“Smile for the camera!”

Thanksgiving Day

Ever try to get two chihuahuas to cooperate for the camera?

“C’mon, you guys.  Show some happy gratitude.  I’m trying to make a Thanksgiving card here!”

“Happy faces.  Let’s see some happy faces!  Please?”

Sheesh. I give up . . .

And there you have it, folks.  A cheery Thanksgiving Day card from our house to yours:

“Happy Thanksgiving with love

from Reggie, Roger, and RVSue!”

~ ~ ~

Note:  Under the previous post, blogorinos share stories about a special friend. You may want to go back to read the ones that came in near the end.

Under this post . . . Feel welcome to add your expressions of gratitude for what or whom you hold dear. Also, a reader suggests a thread about the Thanksgiving dinners that were  — how shall we say? — that were less than perfect.  I bet everyone has experienced at least one of those!

Have a blessed day! — Sue

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!” — Psalm 107:1

~ ~ ~

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71 Responses to “Smile for the camera!”

  1. Happy thanksgiving to all the blogorinos!

  2. Chey (WA coast) says:

    Happy Thanksgiving RVSue & bloggerinos!

  3. Linda in Florida says:

    Happy Thanksgiving to you guys too.

  4. Columbus Calvin says:

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  5. Norman in San Diego says:

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

  6. Merle says:

    “Happy Thanksgiving” to RV Sue, Reggie, Roger, and all Bloggorians!!

  7. Susan in Dallas says:

    Happy Thanksgiving to all! I’m so glad to be here to celebrate this holiday of gratefulness for all things great and small.

  8. Diann in MT says:

    Happy Thanksgiving. May your day be peaceful, whether among loved ones or all by your lonesomes.
    That Rog was smiling in the last picture. Dogs have a silly way of “smiling”. A lot of them bare their bottom teeth in what they suspect is a full on grin!
    Love to you and all the Blogorinos!

  9. Deena in Phoenix says:

    Sweet pics of the boys…such a blessing to you and to us.

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  10. Be thankful day…it’s a blessing to be alive & well. Wish everyone the same

  11. AZ Jim says:

    Happy Thanksgiving Day…We have a Granddaughter and a Great Granddaughter here for the Feast. Hoping all the Blogorinos have a wonderful day. Love to Missy, Reggie and Roger….

    • weather says:

      Your family is blessed to be able to celebrate the holiday with you, Jim and Detta. I’m happy just to see your comments on here.

  12. Doug Laning says:

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and the doggies!

  13. JoanneG from San Rafael says:

    Happy Thanksgiving to you, Reggie & Roger!

  14. Lynn says:

    Happy Thanksgiving from Kentucky!

  15. Ruthie in Fontana says:

    Happy Thanksgiving to You and the boys, and to all of the Blogorinos. Enjoy each other and be grateful every day.

  16. Linda in Minnesota says:

    I’ll start the stories. My in-laws owned a 2-room (living room and kitchen with electricity but no running water) hunting cabin in 20 acres of woods. Eight of us slept in sleeping bags on the floor. In the morning a charcoal fire was built between a couple of concrete blocks with an oven rack on it then more blocks and a metal table top–that was the “oven” in which the turkey was roasted. The sweet potatoes were heated in a pan on the one burner hotplate and the cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and veggie sticks were dished up. A round table cloth was spread on the floor with candles and a centerpiece. And there we ate Thanksgiving dinner. That was at least 40 years ago but I am still grateful for that memorable meal.

  17. FloridaScott in Ajo Arizona! says:

    Happy Thanksgiving Sue, Reggie, Roger and all the Blogorinos! Gobble Gobble!

    • suzicruzi says:

      Hi FloridaScott!
      We were thinking of heading to Ajo for the month of December (boondocking). We’ve never been, and are new at Snowbirding. Do you have any tips you’d care to share?

      We are quiet people, and just want someplace (free or almost free) to camp that doesn’t get too crazy-busy. Is there such an area you’d recommend? If not, I totally understand. Just thought I’d ask! Cheers!

      Suzi

  18. Lisa W says:

    Happy Thanksgiving Sue and Crew! I bet those two would smile for chicken!
    I am happy to have a wonderful family and the ability to travel this fantastic country full time.

  19. S. Kaeseman says:

    Thank you Sue, Reggie and Roger for all the Joy you bring to me. Your giving is apart of why I give Thanks during Thanksgiving. May your Thanksgiving be full of love, happiness and God’s Blessing.
    Respectfully,
    S. Kaeseman

  20. Sherri (still) in California says:

    Happy Thanksgiving to Sue, Reggie, Roger and to all the Blogorinos! I am so thankful you have shared your journey, and thankful to those who share on this blog.

  21. Rob says:

    I like the first of the two. Happy Thanksgiving!

  22. Renee from Idaho says:

    Happy Thanksgiving to all here!

    I think Roger is smiling in that second photo and Reggie is trying to figure out how to do it!

    There is so much to be thankful for. Just to be here on this blog is one and to have the pleasure of Sue, Reggie, and Roger in my life as a reminder of how good life is! Our family is a blessing. Every day we thank God for the health of our family, especially our daughter in law who found out a week after giving birth to our last grandchild, that she had breast cancer. A year of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, now four years later and she continues to be cancer free. For all those that have experienced cancer either themselves or a loved one, may God bless you.

  23. Have the best Thanksgiving Blessings in your new home!!
    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your sweet crew!!

  24. rvsueandcrew says:

    Blogorinos….

    Your messages are making this cloudy Thanksgiving Day very bright. 🙂

    Let me tell you about our Thanksgiving morning . . . .

    I wake up to discover the heater isn’t coming on. 🙁 This doesn’t worry me too much because the lows for this weekend are only going down to the mid-to-high 30s. Also, I have a little space heater that works well, not to mention warm clothes.

    Still, it bothers me to have a problem with the heating unit that the home inspector told me was a quality American Standard brand with many years of life left in it.

    I try to put it out of my mind all morning. Suddenly I remember a repair method that has served me well in the past. I call it the “Mess Around With It” Repair. More than once I’ve revived my dead laptop by opening up the back, looking at it with confusion, and closing up.

    So I go over to the thermostat, pull it off the wall, look at the wires with confusion, and close it up.

    Voila! WE HAVE HEAT! Ain’t life grand?

    Blessings never cease…..

    Sue 🙂

  25. Becky in NJ says:

    Happy Thanksgiving Sue!
    Picture number 2 – Reggie looks like a little angel- and Roger…his expression made me laugh!

  26. Alice says:

    Happy Gobble Gobble to you and the boys. Yes, I saw a smile from those sweet faces. Glad you managed to get heat. That’s my repair method too or walk away and go back and ta da.

  27. Susan in the Pacific NW says:

    Seattle….Thanksgiving day 1983…a wind storm knocked out the power for more than 270,000 people around noon. That is exactly the time of day when most turkeys are still cooking in the oven and are not yet done enough to eat.

    The power did not come back on in a timely manner as most of the power crews had the day off and there was a widespread issue of fallen trees that took out the power lines.

    But some people did have bar-b-ques large enough to handle a turkey. A few also got cooked in the fireplace with the help of an elevated fireplace grate to rest the roaster pan on.

  28. Tawnya Cohoon says:

    I love you !

  29. Cynthia in San Clemente says:

    The photos of the boyz are just perfect – I see smiles there!

    The first Thanksgiving turkey I cooked after I was married was totally inedible. It had a very small “bruise” when I picked it up from the meat market and as I roasted it, that blue spot got larger and larger. When we cut into the turkey the entire thing tasted gamey and disgusting. So, we ate lots of dressing (thankfully I hadn’t stuffed the turkey) and veggies – it was wonderful!

    Hope everyone has a wonderful day and that you and the boyz enjoy your first Thanksgiving in your new home, Sue!

  30. Pat McClain says:

    That looks pretty happy to me!

  31. Denise - Richmond VA says:

    Sending everyone Thanksgiving greetings. May your blessings be bountiful! We have so much to be thankful for!

    One of my less than perfect Thanksgiving dinners still brings giggles. What seems like eons ago, I was living in my small, cozy, 1-bedroom apartment. Some friends were not able to get home to Ohio for Thanksgiving. I invited them with their 2 small kids for Thanksgiving dinner, along with my family. My friend loves to make cheesecake. He planned to bring a pumpkin cheesecake – a new recipe. I, too, was going to try a new recipe. It was from one of those Southen Living or Taste of Home recipe compilations, hard-covered Christmas books. The recipe was for cornbread dressing wrapped in grape leaves. I followed the directions to the letter. However, when I unwrapped the grape leaves, the dressing was the consistency of sawdust! Picture sad, dry little piles of cornmeal. It was not edible….I ended up putting it outside for the birds! I thought Frank’s cheesecake was good…but he was not thrilled with the recipe.

    Despite my not-so-perfect dinner, it was wonderful having 13 people laughing and enjoying a meal together. Four were seated around the the card table (which was my kitchen table for years), three were on the couch, a baby was chilling in his bouncy seat, and the rest of us were sitting on a rocker, an ottoman, or folding chairs, balancing our plates on our laps. No matter how small the space, there is always room for more friends and family – being together is what matters. We still laugh about the year I tried to feed everyone sawdust! My friends kids, who now have children their own still remember that dinner! By the way….the recipe omitted a liquid, or some sort of binder. Kind of important! I pitched that book, but have not been scared off trying new recipes, even for special occasions. 🙂

    What kind of recipe blunder did you have?

    • weather says:

      Sawdust!?! That’s hilarious , Denise 🙂 ! Thankfully, your gathering of people sounds like it was delightful. I once followed a recipe for ham gravy, but didn’t realize the juice from the fresh pineapple slices I had added on top of the ham had mixed with the ham drippings. The gravy was too bitter and gross to serve so we had a fairly dry ham and plain mashed potatoes.

      • Denise - Richmond VA says:

        That is funny, weather! 🙂 Sometimes the dinners that are a little challenged recipe-wise are those we remember most fondly. 🙂

  32. Hilogene in Az says:

    Happy thanksgiving! Wishing you, Reggie and Roger a wonderful day!

  33. weather says:

    Happy Thanksgiving! Reggie and Roger are adorably cute, whether they’re smiling or not. Sue, I’m glad your heater is working. I like your “Mess around with it” Repair method 🙂 . Being able to stay warm enough, especially without needing to schedule and pay for a technician’s appointment (or a new heating unit ) is a grand blessing. The low thirties is too cold to be comfortable for very long without a reliable source of heat. The wind chill factor made it feel below zero degrees outside here this morning. I’m grateful every time I hear the furnace kick on.

    My Thanksgiving meal story-

    My friend and I admitted to each other several years ago during the coldest part of winter that we each knew where a mouse was hiding in our home and only hoped no one else noticed it. We catch and release them away from homes during warmer times.We just don’t have it in us to send them out where they will starve and freeze to death. Then our husbands told us they knew, and didn’t object because they didn’t want to upset us.

    Recently a mouse has been in the antique store’s basement. So it won’t go upstairs into the store, my friend leaves peanuts where she knows the mouse will find them. She was busy preparing for Thanksgiving last night so asked her husband to do that. Today he said he’d taken it peanuts, a piece of carrot, cheese and bread. Why? Because he thought it should have a Thanksgiving feast, too.

  34. Ruthie in Fontana says:

    My first Thanksgiving as a newly married 18 year old was in San Diego. My husband was stationed at North Air Base in Coronado. We lived in a one bedroom apartment. There were 10 other apartments with ten different couples all in the Navy. My mom and dad came out from Colorado to have Thanksgiving with us. We set up five six foot tables, out doors, in the middle of the apartments. Since my Dad was the only one there that knew how to carve a turkey he got the honors. We talked to my little sister and my two little brothers (ages 17, 14, and 13) on the phone. We asked them what they had for dinner and my sister said we all had tomato soup. I did feel a little sorry for them but I was also so grateful my parents came for Thanksgiving to spend with us.

    • weather says:

      What a touching story, Ruthie, 18 is a tender age to be far away from family, your parents understood that, how wonderful for you.

  35. Geri in the FL panhandle says:

    I love your “mess around with it” method of repairing broken things! Hey, whatever works!💗.
    Chuck and I decided to eat at one of our local restaurants, The Red Pirate. They gave locals a free Thanksgiving meal! Really good smoked turkey with sweet potato, green beans, bread stuffing and a big brownie! It was really good and I was glad to not have to cook!
    The weather here went from July to January almost overnight! Not quite as cold as where you are, but 40’s nights, 70’s days! I need to get busy filling orders for Mermaid Tears. Last year at this time, we had all our stores stocked up and doing the farmers market twice a month! I guess Hurricane Michael just threw me off enough I can’t seem to get in gear! But now with the cooler weather I have no excuse!💗 Tomorrow! I will start tomorrow! 😂
    Love the photos of the boys! Eat some extra dessert for me! Hugs !!!!

  36. Rover Ronda says:

    Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🍽🍁

  37. Barbara (Nashville) says:

    Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Everything went well here today with just myself, DH and Angel. We had a turkey breast with all the trimmings. Will be eating it for several days, not doubt.

    The boys look too cute in their Thanksgiving picture. Reggie “I’m already cute.” Roger “Again with the smiling?” Gotta love them. Hope your day was good, Sue. HUgs to you and the boys.

  38. Elizabeth says:

    Cute photos of the boys as usual, Sue…and so glad you were able to get the heat going again!! Might be good to have it checked out after the holidays however (electrical engineer hubby would if we were closeby). Hope you can find someone to look at it. Hope your day was good and tasty and restful.

  39. Eileen says:

    Happy Thanksgiving, Sue. I just love those sweet, smiling little faces!

  40. Cat Lady, Baton Rouge, La. says:

    Sue, check with your real estate agent. The heater and any other appliances that came with the house maybe under a warranty. Can’t hurt to ask. Hope you and the boys had a good Thanksgiving.

  41. Mark Watson says:

    First turkey, how hard can it be to bake a turkey? Basted multi times and covered with foil and when it was golden brown I figured it was done. The taste was incredible and I was proud of myself. Why does it seem to be undercooked the deeper we take succulent slices from the breasts? What’s with this bag in the middle of the turkey??????

  42. Sam in the Ozarks AR says:

    Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I live and travel with my two little dogs. I’ve not cooked much since my wife Nancy went to be with Jesus seven years ago, but I could if I would just get motivated. I’ll tell you a story if you don’t tell anybody. I also read George’s blog, Our Awesome Travel’s. He has all those great recipes for the Weber Q grill and I told myself it would be fun to try them. What could go wrong? I bought the grill two months ago and a ten pound turkey just like George did. Monday I took it out of the freezer and put it in the frig. Yesterday I did just as George said and it fit in the Q. After about two hours the turkey looked great but was not yet to 180 degrees so I sat down to watch a little football. One hour later I woke up. I’m just glad it just me and the dogs. I hope George doesn’t find out. I’ll not give up. Thank you Sue, Sam

  43. rvsueandcrew says:

    Great stories, Blogorinos!

    If you have a Thanksgiving story to share, we’d love to read it.

    A new post will appear this afternoon.

    If you’re out and about today, watch out for the Black Friday gremlins!

    Bye for now,
    Sue

  44. Pam and Maya in Ajo for the winter! says:

    Happy Thanksgiving Blogerinos, Sue and Crew! This was my first Thanksgiving away from New York and my son. He has had a steady gal for several years now so I knew he would be fine. When he called yesterday morning he told me he missed me but was relieved that he didn’t have to eat two Thanksgiving dinners this year. For several years now they have been going to one set of parents at one for dinner and the other set at six! What great kids they are, I’m so thankful to have them!

  45. Sally says:

    Worst Thanksgiving yesterday, ever. I had the border cooked and in Crock-Pot
    Vegetables made. Pies on counter. Table all set for 11. And then….I get the stomach flu. Vomited for hours. Sorry family, no Thanksgiving this year. Nobody will step foot in our house for days. They Didn’t want my food I prepared. But I dont blame them at all. It’s awful!

  46. Sally says:

    Worst Thanksgiving yesterday, ever. I had the turkey cooked and in Crock-Pot
    Vegetables made. Pies on counter. Table all set for 11. And then….I get the stomach flu during the night. Vomited for hours. Sorry family, no Thanksgiving this year. Nobody will step foot in our house for days. They Didn’t want my food I prepared. But I dont blame them at all. It’s awful!

    • jazzlover says:

      Sally, getting the stomach bug the night before is just not right after all that work, and it is a lot of work. Hope you feel better soon.

  47. jazzlover says:

    Sue, at least you had their undivided attention in the first picture, looking right at you. Had they had any chicken yet? It’s all good.

  48. Leah says:

    RVSue, I am Thankful for your shared adventures!

    My first Thanksgiving diiner to prepare involved my digging around the inside of the turkey searching for that bag of giblets. I couldn’t find it so I figured the bag was left out. Stuffed and tressed the bird. Roasted to perfection! Imagine my surprise when I found that giblet bag when I was unstuffing the bird. My first year of marriage. My mom, a New Englander, got a good laugh as did the rest of us. I wish she was here with me today to share a chuckle.

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