Ah Thanksgiving. The time for extended families to get together and gather around the turkey ….. unless you are part of the Chabot Family. Since we are currently in the ‘cut out of the will I am not talking to you’  rotation, we won’t see my mother in law for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Which, to be honest, is not a bad rotation to be in since it cuts down significantly on the emotional drama involved when we are on speaking terms.

Not to get into the details, but my personal history with my MIL has been rocky to say the least. I have gone from the “German hussy who married her son for the money and cheap sex” (I am not kidding you) and her not coming to our wedding or allowing me in her house for 3 years, to “she is the best thing that ever happened to my son”, to “she is the reason my son is turning away from his mother and, oh by the way, she has no idea how to raise her kids”. Needless to say the last one put me over the edge and we have, once again, been on non-speaking terms for the last year and a half or so. Oh, sooooo relaxing. Makes me mad thought that my kids miss out on their only ‘local’ grandma .. but that is a whole other post.

On the bright side though, my sister in law Amy and her son Andre were brave enough to weather the Theresa home visit for Thanksgiving (don’t know how she does it .. I would have to be permanently drunk for the entire visit to not start a blood bath) and on their way back they stopped by our house for an overnight visit.

It is so amazing to see how cousins, who don’t see each other for so long, jus kind of reconnect and pick up where they left … Benji and Noah were in Thomas the Tank Engine heaven for 24 hours straight. As if they were twins separated at birth. And Noah actually got Aunt Amy to watch NFL Network with her (you have to know Aunt Amy to understand the oddness of the situation :->), first thing Sunday morning, I come down the stairs and they are both snuggled under blankets in the armchairs watching NFL Network discussing Noah’s fantasy football strategy …. too funny.

It was hard to see them leave again, knowing that it will be a while until we get together again. Those are the moments when I miss my good old German family, where everyone lives 5 minutes away from each other and as much as you hate your relatives sometimes, it is good to know they are just a hop, skip and a jump away if you need them….

Anyways, here are some photos of the cousins in PJ’s ….. silly as usual.