It may still feel like summer down south (it was 80 degrees in Louisville on Friday – but no,  there’s no such thing as climate change…[eyeroll that shook the earth]) but late November is here and it’s time to stuff our faces in the name of giving thanks! Humming House is en route home after our last tour run of the year and I have at least 4 weeks of uninterrupted time with Javier to look forward to. The extended McClure family will converge on Louisville (well, Shelbyville) this week to celebrate Thanksgiving, and then a little over a week later Javi and I take off for Chile for two weeks! It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year!

We kicked off the holiday season with our second annual Friendsgiving celebration with the Winklers and Andersons – though we were sad to miss the Fowler fam this year. Last year Embry was a tiny baby who had just gotten a flu shot and was not interested in the valuable institution that is Friendsgiving, so Dani spent most of the time in a back bedroom trying to calm him down while the rest of us ate pizza (very Thanksgiving-friendly) and decorated plates.

This year we opted for a Friendsgiving brunch, which I highly recommend to anyone who is considering a friends-gathering that includes small children. Leighton, Everett and Embry were all perfectly happy most of the morning either eating Mickey Mouse pancakes or watching cartoons or dozing off in a high chair. We brought a giant travel carafe of Panera coffee and a baker’s dozen of Panera bagels, Chris made fruit salad, Gurt and Wink made eggs and pancakes, and there was an ample supply of mimosas that lasted until we left at 4:00. Anyone else have any fun Friendsgiving traditions?