Thankful Hearts

This Thanksgiving, our hearts were full with gratitude for our family. After celebrating many holidays alone, we welcomed, with much excitement, a house full of Spendloves. For months we knew that my parents, along with Mike, would be celebrating the holiday with us. We counted down the days until their arrival, planning each meal and activity, and looking forward to the love that would be poured upon us. However, with just two days until their arrival, Jonny and Jenny called to let us know that they had had a change of plans in Chicago and were wondering if there would be enough turkey for two more? They jumped in the car and drove 15 hours to join in our celebration. Arriving just hours before my parents and Mike, they hid their car up the street and joined in our preparations as we awaited the midnight arrival. When we heard hushed voices and suitcases rolling up the walk, Jonny casually opened the door. The entry burst into gasps and hugs, followed by Jonny and Jenny's story of how they managed to escape a few days from Jonny's grueling first year of law school. We could already tell that this would be a Thanksgiving to be remembered!

Our feasting began early Thanksgiving morning, with pumpkin souffle cake spread with maple cream, apple slices from hand picked fruit and freshly pressed cider from our local orchard. The kids, along with their uncles, headed into the backyard for games of football, while Jenny, my mom and I prepared our feast during a long conversation that meandered from one topic to another. We called the family in, offering hot apple brew, stuffed mushrooms and butternut squash soup for appetizers followed by my fresh, wild Vermont turkey that I ordered from Verill Farms and then brined for an entire day, mom's corn bread stuffing, orange cranberry sauce, harvest salad, orange rolls, the Ebert's traditional pomegranate jello, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes followed by pumpkin chocolate cheesecake. After a delightful conversation around the table, the family headed off to the theaters to see A Christmas Carol.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing around the house, with enough time to thoroughly catch up on each others lives. We played Ticket to Ride over and over, sewed and painted with Aunt Jenny, went on runs together in the morning and stayed awake until the early hours, fitting in as much conversation as we could. We also headed out on several outings, including an afternoon at the Science Museum complete with a tour through the Harry Potter traveling exhibit, a trip into Boston with a stop at a tuba festival and lunch at Fanueil Hall, and a day at Plymouth Plantation for our guests.

I truly enjoyed each moment we shared with my family. I knew that this opportunity to be together for a weekend would not happen often. As our guests crept out early in the morning to catch their 6:00 am flight home, I was sad to see our lives return to normal. Next time we will have to convince the Flindt family from Seattle join us, which will make your time together complete.