Things I was grateful for during my Thanksgiving stay in Minnesota:- that Graham & Annie were having fun to spare with Meme, PawPaw, MawMaw, Gammy, Texas, Uncle Alan & Aunt Jenny, Alana & Jason, Kyle & others back in Baytown
- that I could see Grandma Janell, my parents, the yodeling Youngquists, Elaine, the Laynes, the Langens & others
- that my mother made delicious vegetarian stuffing for me ... a favorite that I had missed in Texas since cornbread dressing rules the roost there. (Of course, I missed Jenny's delectable sweet potato casserole and Kathy's broccoli & rice casserole)
- that the human rubber band fun only led to a minor *concussion* for my mom, but lots of laughs at the same time. I need to get one of those for sure. I can just imagine the fun the YW would have in that contraption!
- that Judy wisely counseled me to take it one holiday at a time. I tend to think far ahead - too far ahead, sometimes - and felt deeply sad at the thought of divided holidays for my children and me stretching out over the next decade. It's one of the hardest aspects of all of this but Judy was right. This is now, that will be then
- that we had a Langen music night with young kids playing Suzuki pieces, Dennis on the clarinet, Hill girls singing ABBA, and Jesse & Tim blowing my socks off with some of their Langen Boys fiddle tunes. I cannot wait for their album to come out
- that the Thanksgiving feast place settings were so stunning & the sunroom such a perfect backdrop for the dinner. There was a sense of 'these are our roots' at the dinner, and it felt safe and right to be there with familiar faces ... people I have celebrated with since I was a young child
- that Grandma Janell makes "the best fruit pies around", and brought amazing family histories to give us, plus shared family photographs, many that I had never seen! She is a fantastic storyteller, and I loved learning more about the Ravstens
3 comments:
It sounds like you had fun singing and doing all kinds of fun stuff with family. When you are up there for Christmas, you should try to find my brother and his family at church Chad and Katrina McNiven. They have seven kids which includes 2 sets of twins so it is a rather large family. Enjoy the snow up there. That is so cute that Annie was SOOOOO excited about the snow:) Poor Graham:(
Wow. I love your photos--especially the blue place setting. And the stories from Grandma! And the acceptance of wise counsel (not always an easy thing to take--no matter how wise).
A truly thankful post about Thanksgiving. I'm glad you had a much-deserved respite.
PS- And that pie!
It looks like a gorgeous Thanksgiving. I've been very much thinking about you, and I'm so thankful to hear that you are (of course) surrounded by so much love and joy. And the advice was perfect.
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