More on the holidays....

This was written by my nephew Matt just before Thanksgiving for a school assignment. He wrote about the last Thanksgiving the whole family came up for the Holiday. It is not 100% accurate and he is writing from memory. I am publishing this without "official" permission. I never would have guessed any of the kids liked my cooking that much. His enthusiasm is contagious.

My Latest Trip to Minnesota, and Oh What a Thanksgiving It Was

Oh what a great day today has been. The food was amazing and my belly was filled to the limit. Even now, as I was about to fall asleep, I couldn’t eat another bite. On top of that, the day was so much fun. I was still smiling from ear to ear even after all the yelling I had received just to go to bed. Man, am I going to sleep great tonight. Oh, wait, did I jump ahead too far? Then I guess the only thing I can do is go back and tell how this Thanksgiving in Minnesota was the best holiday of my life.

Even though I was only twelve years old, making the trip to Minnesota was nothing. Compared to the twenty hour trips to Florida it was a piece of cake. So, making it there before two o’clock was a walk in the park. When my family and I got to my aunt’s eight acre property, we immediately joined the chaos that was building. I mean we barely had time to put our bags away before we were sent off to work! My mom went into the kitchen and helped out with dinner. My dad went and put the tables out in the garage. My two brothers and I helped put out the chairs. We were all working within the first thirty minutes we got there, (though it would all pay out in the end). Then, in no time dinner was ready and the best part of Thanksgiving was about to start.

The first thing I saw in front of me at my seat was a beautifully cooked Cuban turkey. It looked delicious. The outside was a perfect golden brown and the inside was the dark meat I so longed to try. When I looked to my left I saw the mashed potatoes and the stuffing and immediately took a huge spoonful of both. Then I looked to my right and saw the dinner rolls along with the broccoli. I couldn’t help myself so I took the most I could of each. Every thing looked so good that I even tried the asparagus. After prayers, I quickly dove into to my full course of Thanksgiving dinner. First the turkey, then the asparagus, then the broccoli, then the mashed potatoes, then the rolls, and finally the stuffing. Oh man everything tasted so good. My taste buds felt like they were about to explode from all the richness of flavors. Then to make matters with my taste buds even worse, dessert came; it was my mother’s apple pie. Now this was one thing I couldn’t resist. It is a pie filled with sugared apples and topped with cinnamon and sugar. It is the greatest food ever. The pie was so good I ate two huge pieces. It filled my belly to its limit, and greatttt, just in time for the games.

An annual family tradition of the Rader’s is a doubles ping-pong tournament. We play up to twenty one and each player alternates hits. Each person in the family, including my grandma, participates in it. I really wanted to win, but I was stuck with my Aunt Laura. I didn’t think we had a chance against some of the older guys in the family. But, somehow we kept winning and winning and suddenly we were in the championship game. Now, we were up against my Uncle Jim and my cousin Tommy. They were good. I mean really good. Both could put so much spin on the ball you would whiff if you swung at it. But, the only way we could win it all was through them. We had to win. The game started. They served first. "Bing." "Bing." The ball went back and forth. "Yes," I yelled as we won the first point. "Bing." "Bing." "Yes." We won another point. Then, little by little, we had a comfortable lead. Then… a win. I yelled at the top of my lungs as the final point was won. I hugged my aunt and screamed again. Man was I happy. I ran around the entire house enjoying the twenty minutes of glory I had just had. Then to add on to this moment of happiness we were going to play charades next. Now charades with my dad’s side of the family was a blast. The way we would play is everyone would right down the name of a movie, book, or TV show on a piece of paper. Then we would put all the little pieces of paper into a basket and people would draw the names from this. To add to the fun of the game, half the time, many of the kids had never heard of the movie, book, or show they were doing. This all led to the hilarity that was about to ensue. One of the funniest moments while we were playing was when one of the local neighbors of our relatives came up for his turn. He got the book "Gone with the Wind". He started out with the easy symbol of opening his hands to show a book. Next, he went with another easy part which was the three word symbol. Then he made one of the most hilarious moves I have ever seen. He started to blow air out of his mouth to represent wind. Now, as everyone knows, in charades you are not allowed to speak while you are the one acting out the book, movie, or show. So after someone yelled out, "Gone with the Wind," everyone realized the mistake he had made. And as most people do when a dumb mistake is made, everyone in the room started cracking up. It was one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen. Then, later this same evening, we got another good chuckle when we argued over whether there were four or three mad’s in the movie "It’s a Mad World." Charades and all the games we played this night were great.

So, in the end, Thanksgiving was a blast. The dinner was great, the games were fun, and there were so many good moments. I mean not every year do you win your first ever ping-pong championship. On top of that, I never expected the amount of fun and laughter I would get with charades. So, as I climbed into my bed in the basement and went to bed I thought about all these things. And I thought to myself: How blessed am I? I get great food and fun while thousands of people in America don’t get anything on this wonderful holiday. I also get to thank the pilgrims who first came to this country so that I could have the wonderful time I had today. It is the reason this Thanksgiving has been the best holiday of my life. So, hopefully I have allowed others to catch up on my latest trip to Minnesota; what a Thanksgiving it turned out to be.