Thanksgiving recap... now on to Christmas!

We had a busy and wonderful week over Thanksgiving!  Quite honestly, it has gotten harder and harder to make the time to sit down and write these blogs.  It is certainly not for lack of things to share.   I thought I would kick off with this adorable "thanks" turkey that Susie had for the kids to create when we celebrated together.  I love this so much.  We did the traditional sharing around the table also, of our thankfulness and it was especially easy to be thankful with Grace sitting happily with the family in her highchair!  It has been a very thankful 10 months for us. 

We celebrated in our "traditional" way this year, which is somewhat "un-traditional".  Gwen and Tim and the kids came to our house on Thanksgiving day.  However, we do not celebrate this in the traditional way.  Oh, we watch the Macy's parade followed by the kids very favorite thing - the dog show!  We have lots of snack foods out.  We do eat a meal together - but not turkey.  It is our tradition to have lasagna for lunch.  I know it sounds a bit odd, but it works for our family.  This is because during that parade and dog show the adults are seriously scanning the huge amount of sale flyers that are enclosed in the ridiculously expensive papers that were purchased early that morning.  (When I say expensive, I mean it!  I needed a twenty dollar bill to make that purchase)  Now I know that many of you have strong opinions about shopping on the holiday, how unfair it is for the workers, etc, but I want to tell you that for Gwen and I this is a very real and important part of Thanksgiving.  There were plenty of years that we got up at 3 or 4 morning to go shopping.  The worst years were when some stores opened at midnight.  There was no sleeping for us those years.  I know that it is a hot topic but just let me say that it works great for Gwen and I.  This year we left the house at 3:00pm and hit five stores.  We were home before 9:00pm.  We got plenty of sleep and then left the house around 5:00am for the second round of stores on Black Friday.  We were especially thankful this year that the weather was moderately warm and we only stood outside in lines twice - once on Thursday and once on Friday.

Gwen and Tim and the kids always spend the night at our house on Thanksgiving night.  This is a big treat for the kids, who otherwise would not have the chance to have a "sleep over" with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Our Thanksgiving tradition continues with our real "Thanksgiving" happening on Friday at Doug and Susie's house.  Doug always smokes the turkey outside and it is always yummy. This years bird was a whopping 26 lbs!  We took family pictures at their house, but since these will most likely be in my Christmas Cards this year, I decided to keep them under wraps for now.  It was a glorious day on Friday with highs in the 50's so we took the kids and the dogs to the park.  Grace got to go on the swings and the slide and even ride the bouncy horse.  After our meal was consumed and all the clean up was done, Susie made cookies with the kids.  

Grace had her first taste of my Grandmother Johnson's recipe for "Butter Butter Cookies".  Needless to say, we all enjoyed these tasty treats.  As a special bonus this year, Gwen and Tim and the kids spent Friday night with a "sleep over" at Doug and Susie's house.  Really a wonderful thanks filled few days.

I think tonight I am feeling especially grateful for my family.  Our adult children all get along.  There seems to be plenty of laughing and talking and lots of hugs.  Even the three dogs got along well.  Unfortunately, not every family has this same report.  I know of several families who experienced much less wonderful holiday times with adult children who just can not get along.  There are also families where the adult children can not get along with their parents.  My heart is heavy for these families.  For often petty and selfish reasons, they are missing sharing time with those who should be the closest to them.  I believe that my family has learned the power and strength we have when we draw together.  The loss of a precious son, grandson, nephew and cousin helped us learn this lesson.  Each of our loved ones is a treasure that could be lost at any moment.  So time together is the most important gift we give each other.  So we choose to celebrate and be thankful together!

During the next weeks, as we are approaching Christmas, my prayer is for much reconciliation and thankfulness for families that have been hurt by conflict.  The love of Jesus is so needed!  Won't you please join me in a prayer for love, peace and joy between sisters and brothers and children and parents? 

Jesus, thank you for your great love for us.  Holy Spirit, remind us all to treasure our family members - even those with whom we disagree.  Keep our hearts tender to those closest to us.  Give us an extra measure of grace and peace during stressful times.   Jesus, help us to keep love a central focus of our family.  Thank you for special times to step out of our routines and be thankful.  Amen