... from us to the Malone family for hosting another fantastic Griffin Family Thanksgiving Reunion in Perry, Georgia. I was raised in Houston but born in Atlanta. Although my immediate family is spread over multiple states my extended family lives mostly in Georgia. Darin and I have joined my extended family in south Georgia for 21 out of the 22 years that we have been married. Over the years we have shared many milestones with the Griffin clan during Thanksgiving including introducing Darin as my groom-to-be, a burial for our first born and even Mason's baptism in my grandmother's church.While making the 8 hour road trip north, we know we are getting close to south Georgia when we begin to see pecan orchards. These bring back childhood memories of riding behind my grandfather's tractor to pick up sticks in his orchard. Somehow he conned us kids into thinking it was a game rather than work. Hats off to you, Chuck Guske! Whenever I see a pecan orchard I will always think of you.
The Malone's have the perfect house for entertaining a huge number of people. There are usually between 30 to 40 of us each Thanksgiving. This year, the children seemed to outnumber the adults.
Once we arrive, we don't typically see Mackenzie or Mason for hours. They are outside playing in the leaves enjoying the perfect cool weather.
There are some Thanksgiving traditions that never end and few new ones that we add each year. Grandpa and Nana always purchase a professional gingerbread house for the kids. Each year it has a different theme and each year by Friday afternoon it is destroyed by the children.
Each year we have a traditional turkey lunch on Thursday. On Friday morning, Cousin Dallas fires up his smoker and grills over 100 pounds of pork for our dinner. Dallas has to add wood to his smoker every 20 minutes for over 12 hours for the pulled pork. He never complains about the work, I think he loves grilling for the family.
Every year, the kids hang outside and ride scooters and toss the football while the adults sit around and chat. If and when the weather turns cooler, the males head indoors to watch college football. There is a big family rivalry between the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.
This year, we started a few new traditions. The first was cutting pumpkins off the vine. I must admit that I have never done that before. Thanks Uncle Charles for growing pumpkins on your property and persevering the last few for the kids.
We also had newer and bigger toys for the kids, two totally decked out golf carts. This picture was taken minutes before the "crash heard around the world". As Cousin Trent said "women drivers!", luckily no one was seriously injured and the golf cart only needed a new headlight.
Mackenzie added to Friday night's meal by cooking spaghetti squash for the family. She learned how to prepare this dish in her culinary careers class. She worked hard in Aunt Terrie's kitchen and the dish was a hit with everyone. A number of the moms asked her for the recipe.
Lastly, I want to end this post with a picture of four generations of Griffin women. Mackenzie and I with my mother and my grandmother. G.G. Griffin is 93 years old and loved by everyone. She is the reason for this yearly family Thanksgiving reunion.
