Hodge and His Family: Thanksgiving 2010

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents. We did something different this year then we have ever done before. Instead of having Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's house or going to one of my relatives house, we had a Thanksgiving lunch buffet. Matt and I came up with this idea and my mom and dad loved it! We first thought about going somewhere downtown San Antonio but Matt had the best suggestion to go to the Inn of the Hills in Kerrville. Before Hodge was born we would go there with my parents on Sundays for brunch after spending the weekend with them. We had not been there in a few years and they always have a great buffet. My dad got reservations for us at 12:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. We left San Angelo around 10:15 a.m. and pulled into Kerrville right on time. We had a great Thanksgiving and the food was terrific. We even saw some friends of ours from Devine having Thanksgiving there as well. I was surprised to see how many people go out for Thanksgiving. The Inn of the Hills was packed! This might become a new tradition for us.

We spent the weekend with my parent in Devine. Hodge absolutely loves going to my hometown! He enjoys everything from playing at my mom's daycare to watching the train go through town. Now this is where I have to complain just a little. When you live in a small South Texas town the train goes through many times a day because of all the manufacturing jobs in Mexico. You gotta love what NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) has done to our country. Hodge loves to watch the train pass through but I cannot help but get angry seeing the railroad cars full of cars and trucks that are being manufactured in Mexico (aka, our crazy, out of control neighbors to the South). I am sure that on those railroad cars are many different items that I buy everyday. I sure wished we could manufacture those items here in the USA and create more jobs for our legal citizens who are out of work. Thanks to all the greedy politician (Democrats and Republicans alike) who set back and voted this in years ago. Ross Perot was fiercely against NAFTA and everyone in the media made fun of him, just like they are doing Sarah Palin today. Maybe the men and women in office during the 90s (Bill Clinton, Bush, Sr.) should have listened to Ross Perot when he said that NAFTA was more about investors and not about trade. He warned them that NAFTA would take jobs away from the USA. Oh and by the way I am not an Obama fan but I am also not a Barbara Bush fan. That old bitch is just set in her old ways and is the kind of old conservative blue hair who cannot handle someone like a Palin or a Perot. I mention this because during the Thanksgiving holidays the interview with Barbara Bush aired where she made a rude comment about Sarah Palin to Larry King. She said something to the effect that Sarah Palin needs to stay in Alaska. Well, Barbara you need to stay in Houston with your group of friends who go through life thinking you are better then everyone else because of who your husband is. She is just like her husband. George Bush Sr., they are both intimidated by people like Ross Perot and Sarah Palin. I think the reason for this is because people like Palin and Perot could really make a change in big government. They are not the typical politician just going around kissing everyones butts. They are doing it because they are tired of seeing big government fail the people. I know Ross Perot is never coming back on the political scene but we need more people like this. I support the Tea Party movement. I also hope this country starts to see some real change. Not the change we saw in the past election and not just snobby Republicans who are out for themselves. Real people with real values. I love my country but I hate the people who have been running it for the past 20 years. Ok I am moving on..........................back to our weekend and the fun we had. I could go on and on about politicians.

So Hodge loves spending time in Devine and so do I! We love the good Tex Mex at Charlies II, breakfast tacos from Devine Cafe (yes in South Texas they are called tacos not breakfast burritos) There is a difference. We love the homemade tamales from the Devine Tortilla factory and their yummy bean and cheese tacos. Hodge loves going to get ice cream from Dairy Queen. He loves going to the ranch and seeing my dad's cows. He loves visiting Granny, Aunt Sondra, Shannon and Sabrina. He gets the royal treatment from my family and from everyone in town. We had an extra special time with Granny because she now lives in Devine. We got to spend more time with her. She was in a nursing home in Pleasanton but my mom moved her back because they have updated and made some major changes to the nursing home in Devine. We are so happy Granny is back living in Devine! Hodge loves his Granny and so do I!

On Friday morning we went over to my Aunt and Uncles house so we could visit with my cousin Brandon, his wife, Lindsay, and their daughter, Lily. They live in Tennessee so we only see them about once a year, usually during the Thanksgiving weekend. Hodge had fun playing with Lily. They are a year and 3 days apart in age. She still talks about him pinching her over a year ago. This is how she will always remember him. When we were leaving that morning and telling everyone goodbye Hodge gave her a hugs and a kiss, but she did not like that either. I think she still thinks he might decide to pinch her again. Can you blame her. That afternoon we headed to the ranch so Hodge could have fun with Pawpaw. We saw Pawpaw's new black hereford bull. My dad got this bull a few weeks ago. He got it from the Escondido Ranch. Hodge always has the best time at the ranch looking at the cows and playing on the tractor. He absolutely loves it!

Saturday morning Hodge and my mom walked to the Devine Cafe to get breakfast. There is a cafe right down the road from my parents house. I wished this place would have been in business when I was in high school. It would have been really convenient for me. We always order breakfast or lunch from there when we are visiting. When we place our order my mom always says to tell them it is their neighbor up the road so they know who the food is for. We don't even give them a name, we just say this is your neighbor. You gotta love a small town! Well, my mom or dad always walk over and get the food for us, I am never dressed and I will know everyone in there and I don't want them to think I am going down hill. I look pretty scary with greasy morning hair. Well, this morning Hodge decided he wanted to walk over with my mom. He started out walking with her but then changed his mind. I was sitting on the front porch so I stayed outside with him. As my mom walked further away he started to cry and he was sad that he did not go with her. So with my pajamas on and my scary, greasy morning hair I walked Hodge over to the cafe. I just opened the door and pushed him in so I would avoid seeing anyone. He was so happy he ended up going to help Memaw get breakfast. This is a fun small town experience he will always remember, I love it!

After breakfast we headed downtown so Hodge could watch the train (Don't worry I am not going to go off on a tangent again about NAFTA). Hodge and I still had our pajamas on and I still had scary, greasy morning hair. As we were driving past the Devine Cafe I saw a friend of mine from high school. I talked to him and his family and I did not mind that Hodge and I both still had our pajamas on and I had the scary hair. Oh well, you gotta visit with people even if you look bad and they might tell everyone in your small town that you are starting to look really bad. I guess I should just get up and get dressed versus staying in my PJs all day. That would fix that problem of looking bad.

Saturday evening Hodge and my dad took a drive in my dad's Chevy hotrod that he rebuilt himself. Hodge and my dad always have fun together! They drove out to the airport and saw a airplane take off. They also saw a few deer and big buck near the runway (small town airports, love it). Hodge liked going on the truck ride but Pawpaw's tractor is still his favorite.

Sunday we went out to visit with Granny. Granny loves to aggravate Hodge and play with him. Hodge loves to entertain her. Before we left I told him to give Granny a kiss and he grabbed her hand and kissed it. I made him do it again so I could get a photo of him kissing her hand. So cute! She loved it! We had a perfect small town weekend. I love taking Hodge to Devine. I think as he gets older he is going to enjoy it more and more. He already loves it but he will really like it once he is older.

Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving weekend!