A non-traditional Thanksgiving

I started Thanksgiving day last week with a run down Co Rd 44, towards the foothills. The day before I had tried running around a local lake only to find it was bordered by barbed-wire fence (it was actually a well-protected reservoir and not meant for recreatioon) so I ended up circling some neighborhoods instead. The county road passed by another lake and to my surprise it was actually a part of a tiny nature reserve and had a dirt trail around it. During this run I discovered how painfully intense the sun is here, one mile above sea level, and I also noticed several prairie dog colonies, small groups of gigantic black-billed magpies (real magpies, not Australian 'maggie pies'), and a large coyote (It was only about 30m away and did not run off when I passed by, which was a little freaky).

Co Rd 44, with the foothills in the background

One of several prairie dog colonies (this one is outside the state pen)

Thanksgiving was sunny, warm, and full of family. I ran to a Vietnamese bakery and grocery store with Mom and Aunt Phuong and Aunt Be (aka Aunt Amy, Ut, or Thanh--I will need to learn all the different names and titles of my relatives). When we returned, many of my aunts and cousins (most of whom are female) had arrived at the house and were making plates and plates of cha gio (fried spring rolls) and pate chaud (meat-filled puff pastries). Andrew, Jennifer, and Carter came over with Jennifer's sister (Adrienne), brother-in-law (also named Andrew) and father (Bob). Adrienne and Andrew Clay live in Longmont, CO, about an hour away, so it was good to visit with them, especially since I don't know when I'd get to see them again. I imagine being should-to-shoulder with dozens of Vietnamese and trying strange foods was a bit of a culture shock for them! For us Westerners, the Aunts heated up some Costco stuffing, gravy, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, and two pre-cooked turkeys. My Aunt Lieu, the head chef of a local Vietnamese restaurant, prepared a huge batch of beefsteaks and the second they were cooked and we were about to serve my uncles arrived, just in time, haha. There were about 45 people over so it was quite a gathering!

Picking up an order for 20 loaves of bread (check out those desserts!)

Che!!

Another bakery :o)

Preparing pate chaud and cha gio

Aunt Be and her Pate chaud

Que and Kim and cha gio

Bob, Jennifer's dad, pointed out how special it was to see an entire family in one place working together and getting along so well. It was absolutely something I feel thankful for, that of 21 adults, everyone is on good terms and loves each other very much. Despite typical sibling bickering and tension, at the end of the day everyone goes home happy, as far as I can tell, anyway. The cousins are great, too, of course!

Uncle Peter carving the turkeys

The men at the table, drinking beers, the ladies at the island with the desserts

The Western table

A typical Thanksgiving kiddie table

Us with Grandma