Some members of the FosterClub family expressed interest in having Thanksgiving in Seaside this year, and the staff at FosterClub all thought that was a great idea. This being my first holiday involved with FosterClub, I wasn't going to miss the party. My wife and I just built a new house in town, so we decided to host at our place.
The party started the night before Thanksgiving, where we had a party at Celeste's. This was a celebration for spending the holiday together, and also a goodbye party for Nicole, who has touched everybody she's worked with while at FosterClub and who will be REALLY REALLY missed. The good news is that she has a wonderful opportunity at the Nation Foster Care Coalition and will certainly cross paths with many of us at FosterClub in that role.
Luckily we've got a pretty big dining room, because we had a great turnout for the big meal! FosterClub All-Stars Josh Griggs, Naomi Porter, Mike Hollinger, Daryle Conquering Bear, Elijah Sanchez, Nicole Dobbins, and Aaron Weaver traveled from all over the country to celebrate the holiday. The Bodner family (Jeff, Lucy, Chris, Celeste, and Denise) were there too - they had to travel from all the way down the street.
Aaron and I picked up the food beforehand, but everyone contributed cooking for the meal. There was so much food, I didn't end up trying everything until my 3rd set of helpings. Other than the obvious (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes), we had a green bean casserole, candied yams, french fried sweet potatoes, baked ham, deviled eggs, and a macaroni casserole (which ended up being a huge hit). We all then had a tough decision to make between lemon marange and pumpkin pie. There was so much leftovers-luckily the All_Stars took a bunch with them, because there was no way it was going to all fit in our fridge. We tried to watch some football after the meal, but the game was a blowout, so we ending up playing a fun round of Cranium. Bear and I were unstoppable. Some folks said that was because we just got easy questions, but if you ask me, that was just sour grapes. We were on a roll!!!
The All-Stars then headed over to Gina's and ended up playing some Yahtzee. I didn't make it over - too tired and lazy after the feeding frenzy, but I heard that a fun time was had by all. Some of the All-Stars left the next morning, while others stayed around until Sunday. For a couple of the Al-Stars, it was there first change to check out the All-Star house, which was purchase for the All-Stars while in Seaside.
I've had some time to reflect on the holiday and am convinced that it will definitely be one of my most memorable, and I don't think I'm alone in saying that. One thing was for sure - everybody had a GREAT time. Hopefully this will become a FosterClub tradition!