Thanksgiving
Posted by Rachel
I know it has been almost 2 weeks since Thanksgiving, but I still wanted to post about our Thanksgiving time. Sometimes it seems so hard to get on the computer and post things. I have intentions of doing it every night and every night something comes up or the day has just warn me out. I am home today from work with Zach so I figured now would be a great time to catch up.
Anyways…Thanksgiving. This year was a very emotional Thanksgiving for my family. We recently suffered the tragic loss of my cousin’s 1 year old daughter. Holidays always seem to be the worst and this was the first holiday with out our dear Maddie. There were several times during the weekend that I teared up or saw a family member tear up. They say time heals all wounds. I say God heals all wounds and I pray for my cousin that God would do that.
Other than being emotional we had a great time, though my sister and mom probably couldn’t say the same (we will get to that).
We arrived at my cousin Steve and Lois’ house on Wednesday after a very, very, very long car ride. It took us around 10 hours to get from Pittsburgh to New Milford, NJ. It is very hard to travel with 2 children, especially when we have one potty trained and one nursing. It seemed like whenever we stopped it was for either one child or the other. They just couldn’t coincide and do things together. Abby never had to potty when Zach was ready to nurse and visa versa. Let me just say we made way to many stops on the way there. It was nice to finally get there and just relax. Overall the kids did great!
Our Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) tradition starts off with breakfast at a local diner with several of my other cousins and their families, my aunt Carole, uncle Dave, my sister, and my parents. Then several of us go back over to Steve and Lois’ while Lois gets the sweet potatoes ready. This year my one cousin brought their dog, Timber, to Thanksgiving. Abby loved Timber. They played outside together at my cousin’s house. Abby loved chasing Timber around and just laughing with the dog. It made me very nervous that Abby would then come over and ask for a dog for Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs. I grew up with a black lab named Annie. She was the best dog in the world. I just don’t want the responsibility of a dog. They take so much more work than a cat. Right now I am definitely a cat person. Anyways…she didn’t ask for a dog, so we are safe.
I am sure Dave will hate me for telling this story, but it must be told. Abby and Timber had an up close encounter while playing. Dave was throwing Timber his toy, which was a stuffed animal of some sort, and Timber would run and get it and bring it back to Dave. One time Dave threw it and didn’t notice Abby was practically right behind Timber. Timber turned and started to run to get his toy and collided with Abby. Both Abby and the dog were knocked backwards. I was standing on the deck when it happened and you could hear the two of them hit each other, that is how hard it was. Abby of course cried and wanted an icy. Lois gave her a Winnie the Pooh icy and Abby was better in now time and no worse for the wear. She went right back outside and started playing with Timber again. I think Dave felt worse about the whole thing than Abby did. Sorry Dave!
We then headed over to my Aunt and Uncle’s house for the actual Thanksgiving meal. We had, I believe, 41 people there for Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t know how we do it every year, but we all fit in my Uncle’s house for the meal. Again this year we took a couch out and put it on the front lawn. I wonder what my Uncle’s neighbors think when we do this. We did it last year too to try and fit everyone in the living room. The meal was amazing as always. We always have an appetizer. In the past it has been various soups my cousins Linda and Andy have made. This year it was a piece of fresh mozzarella with 2 slices of tomato and some kind of dressing. Abby really liked the cheese. She is such a cheese ball. The main meal consisted of 2 turkeys, 2 kinds of stuffing (one made by us, which is my favorite), sweet potatoes, corn, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, macaroni and cheese (for the kids), green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and I can’t remember what else. It was all so delicious! It’s always hard to leave room for desert, but that is later so it gives us time to digest and make room. After the meal we clean up the table and just all sit around the living room talking and just being with each other. I love family time.
Around 5:30pm we headed over to Steve and Lois’ for desert and the traditional signing of the Christmas carols. This was when Thanksgiving started to take a turn for the worse for my poor sister. We got to Steve and Lois’ and she went right into the guest room to crawl into bed and sleep. On the way in the car she began to feel chilled and sick. Oh, Becky! At least she got to enjoy the meal. We then found out later that night after everyone had left that Becky was sick and had gotten sick. We then had to quarantine her to the guest room to prevent her from getting anyone else sick. She was stuck in that room all day Friday and most of Saturday. Hopefully next year she won’t be sick and can be apart of the traditions.
Desert time at Steve and Lois’ is always an adventure. They have a playroom downstairs (which is where we stay) that all the kids just destroy. There are 22 kids ranging from 3 months old to 18 years old at Thanksgiving. Having that many kids in one space is always an adventure. I think Abby was a little overwhelmed, but kind of just did her own thing. Our family missed most of the caroling time this year because it was time for Zach to nurse. We went up stairs where it was a little quieter for Zach. Abby of course wanted to come with us, which was fine. She read some of Josiah’s books and just had some much needed down time.
Overall the day was emotional, wonderful, chaotic, joyous, and just plain fun. I can’t wait until next year!
