Just Another Day I Want to Remember

I've had a hard time finding time to blog lately. I'm working on Christmas gifts and other projects and time seems to slip through my fingers faster than sugar sand.

I really have no idea how it came to be Thanksgiving already. I swear the Bigs just had their birthdays and started the school year as third- and first-graders (and when did THAT happen that I have kids that big?) and suddenly I'm expected to choose something to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.

We gather at my Aunt and Uncle's house every year since my grandmother passed away back in 1992. We may have had a few years in there where we floundered, looking for a new tradition. We eventually settled on this one, that brings us together in spite of those we miss.

This year we were missing my dad and brother. My dad because of illness and my brother because of Black Friday and a retail job. It never seems right when the whole family isn't there. I remember one year we had to stay home because M had a contagious-to-other-kids illness and we didn't want to share the joy with her cousin. It was a strange-feeling Thanksgiving that year for sure.

The new normal is to gather at my Aunt and Uncle's house and it feels like Thanksgiving when we are there. We gather, bringing our various contributions to the feast, and expect nothing more than the company of family and a full belly.

Mmmm turkey...

This year I brought deviled eggs. Delicious but deadly or as Craig said, silent but deadly. Why are they so tasty? I only had one but...

My mom and sister-in-law made plates of food to take home for the absent men. They put them outside in bags to keep cool (one of the few perks of living in Minnesota...outside becomes a big refrigerator in the Winter). The kids went outside to play (I discovered later that my son was outside without a coat for much of the time he couldn't find his coat...naturally don't ask where it is) and at some point one of the kids let the dog out of the garage. It didn't take her long to find the "to-go" plates and she helped herself to my dad's portion of the Thanksgiving meal. (My mom made him another plate, but it lacked the green bean casserole since there was none left.)

Mmmmm feast...

Thanksgiving was just as it should be, time with family, eating, laughing, reminiscing.

Hope yours was as good.