giving thanks, part one...

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays.   Recently, Dominic and I reminisced about the Thanksgivings from our childhood.  All of our aunts, uncles and cousins gathered in one house.  Good food was found everywhere you turned.  The kids spent all day playing together and there was laughter filling every empty space.

When we got a little older we sat around the table playing games with the adults.  We laughed so hard that our sides ached and tears ran down our cheeks.  We welcomed in friends who had nowhere to go and no one to spend Thanksgiving with.  We usually had so many people that one super long dining room table extended to its fullest with extra tables added couldn't accommodate us all.  I remember the pride you felt the year you finally made it to the grownups table.

To an outsider the whole scene may have seemed chaotic and loud but to us it was a day full of joy and fun spent with family and friends.

Thanksgiving is a little more quiet these days.  There are far fewer people but no less to be thankful for.  Chris and Landon shared just a few of the things they are thankful for and I added them to the Thanksgiving table.

Chris spent the days leading up to thanksgiving preparing for our meal so all he really had to do the day of thanksgiving was the turkey and vegetables.



Basil could be found sniffing around and looking for any dropped bits of food.

Ashlyn made sure our snacks were germ free.


Ashlyn showed Emay and Memejo her freshly cleaned room and some of  her favorite things.

I noticed this creeper out in the hall...

My good friend, Shirene, sent me this hilarious Thanksgiving parody with the disclaimer that this doesn't really describe Chris in the kitchen but was still really funny.  I showed it to Chris who thought it was hysterical and proceeded to watch at least a dozen more videos by the same family.

He showed the video to the family and they thought it was pretty funny as well...

The weather was gorgeous so we took our traditional walk along in the greenbelt and ended up at the park where Landon got out some of his pent-up energy.






Ashlyn has a dance coming up at school and she showed us some of her "moves".  Gotta love "the sprinkler".






Pretty sure Landon thinks she's crazy.





Basil was thrilled to have the leash off when we got back and immediately started thrashing around on the floor trying to scratch her face.

More Thanksgiving fun to come!