Thanksgiving is THE.BEST.DAY.OF.THE.YEAR. Hands Down. Always has been, always will be.
I absolutely love Thanksgiving. And that is thanks to the amazing and blessed childhood I had. I'm not sure how old I was when we started going to Fairfield for Thanksgiving, at my Uncle J'Earl and Aunt Donna's, but it is the only way I remember Thanksgiving ever being. If we could manage, we would drive down the night before. We always loved that best. That way, we had more play time. The girls played Barbies for HOURS. But really, we just set up the storyline and created our houses and dressed our barbies for hours. Then we would get distracted and do something different. Sometimes the boys would coerce us out of our hangout space to join them for Kick the Can and fun nighttime games out in the cul de sac. And of course there was always Monopoly and Chicken Foot and the Sign Game and trampoline fun and everything awesome in childhood.
Thanksgiving morning always started with a soccer game where we joined my cousins' friends and their friends and anyone. I was never good, but I loved this tradition! It was often cold, and wet. But it got us out of the house and away from our parents for at least an hour or more.
Back at the house was warming up, changing, and the beginning of the many tasks needed to get an incredible dinner on the table for the masses of family that we are. I always loved to see what we were going to do as place settings and table decorations. We would cram all of us in there and lengthen the table as much as possible so we could all be together. The food was always incredible (but what Thanksgiving Feast isn't?) The company was the BEST! My memories are filled with smiles and laughter and love.
In my family we all remember the one year where Uncle J really wanted to cook the turkey in his new smoker. The funny part was that he kept asking Aunt Donna how she wanted her turkey and she kept saying, "Just a little salt and oil" but then Uncle J would do it a different way instead. And then when it actually came down to dinner time, the turkeys weren't ready yet. So we ate without them. They finally came out when we were all done, and completely stuffed with everything else. We enjoyed them for leftover sandwiches the next day tho. Apparently, you don't have to have turkey to have a scrumptious feast!
As we got older, the crowd got smaller. The hardest part about getting older, I think, is that our memories become just that.
The reason I love Thanksgiving is because it is a day all about food, and especially FAMILY. To say I love mine almost feels like an understatement. I adore them! I am so richly blessed to call them mine. None of us is perfect, and I'd be the first to share with you all their quirks and idiosyncrasies and faults (including my own), but I wouldn't trade them for anything (even tho I did BEG my parents to let me be an only child back in my younger years. Never mind that I'm the youngest. hahaha!)
The thing I dislike the MOST about living in Nebraska, is that we aren't close to family. We've been blessed to have family visit us for 2 of our 4 Thanksgivings here, but it still isn't the same.
But I have still enjoyed my quiet (can I call anything quiet if Brek is involved?) day of gratitude and thankfulness with my 2 boys. The silliness in the simplicity of our celebration makes my heart happy.
This year we stayed in our pjs all day long. It snowed through a good portion of the morning, so Brek enjoyed some romping out in the snow and I got some piano practiced, books read, and pointless games played on my phone, plus a phone call with my sister. I got to eat cereal for breakfast (because we actually bought me some of my milk for the holiday weekend - never happens) and had some nice cuddle time with a comfy blanket and my son. He entertained himself pretty well for the morning, did some playing and watching of starfall and pbskids. We had a late lunch and then we all took naps. Well, Brek did "quiet" time. The boys watched a basketball game and as dinner time approached, I hopped in the shower and the boys set the table and made dinner and vacuumed. Dinner was deli meat and cheese panini sandwiches with pesto and a side of rotisserie (aka "crack") chicken, with some sparkling cider mixed with berry juice left over from our travels last week. Not a well balanced meal. But filling and delicious! Afterwards we played a round of "Hide the Turkeys" and sang a couple primary songs; then Joe asked to watch the movie "Fantastic Mr. Fox." Weird is all I have to say, but still enjoyable. Then Joe made us hot fudge milkshakes and Brek was off to bed after he finished his.
Definitely nothing traditional about our day. But wonderful in it's own special way.
This is the first year that I have participated in a theme of thankfulness on social media, and I am so glad that I did. Although there are many things I am thankful for that I have not mentioned, I decided I wanted to find and mention something specific from throughout my day, so that I could focus on the positives and the blessings, even if things weren't really going well. Sometimes life has a lot of challenges, and it is hard to move our focus away from the negative things. My life has not been easier, but I can honestly say that I have felt happier. There have only been a few days where I have really had to dig and find something that I was thankful for. I do have so much to be grateful for. I do have so many people and things and events in my life that God blesses me with. And as I work to improve my relationship with the Lord, I repeatedly recognize the love that He gives me, even tho I am undeserving of it. He is the reason for all that is good and great and wonderful and lovely in my life. And He is the one that pulls me through the crappy parts as well. He is the happiness that fills my heart.
A while back I saw a sign that read "Thankful ~ Grateful ~ Blessed." It has filled my mind on many occasions and I guess I could say it has become my personal motto. I am Thankful. I am Grateful. And yes, I am Blessed. Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your many blessings!
