a very kieklak thanksgiving

Every year, Steve's family (immediate and extended on both parents' sides totaling almost thirty people) goes down to Greer's Ferry lake where they rent cabins for the thanksgiving week. Last year, I was able to go down there for a few days after thanksgiving, but this year Steve and I were there from Tuesday till Sunday.

In preparation, Steve and I spent several hours on Monday night baking about 170 cookies for the week. They were so popular that they were almost all eaten by Thursday, so I guess I need to post my recipe on here soon!

I made sure to pack a camera so I could capture the lake and the family gatherings, but unfortunately I forgot to bring my charger and the batteries died on the first day. I still managed to get some good pictures, though. Here are a few shots of the views from and around the house we stayed in.  

And here are some pictures of the lake that I took with Steve's phone.

We had an Italian food night and a German food night that everyone came to and they were both very good (there is no shortage of good cooks in the Kieklak family). For thanksgiving dinner it was just Steve's immediate family and his mother's side of the family, so there were only ten of us. It turns out that for Steve's family, thanksgiving dinner is almost identical to my family's, so that was nice. After all the families ate their thanksgiving meals separately, we got together for pie, which was very tasty.

Other than eating (which we naturally did a lot of) we went on walks, watched a LOT of football, played board games (Steve's family has Star Trek Catan, pictured below), read, and worked a puzzle.

Also, Steve's family always has a Turkey Bowl on Saturday afternoon. I didn't play, but I had a great time watching Steve and his cousins.

Overall, it was a very relaxing week, and I'm so blessed to have married into a family with fun traditions like this one!