A Great Thanksgiving

We had one of the best, most relaxing Thanksgivings that I can remember. We weren’t rushed, but we got a lot done. More importantly, we had a great time together.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather over our break. The days were pretty and warm--a sharp contrast to the stories Aunt Mar tells of Thanksgiving when she was a girl. At that time the weather was usually very cold on Thanksgiving Day and her family would spend the day killing a hog and processing the meat. She says it was very messy and recalls all the doorknobs in the house being greasy. Back in the present day, we didn’t get cold weather until last week, but then it warmed back up by this weekend.

Speaking of ham, Vicki baked one and with Jenna’s help made all the side dishes (sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, squash dressing, etc.) for our Thanksgiving meal. When it was done we took it all over to Aunt Mar’s where we had a lot of fun spending the afternoon with them. When the meal was over we spent the rest of the time visiting until after it got dark.

On the topic of food, Nate found some Reese’s Cup wrappers in the bathroom trash can and came out wondering who had eaten them. That’s when Ben confessed to doing it because he wanted “real American food.”

We spent the rest of the weekend raking leaves, decorating for Christmas, and simply enjoying time together. We even worked in two games of Settlers of Catan which has become a family favorite. One thing we did not do is go shopping on Black Friday (well, we did go to Dollar General to get Christmas tree lights), but Nate sure was looking forward to the day. He wanted to watch the news and see all the people fighting over high demand gift items.

One of the Christmas decorations we put up is a little sprig of mistletoe on the light fixture in the hall. Vicki heard the boys the other morning when they came downstairs and walked under it. Ben noticed it first and pointed it out to Nate. They talked about the tradition associated with mistletoe then Nate suggested they just hug each other instead. As they were hugging they were proclaiming their brotherly love for each other.

Last week our schedule picked up a bit with basketball practice. Jenna practices on Tuesdays and the boys on Thursdays. The good thing is that the boys are on the same team this year so their practice night is shorter than last year.

If we aren’t in the Christmas spirit by this weekend we’re just not going to be. Yesterday was the annual Christmas Parade in Cross Plains. We set up a hot chocolate and cookie stand near the center of town. It was a much warmer day than last year as I was wearing a short sleeve shirt (though I found my jacket when I moved to a shady spot).

Our parade is really neat for a small town. My running joke (and I’ve gotten more mileage out of it than I should) is that the parade is longer than the town. I’m always amazed at the number of businesses and organizations that are represented in the parade. They come up with some really creative float ideas. I do think Mom said it well when she commented that the happiest man in the parade was Carl Swann who was driving a Willys Jeep he recently purchased. He was smiling all the way down Main Street.

We rounded off our weekend this evening by putting up Mom and Aunt Mar’s tree and other decorations. Now to get our Christmas card picture and our shopping done and we’ll be good to go.

Joe