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November 29, 2006
Way Too Much to be Thankful For
We had such an amazing Thanksgiving holiday. It all started the day before Thanksgiving when we had a family portrait and pics of the kids taken. Holy cuteness. You can guess what our Christmas card will be this year. Those salespeople have an icredibly easy job--I mean how hard is it to convince someone that their kids are adorable?
On Thanksgiving morning we headed out for the 3rd annual Community Fellowships Turkey Trot, of which my husband is the founder and race coordinator. We had a very respectable showing of about twenty, and Leroy even decorated his van as a pace car. I ended up running the route twice, which felt really good. Ghetto prizs were awarded.
We headed home and introduced Owen to the Macy's parade, while we packed for a few days in the North Georgia Mountains and made mashed potatoes, cookies, and pumpkin pie. Then we had dinner at the Barber's with a bunch of people from church and our community here. I was sort of hesitant to do dinner with everyone as I kind of like to do a lot of the cooking and stay cozy at home with family, but I am so glad that we went. First of all, it was something like 70 degrees that day so it wasn't really cooking weather (we ended up eating outside in the sunshine actually). Second, Duffy pointed out that getting together with community is what Thanksgiving is all about--c'mon pilgrims and indians... of course. Third, the food was unbelievable--everyone contributed something, which really wasn't even necessary with Ms.Rachel cooking, but it was a spread like you wouldn't believe. Ham, Turkey, Hot wings?, and about 15 different casseroles. The company was what made it Thanksgiving though. It was a house (and yard) full of love and thanks.
The fun was just beginning, because that night we headed to the mountains to rent a gorgeous house with eight of our closest friends. The setting couldn't have been better. We are used to getting cabins way up the mountains surrounded by woods where there isn't much room for field games, but this one was actually in a meadow. We spent all day Friday playing frisbee, wiffle ball, football, walking, and running. Saturday was a kickball game and more of the previous day's sports. Those who thought to pack shorts and sunscreen were grateful. 70 and sunny at the end of November! At night, we let the good times roll. The holiday brew was keeping the guys happy, while the two pregnant women enjoyed watching everyone else act a little foolish. All of this made charades and catch phrase much more interesting.
Another big plus was how open everyone was to helping watch our two children. We were able to have some downtime ourselves. Caroline was able to sleep peacefully in the master bath in the far corner of the house thanks to everyone letting us keep that room the whole weekend. We are still talking about what a great time it was and how unbelievably lucky and blessed we are to have such a tight group of friends. They really are our family here. Duffy has listed it as one of his top moments in life so far.
So now we are heading into the Christmas season and looking forward to sharing it with our children. Owen is all geared up, and thinks that whenever he sees something he likes that he can just assume that maybe Santa will bring it. Grandma and Grandpa are certainly helping to be sure some of those wishes do come true. It is a magical time and I'm glad Owen loves it so much--the lights in the neighborhood kick it off starting Thanksgiving night, and we walk to see them almost every night. I am trying to teach him some of the real Christmas story and I think it is getting through. The other day I said I was going to turn on Christmas music and Owen immediately started singing "Happy Birthday," to which I said "That's birthday music, not Christmas music." He kept singing anyways, and when he got to "Happy Birthday dear Jesus," I once again was shown that he does know what he is talking about after all.
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Journal | By amy | 01:53 PM
