selfie of the three of us.

And are these some fine men or what?!  I love that they all wore brown long sleeve button ups, like they'd planned to be twinkies or something!

Todd was the MAN in the kitchen.  He made two turkeys, a ham, squash casserole, green bean casserole and hmmm... some other things.

Lizzie girl was ready and willing to give it all a taste test.

Here is Sydney and I playing peek-a-boo.

It was a little ironic that our family was once again gathered around in a big old circle, holding hands, and praying for a little boy in the family who is now at St. Jude.

My Uncle Jerry, across the circle, in the blue plaid shirt, is a Pentecostal preacher, and led a powerful prayer for healing to little Sam's body!

I loved these pictures of solidarity of our family in this, another challenging period, of our lives.

and then...

Release the Hounds!

Gabbi and Ellie are getting old enough now to "make friends" with some of their lesser known cousins.  Gabbi and Abby hit it off.

And Ellie and Emily did too.  In fact, she ended up spending the night.

Our annual tradition of an art project after the meal, ensued.

This year, I felt it fitting to do an ornament with Sam's picture on it for each of us to hang in our homes to remind us of the fight ahead of him and his parents.

Notice even the men folk are starting to migrate into our artsy fartsy area!

This is Cherry.  She is Sam's paternal grandmother.

This is Jacey, Jada, and Lisa.  They are from Arkansas, and don't always make it down.  We were glad they did this time!

And ta-daaaaahhhh....

Everyone's ornament came out completely different.  And that is what makes them so awesome.

Whatcha think?!  I'll be making some more for a benefit tree to be auctioned this week at the Twin City Ballet's Festival of the Trees, with proceeds going straight to Memphis.

I've also had a couple of requests for custom ones, like I did last year.  I don't have that many ornaments left, and some are not as large as the ones pictured, but if you are interested, email me, and I will get you one made.  I might have 15 or so total, so send me info asap to get in on the action.  Send me the photo, and what you'd like painted/ written on the ornament.  I'm a stickler for adding the year, so expect that too!  Oh, and if there is a color preference, better let me know that too in  your email.
mojoy@att.net

Mo