Thanksgiving Day 2013

 Thanksgiving was a good day. Somehow, we got everyone at the house at the same time. Ate way too much food, and watched WAY too much football. Only bad thing, was that my camera decided to act weird  so I didn't get all of the pictures I would have liked, and some of the ones I did, came out a little strange.

 I'm not sure who enjoyed the food more, Paxton, or Bazinga. They ate the same food.  Every time Paxton dropped even a crumb, Bazinga was there to vacuum it right up. There are good things about having little dogs in the house.

I had been cooking for four days readying for the feast, so when it was time to peel potatoes, I told Willie he was in charge. He roped his brother into helping and Kahlen had the job of supervising. This is something she excels at doing. She enjoys bossing Grandpa around, and he loves being bossed, by her anyway.

 The food all came out great, if I do say so myself. We ate and ate and ate. I think I'm still full over a week later. We had smoked turkey with all of the fixings. My favorite is stuffing, with lots of gravy. MMMMMM gravy!! My dad is very particular about the stuffing. It has to be made just so. I learned to make it watching him over the years, so I try to stick to his recipe, mostly. I add carrots and cook the sausage before putting it in the stuffing. It grossed me out when I learned he put the sausage in raw. He assured me that the sausage got cooked while the stuffing baked, but I never believed him.

 Noah, was fascinated by the goings on of the day. There were people to watch and smells to smell. And the sounds, oh the sounds! Laughter and giggles. Cousins playing and grown ups cheering on their football teams. Well, Willie cheering on the Steelers anyway. While not his first big family get together, it was an glorious one none the less. So much for a new little brain to absorb!

We had dessert and found a way to keep from going into food comas. I think the company made all of the difference with that. I am so glad we were all together.

It was a little weird that Ben wasn't there. We have had holidays without him, but those were always when we lived in Illinois. Him not being there was odd. We had no weird jokes that no one understood. We had no history lessons. We didn't have his "Heh! Heh!" laugh filling the air. If you had ever heard it, you know exactly what I mean. It was strange not hearing it.

On the flip side though, it was the first time we had Dad at a holiday dinner in a very long time. Something I was very thankful for. His house was always much too small to have the family over. The last few years, he found reason after reason not to come to dinners. I'm not sure what the real reasons were, the reasons he'd give were always very vague. Mostly, I think the only place he ever felt comfortable going to for holidays was our house. Wherever that house was. Since this year, our house is his house, he had no choice. I think he enjoyed the time with the kids.

Here are the things I am thankful for this year, my silly, courageous, crazy children. They are all such wonderful humans. They are thoughtful, kind, considerate and loving. They are good to each other, and really seem to like each other. They know how to have fun, and not take themselves too seriously. They have taught me so much!

I'm thankful for my three grandchildren. They are all so different, so unique, and I love watching them grow and become the personalities that they are. They are SO much fun!

I'm thankful that my dad is still with us. He will be 87 years old on January 1st. We really are very blessed that he is still here. I don't think he ever would have thought he'd out live his son. He has out lived so many and so much. It was a miracle that he survived WWII. He's still here though. He is a stubborn ol' cuss!

 I am thankful for my husband. We will be married 30 years come April. 30 years! How he has put up with me for that long.... We have been through a lot together, he and I. We have seen changes come and go. We started out high school sweethearts and have grown into middle age together. We have grown stronger together. He is and always will be my soul mate. There have been times I forgot that. Then he shows me all over again, why it is true. Thank you Willie, for being the man of my dreams!