Just like with Halloween, our Thanksgiving last year was not exactly what we hoped or planned that it would be. Last year was just so hard on us as far as sickness goes, and I'm thankful that this year has been different so far! When making plans for Thanksgiving this year, I was just hoping and praying that everyone would stay well!
As I've mentioned on here before, we alternate spending big holidays with each side of our family, and this was our year to spend Thanksgiving with my side. Generally, my brother, sister, me, and our families all travel to my parents' house for the holiday and celebrate for two or three days. This year, however, my brother found out he was on call with his work (he works for a boys home) during Thanksgiving and couldn't travel far from home. Not long after he shared this information with me, I started thinking about hosting Thanksgiving at my house. My sister lives close, so that would only leave my parents traveling since my brother and his family couldn't be with us. I talked to my mom about it, and she was fine with this idea. Then, I decided to invite my Granny to spend the holiday with us, as well. Granny lives about three hours from us, so it wouldn't be a hard trip for her to make.
Granny no longer drives (she's almost 82 years old), but her friend, Herm, does. I've met Herm a few times when visiting Granny, so I invited Herm to drive Granny down to our house and spend Thanksgiving with us. I was eager to share the holiday and our new house with her, so I was very excited when everyone accepted the invitation! I was so excited I kind of forgot that all this meant I would be in charge of Thanksgiving dinner. Eeeeeep!
Mom and Dad made it into town on Wednesday about 4:30pm, and Granny and Herm got here not long after that. We grabbed a quick bite to eat, then went to Bible study that evening. Granny has been to church with us one time before, but it's been almost seven years. It was really special to have her and Herm there with us.
Granny spent the night at our place, Herm got a hotel room, and Mom and Dad stayed with Lisa. It worked out well, and I was just thrilled to have her here. I will say, though, having Herm here was pretty bittersweet. He is a very nice man, easy to be around, polite, a good conversationalist, and kind to my Granny, but it hurt my heart to have him here and not my Pappy. I'm so happy that Granny has someone to keep her company and spend her time with, but being around him made me miss my Pappy so much. Also, my kids don't remember Pappy . . . he passed away before I was even expecting the twins . . . but they (the big kids anyway) will probably remember Herm. That's {super} hard. Despite all this, I was glad to have him here and so thankful that he was able to bring my Granny.
I don't have many pictures from our weekend because I was too busy being the hostess. I've always helped my mom with the big holiday meal, but it's a different ballgame when you're in charge of it! I was kind of nervous about the whole thing, but it ended up working out just fine. I was extremely thankful that mom was here to help me with the little details and the timing of everything . . . I got a lot of cooking lessons/tips I didn't even know I needed!
While Mom helped me cook the big meal on Thanksgiving day, Grampy entertained the twins. They adore their Grampy!
The meal was delicious, but sharing our new home with our loved ones was the best part. It was so great to have room for everyone to work together in the kitchen and then sit around our dining room table for the meal and games later. The kids played upstairs while we worked and visited, and it was just wonderful. We just wish my brother and his family had been able to be with us, too.
Happy Thanksgiving from my four sweeties!
{Brianna, Brecklyn, Brooke, and Brenson}
My children aren't around Granny T too often, but they always enjoy being with her. They thought it was so special to have her spend the night with us, and Brianna was thrilled to give Granny her room and bed. I can't tell you how much it warmed my heart to look over and see Brenson snuggling with my Granny.
He would just talk and talk to her, and it was the sweetest thing.
I also loved watching Brianna with her. On this morning, Granny wanted to hear Brianna read, so they were sharing a book together.
And, of course my little bookworm Brooke loved bringing my Granny books so they could read together, as well.
Brecklyn was more standoffish with Granny, but she did finally warm up to her. Brecklyn just isn't one to sit in someone's lap, so I'm not sure she did that much.
While Brooke and Brianna were reading with Granny, Brecklyn was in our book nook with her own book!
Brianna, Brooke, Granny, Chelley, and Brecklyn
Brianna, Brooke, Granny, Chelley, Brecklyn, and Brenson
Granny and Chelle
Brecklyn, Brianna, and Brooke . . . love their matching sweaters!
On Friday, the guys had a project going (Chris was doing some work in our attic), so the girls all went over to Lisa's house. Granny had never seen her house, so she wanted to be sure and do that while she was in the area. Then, we did just a little bit of shopping. We decided we aren't very good Black Friday shoppers, though, because we only made it to two stores before tiring of the crowd! We had a relaxing afternoon visiting while the kids napped, then I fixed ham and beans for dinner. YUM.
Granny and Herm were planning to leave Saturday morning, but it was super foggy until about noon. So, we all grabbed a quick bite to eat for lunch, and they left for home after that. Once they left, I put my little girls down for a nap while Brianna and Chloe Jo helped me set up my Christmas tree upstairs (Brenson was busy helping Daddy do some house projects). It turned out so pretty!
We also put out a few of our outside decorations, and I started to decorate the fireplace. I'm not generally one to jump right into Christmas mode as soon as Thanksgiving is over, but this year I did. I even broke out the kids' Christmas pjs that night!
Our Thanksgiving this year was just wonderful, and I will always have great memories of our first big holiday in our new house. We consider it a privilege to share our home with others, and we're so thankful that God blessed us with the opportunity to do just that!
1 comment:
I know what you mean about Herm really making highlighting the fact that your Grampy isn't there...I feel the same way about my mom's friend. When he is around, it completely emphasizes who isn't-my Dad. And it makes things VERY hard for me. My mom gets the impression that I either don't like her friend, or that I don't like the idea of her friend. And it really isn't that. It's just that it makes me miss my dad that much more, and it's so hard, and I still almost 9 years later still have a hard time dealing with the grief. I'm glad she has someone to keep her company. My littlest ones either never knew my dad, or won't remember him. It breaks my heart.
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