Thanksgivings Past

As we get closer to Thanksgiving, I've been thinking of the ones that I've celebrated in the past. A drawback to having a dad in the ministry means that you ultimately live in a variety of places, which also means that you probably don't live close to family. So when you don't live close to family, you don't celebrate holidays with extended family.

Thank goodness my immediate family is pretty big. 5 kids, 2 parents. A 7 person Thanksgiving feast is still a pretty good party. We always enjoyed ourselves whether it was just the 7 of us or if we had additional family members visiting. For many years my uncle Jamie, my mom's youngest brother, would come to our house for the holidays and take part in our family traditions. I can also remember atleast a couple of Thanksgivings where 2 of my cousins came to spend the holiday with us because they were attending Wheaton College in the Chicago area and we were the closest relatives to them. Those were fun times as well. But the majority of our holidays were spent with just our family.

I think my fondest memory of Thanksgiving is simply that the menu rarely changed. Baked turkey, stuffing (somestimes homemade, sometimes StoveTop and to be honest I love both equally), broccoli casserole (the best EVER), canned cranberries (they had to be canned because they had to have the can shape to them, just another tradition), a variety of veggies, homemade rolls, and the creamiest mashed potatoes you will ever eat. ("These mashed potatoes are so creamy." Name that movie!)

One of my favorite Thanksgivings was a few years ago when Keith and I hosted both of our families in our house. It was our first time to fry a turkey and I also baked one (which was also a first). Everything turned out really good except I was heating up some black eyed peas, actually a ton of black eyed peas, and they weren't thoroughly heated until about halfway through our meal. But other than that, it all turned out well.

While my worst memory is probably our first Thanksgiving in Texas. My mom decided that was a year to make homemade stuffing and she asked me to give her a hand in the kitchen. Somehow the uncooked stuffing was in its pan, sitting on top of the stove waiting to go in the oven and I turned on the wrong burner for something I was heating up. I ruined the stuffing because the burner I turned on was under the stuffing pan. My mom was NOT happy. I had to make a run to the grocery store for some StoveTop.

Until my parents moved to Indiana, Thanksgiving was always the holiday that Keith and I spent with my family. (The one in '04 being the exception.) We would drive down on Wednesday night or early Thursday and stay until Saturday or Sunday. It always worked out well because it was about a 5 hour drive so we were able to spend several days in a row since we were both off work. Garrett celebrated his first Thanksgiving at Nana and Pawpaw's house. While we ate, he tried out the Exersaucer that Grace loaned to us.

(Garrett's first Thanksgiving.)

(Garrett's second Thanksgiving. So he's not really eating here, but I promise this was taken on Thanksgiving day. That's Keith's dad's dog, Scooter.)

How sad is it that I don't have a picture of Garrett on any other subsequent Thanksgivings. I guess it's true what they say that the older they get the more the newness wears off. :) Hopefully that won't apply to baby #2.

This year will be the third Thanksgiving that I haven't spent with my family. Of course it's sad, but it's just life when you live 14 hours away. I know they will have an excellent day (minus my dad's broken ribs of course) my grandparents will be there along with my mom's brother, Jerry, and his family. Poor Brad and I will be the only missing members of the family. Brad, we should have gotten together and done something extremely fun this year so they would all be jealous.

A few of the things that I'm thankful for:

1. Keith
2. Garrett
3. Baby #2 (I really should come up with a nickname to use. Got any suggestions?)
4. My parents and siblings, nieces and nephews.
5. Keith's family
6. All 4 of my grandparents who have blessed me over the past almost 30 years and are still around to meet my children and bless them as well.
7. The rest of my extended family.
8. The fact that God has provided for us in abundance. I am so amazed at the things He does for us. We are so blessed.
9. My family's health. I know there are so many families that struggle with a chronically ill child or family member and we have been overall very blessed in this area. My dad's broken ribs will heal and he will go back to being a healthy, busy man.
10. My new job that I didn't really go looking for but it found me. It's nice to be able to make some additional money as well as work with some pretty cool people. (And get free homemade pies from church members for Thanksgiving!!)
11. Keith's job which has allowed me to be a stay at home mom for all these years. I know there is many a night when he doesn't get home until 10pm or later and in those moments he's hating his job with every fiber in his being, but he has learned a lot while working there, established a lot of contacts, made many friends, and is paid enough so that we don't have to worry too much about our finances. I think he would agree with me, with maybe the exception of when he's in Minnesota for a week.
12. Our house, which I may grumble about because it's on the small side, but it looks nice and is fairly easy to clean (when I'm in the mood) as well as having an affordable mortgage. That's probably the biggest asset.
13. Our vehicles that get us from point A to point B, one of which is completely paid for and the other is very close. One is Daddy's truck and the other is Momma's truck, according to Garrett. He much prefers to ride in Daddy's truck. (I don't really drive a truck either, it's an SUV.)

I hope you all will take the time to count your blessings over the next couple of days.

Happy Thanksgiving!