Part 3....Thanksgiving with 16 Wonderful People!!

So, I got a little off sequence on my dates, but I wanted a whole post dedicated to the wonderful Thanksgiving we had. The week before was busy, but fun. I continued to have my fun days with friends and enjoyed every minute of it. I was also counting down the sleeps until Phil would arrive (LATE Wednesday night). I enjoyed one last sign practice, one last "Panda Express" lunch with my dear friend Tina, one last mid-week Bible Study at church, and soon to be one last Thanksgiving at my house with all my loved ones with me! We were so privileged to have 16 people total at our table for a truly awesome day. I would not trade one minute of it.


The Guests of Honor: We have been priviledged over the last several years to have my grandparents come to our house for Thanksgiving. They live about one hour away and willingly come to our house, even with all the bustle and noise of my children (a nice way of saying chaos!!). They genuinely love and adore my children and I am so thankful for that. My kids are always going to remember their "great" grandma and grandpa. Not all of us adults can say that so I have made sure that my children know and understand how precious it is.


From the East and From the South: My aunt and uncle flew out from Virginia and my cousin and her family came up from California to make the weekend even more special. We thoroughly enjoyed being with them and the kids had a blast with their cousin Parker. My grandparents were thrilled to have both their daughters and son-in-laws, 2 grandchildren (4 included the husbands!) and 4 great grandchildren all in the same house.

And Then Those From Not So Far (At least at this point!!): Phil's parents came to join us in the festivities and alway fit right in. I count it a privilege to be able to combine my family and Phil's family for holiday celebrations. For some families, this just doesn't work, but I am so thankful that it does for ours. We have wonderful memories of ALL of us being together...


The best thing for me was that everyone felt bad about asking me to do this while I was getting ready to move, so all I had to do was provide the house and everyone else cooked - woohoo!! I might have to plan moves around the holidays more often. Little did they all know, this was such a privilege for me. I love having my family around and knowing that this might be the last time to have "16" people at "my" table I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

The rest of the weekend was priceless. The four big girls took off (without any kids) and went shopping on Friday - not "black Friday" shopping, just shopping. It was so much fun and we laughed till we cried. We couldn't remember how long it had been since we had been able to do this together. Now...since both my cousin and I live in California, maybe we will have to do a Disneyland adventure with everyone (hint, hint!!).

The goodbyes were terrible, of course, but as I keep telling my children...in order to never know "loss and sadness" you don't know true love. I would much rather know love - and lots of it - and experience some sadness in life. My family means so much to me and my kids and that is what life is all about.