A TALE OF TWO THANKSGIVINGS

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving two times.  That means two times the delicious food, so that was a-ok with me. 

Wade and I had a quiet day on actual Thanksgiving.  We slept in, spent the day in our pjs, and ate a leisurely meal. 

We got to use my mom's gold flatware that she had kept in its original packaging, unused for the past 30 years.  Has anyone else noticed the switch from silver colored utensils to gold colored all over blog land?  I was telling my mom how shiny, bright gold was back in as we sat in my parent's living room surround by shiny brass, and she disappeared for a moment and returned with a four place setting of gold flatware.  Who needs to scour the depths of antique stores?  I just head to my parents' basement.  It just goes to show that all things are cyclical and seemingly "new" ideas are just "new" for that generation.

It was nice.  We had never spent a holiday by ourselves in our home.  But then we looked at each other and realized that we really missed celebrating with family.  Luckily, we would be seeing my family the next day and celebrating Thanksgiving with everyone.

We did end our night with a trip to get doughnuts and a viewing of "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles".  Top notch, indeed.

Our second round of Thanksgiving was wonderful and filled with the shrieks of kids and lots of laughing and hugs. 

Since we won't all be together for Christmas, we decided to celebrate multiple holidays at once.  Sure makes for a fun weekend!  We put up the Christmas tree, sang Christmas carols, and my brother made his directorial debut in the first annual kids' Christmas pageant.  He took it pretty seriously.  There were storyboards, costume changes, and a visit from a purple haired David Bowie in a particularly lively rendition of "Dance Magic Dance" from the acclaimed movie "Labyrinth". 

And now the Christmas pageant...

My mom made all the grandkids superhero capes.  Maisy Mae even got one:)

At the end of the night, my mom had all the adults go around and share what they were thankful for.  It couldn't be family or friends, though, since we knew we were all thankful for each other. 

It made us all go a bit deeper. 

I liked my mom's answer the best.  She said she was thankful for the desire we all had to get together. 

My sister and her family had to pack the kids up in the car and drive a full day to see us, and my brother was working on Thanksgiving, so we all agreed to delay the celebration to a few days later. 

It proved how deep our desire is to all be together and share these experiences. 

There's a lot of effort that goes into getting everyone under one roof, and it would be easier not to try, but it's what adds meaning to the day. 

Instead of letting these moments slip through our fingers, we are choosing to fight for these special memories that will last forever.  And I'm thankful for that, too.

I'm linking up with Meg's Mingle Monday link-up.  Stop by to find some great new blogs!