Thanksgiving and the Final Week

We are back in Champaign after a great Thanksgiving break. This year we celebrated three feasts in Wisconsin over three different days. It was fantastic to get out of Illinois for a while and visit the hills, trees, lakes, and rivers of Wisconsin. My advice: don't take these things for granted!

Our first feast came on Wednesday night with Kaia's dad and his wife Gail in Eau Claire:

Then we celebrated on Thanksgiving day at Kaia's grandparents' home in Stanley with thirty or so members of her family:

This is the table in the only place in the house large enough to fit everyone: the basement.

Me and my favorite part of the meal: the polish sausages

Then on Friday we hosted our seventh Thanksgiving in Eau Claire at Kaia's mom's house (we figured not everyone would want to drive to Champaign). 20 pounds of turkey, 12 pounds of mashed potatoes, a triple batch of stuffing, cranberries, ham, corn, carrots, and gravy were followed by an epic game of Jenga and Just Dance 2 for the Wii. It was a great time.

We came back to Champaign on Sunday afternoon and now it's back to work. Before the end of the semester, which is just one week away, I have another concert in Chicago, a final project and test for one of my classes, three student teacher observations and final evaluations, and a recital to organize.