Each and every Thanksgiving (the past two years) the tradition is to gather in the morning and play the “Turkey Bowl”. We meet at my Dads place and play on the back acres. Last year the weather was cold and cloudy. This year the weather was brisk but sunny and after about an hour, everyone had taken off their outer layers. Our turnout was substantially smaller but we still had enough to play a game of 5 on 5. 

 

 

My brothers Josh and Zach and Brother in Law Josh actually played football in high school and know the game. The rest of us are total hacks, armchair quarterbacks and slow runners. I possess all three of those attributes. I was dubbed “the interception king” after 5 interceptions thrown. My brother Josh was quick to tell me that I have a negative passer rating. What do you expect from a photographer? 

There are three types of Turkey Bowl players 

1.Serious players. Keep score and passer ratings, run hard on each play. Spend the rest of Thanksgiving sore. Think about how to “win” next years bowl game. 

2.Partially serious but kind of silly. Kind of know the score and run slower, maybe skip a play or 2 here and there. Think to themselves “Maybe I’ll play next year, if I remember”. 

3. Completely silly no seriousness. Don’t care about the score, skip every other play. Laugh a lot and think about the hot chocolate that is coming. 

How do all three play together? The serious players play their own game and everyone else just runs around. 

I lead the 3’s. It irritates some people. They have to deal with it because without us there simply would not be enough people to justify playing the game. 

 

Our only spectator was more interested in licking himself than watching a bunch of pathetic jokers chase a football around. 

 

As the game concluded my lovely wife brought her special “housemade” hot chocolate. Milk, cinnamon, chocolate and other stuff. It was so good. And yes, those are single mugs, not two stacked up. What a woman! 

 

Suzy, to be fair, also watched us play football. That kid is the perfect blend of these two. What a cute little dude. 

 

The sunglasses indicate just how sunny it was at the end of the game. Awesome. 

 

We usually do two dinners on Thanksgiving. It is a major gut-buster. The Smiths at 1PM and the Balls at 4PM. Yowee 

 

Just another perfect Thanksgiving meal. How did Bailey get the head of the table? Lily made it onto Sam’s lap. 

 

Sam has heard for years that she inherited her Mothers beauty. Here is empirical evidence. Thank you Debra. 

 

For a moment Lydia bit into a roll and Lily removed her pink jacket. 

 

I’ve got the Smith girls in an uncomfortable spot. When I point the camera at them they are obliged to look their best. It could end up on my Blog, you know. 

 

When I was a kid I ate turkey on cheezy paper plates with breakable forks on a flimsy pea green card table at Thanksgiving. 

These kids eat on a sumptuous slab of exotic granite. Michael was compelled to eat his plate before he could scamper off with his cousins. 

 

This is what Grandmas do. They read to the Grandkids. Grace is holding the blankie that Grandma made for her when she was born. The book is a scrapbook that Sally made for her parents full of photographs of their married life together. 

 

My Dad was assigned pouring the water. My mom was assigned everything else. 

 

Jake, my Bro. does not do a very good job at pretending not to notice me. Josh is trying his hardest to help Jacob but unfortunately they are both poor actors. 

 

 

How did that kid lose her shirt? This was one wild Thanksgiving dinner.