Reflections on Thanksgiving

We've been so busy that I'm just now posting about Thanksgiving! With Dad G's going home, this year was different for our family. Instead of traveling to Gatlinburg, we stayed here to enjoy the holiday together. Although we were home, we tried to keep to some of our traditions just the same.

Michael, Cole, and I headed over to my parent's home on Wednesday night. We stayed through Saturday! Even though they are only 20 minutes away, it felt so good and "normal" for all of us to stay together through the holiday. We woke up early Thursday morning to the tunes of the Macy's parade and yummy scents floating through the house. Mom G came over and we all enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving lunch together. The mood was a little somber, but we laughed, joked, and enjoyed being together...it was beautiful to see Mom G laughing again. Thursday afternoon was spent planning our shopping route for Friday, watching Christmas shows, and addressing Christmas cards (which I still haven't sent!). That night, we headed upstairs for an informal pool tournament. I must say that I shocked myself...I wasn't half bad!

Friday was a shopping day for the women. Now, we're not the wake up at 4:00 a.m. type. We enjoyed a breakfast spread of waffles, bacon, and biscuits and finally hit the stores around 10:30. We stayed out until 4:00...we found good deals and had lots of fun. Friday evening my parents went to a friend's home for dinner, so Michael and I had the house to ourselves. After laying Cole down for the evening, we went up to the new theater room and watched Kung Fu Panda that Michael had rented earlier that day. It felt like a date!

Saturday was spent playing outside in the leaves, putting up mom's Christmas tree, drinking hot chocolate/cider and relaxing. That evening, our extended family came over to watch The Polar Express. My grandparents hadn't seen it and LOVED it!

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday spent focusing on how much the Lord has blessed us. We hope yours was wonderful as well!

Fun in the leaves

Making handprint turkeys with Papa

Decorating the tree with Gigi

The family getting ready to watch The Polar Express