As we said two weeks ago, Thanksgiving is my personal favorite holiday. I’ve not really gotten into the candy holidays like Halloween and Easter, I don’t enjoy the parties of New Year’s, and I’ve always felt a little awkward towards the giving and receiving of presents. Thanksgiving, to its credit, gives me the opportunity to offer up what I feel I do best. Thanksgiving Day, people come to me, and I present them with food. Then I get to relax for the rest of the weekend while other people do my dishes.
Dear, rest of the world, I bet you get a little tired of Americans talking about this holiday that they made up and expected everyone else to think it’s really important. On behalf of the rest of the United States, I offer my apologies for boring you. I’ll understand if you tune out, but if you stick around you’ll get cute boys and a glimpse at our families. Hope that will be enough for you!
For me, Wednesday began my preparations as I made dips and desserts and sides. Finian and I filled the house with terrific smells and glorious sights that made everyone hungry! By the time we put the turkey in at noon Thursday, we were mostly done! Next year, I highly recommend NO COOKING OR PREPARING ON THE DAY OF YOUR MEAL! It made everything so much better.
First guests to arrive were Stacy’s mom and her (vegan) brother. They were greeted by a large spread of mostly vegan appetizers.
Then, once my three younger brothers arrived, we goofed around while waiting for the turkey to finish cooking and then settled down for a delectable feast!
By the way: VEGANS SPOTTED ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE MIDDLE PICTURE! They made it through just fine and found all of the Paleo vegan food we made to be delicious. Whew! What a relief. We were a bit afraid of the Tofurkey Stacy’s mom brought and made for them, but that’s their bag and otherwise it was a lovely joint feast. We’re getting better at the feeding a crowd Paleo style!
After eating, we spent the rest of the day having a great time hanging out with family. Football, trampoline jumping, board games and hours sitting around a table telling stories and roaring laughter. That’s what the day is about for me. When I was growing up I was fortunate to have a relatively big family around me and close relationships with many more extended family members. It is my sincerest wish to give that to my boys as well. I think they’ve got it.
When Cole was asked to make a shirt in school for what he was thankful for, this was his response. Finian came home with a craft yesterday that said he was thankful for Simon and Sneakers (our cats). How awesome is that? We couldn’t be more proud that it’s family they love and appreciate, not the many things they’re fortunate to have.
