Thanksgiving 2009

So the day of thanks was definitely unforgettable this year...

We started the day with an Erickson family turkey bowl at Shepherd. Rob and I covered the rushing and some of the blocking with the help of Eric, Jared, and Jake. At the beginning of the game it seemed a shoe-in. The other team hadn't even started scoring and we had scored twice, but somewhere from within came a hearty dose of thanksgiving courage and they started scoring and didn't stop till they had beaten us 8-4. We had a couple good spills, I skinned up the knees and one of the opposing players caught the football right in the face! haha But all in all it was quite the game.

Then came the turkey trot...

I spent time the night before helping Kristen(my girlfriend) put her bike in order for the turkey trot, but it didn't help much as there were so many people not ready the morning of that we would have had all the time in the world to work on the bike. Jake was unhappy with his bike and opted to use the Hundleys extra bike, so that meant it was Kristen with the duty to drive to the Hundleys where I disassembled the bike's front tire and we put it into her car to take back to the Erickson side of town. Turns out I fixed Jake's original bike in 20 seconds flat! haha Well I guess that's why you shouldn't let your impulses govern you all the time. Speaking of Jake, I also had the opportunity to meet his fiance Jennifer. She was down for the weekend and aside from having to wait 2 hours at the airport and hang-out at home while Jake worked, she seemed happy to be down in AZ for the holiday weekend. Very nice girl.

Then it was time for the bike ride/run. Kristen, Rob, and I took turns running legs of the 6 miles. Elizabeth ran too! She was crazy fast, and ran in her sandals while holding her cute skirt up. lol. Cute little girl and wicked fast. I only ran a mile, but I pushed myself quite a bit and actually finished the run pretty quick, and along the way got a nice asthma attack. Haha I forgot I get that sometimes when I run, luckily no lasting effects hit me, and I used Faith's inhaler when I got home. I think I had trouble because I hadn't really warmed up yet, I just kind of went with it and started running.

Then it was back to the house to clean up and onto the Thanksgiving meal! Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, yams, jello, gravy, rolls, etc. In short: DELICIOUSNESS! It was definitely an awesome meal and I got to meet grandma as well! Oh and I cannot forget that there was some excellent sparkling cider! I had like 3 glasses of it! We were about to leave when the pie was unveiled, and I waited in line to have the delicious chocolate one. Jake was trying to cut it and sought to use my help to cut it. haha Fat chance! I told him that he needed extra practice so he could be ready to cut the cake at his wedding which is only a month away. He laughed and went back to cutting, and then whoosh, he launched the pie off the counter and tumbling towards the floor! I caught about half of the pie on my plate and the rest smashed onto the floor. Guess I should have helped him after all :P

After Kristen and I ate a piece of pie it was off to the McLaws Thanksgiving! haha As if we hadn't eaten enough! Well luckily the meal was just about over when we arrived but I had yet to hear about the McLaws Turkey Tragedy! My mother clued us in "your father awoke this morning at 4 am to put the turkey into the smoking pit he had prepared, and then went back to sleep. When he awoke at 8 am the coals had all gone out and a half cooked turkey had been chillin for hours" With that dad ran to the store and bought some chicken and a turkey breat so thanksgiving would not be ruined. But still a half cooked turkey remained and my brother J.R. laid claim to it saying he would blow it up out in the desert using his homemade cannon! We drove out east almost to florence, AZ and found a barren spot of ground where he blew the turkey to smitherines! It was awesome, and his car was covered in turkey guts! All enjoyed except his daughter Barbara. She was scared and kept saying that we were all done because she didn't want anymore loud noise. Then J.R. and Dad blew the turkey bucket up and we cleaned up and drove home. Totally awesome!

Upon arrival home we watched Galaxy Quest, ate pie, and Kristen and I delivered brownies to the families that Jake and I home teach. Then the evening was ended with an Ericksons basketball game! Intense, fun, busy, and filing; it was a thanksgiving to remember! And all the while i was side by side with my girl, there is nothing else I could have wished for! :)