Thanksgiving Recap

We had a great Thanksgiving. We hosted my parents; my brother, Blake; my sister, Kirsten and Kurt and their six kids; and my brother, Brad and Anne-Marie and their four kids. It was definitely a full house. For the most part I enjoyed the chaos. Although I was always glad when I could go to my room and have my space untouched.

I still can't get over the weather around here. I think the day before Thanksgiving it was almost in the 60s. It made it nice that the kids could go out and play in the backyard and it wasn't too cold. I was a little overwhelmed with the idea of putting on Thanksgiving. Mostly because I've never really cooked a turkey or learned how to make gravy. I finally realized I couldn't stomach the idea of touching the raw turkey so I told Clark that he was going to have to master that. (I learned how to do a ham and it turned out great!) All in all, I think it turned out pretty successfully. Throughout the course of a few days I realized that I take after my mother and I made way too much food. And, I still haven't learned how to make gravy. What a joke! Every time I make up my mind to learn something comes up. Someday I'll learn, in the meantime, hopefully my mom will be at all my major meals to fulfill that responsibility.

So coming off of that loud and fun week, I'm feeling a little lonely. My house seems too quiet. Yes, Jaron and Russell make noise and commotion but not enough to make up for 17 other people. I find myself wishing that there was someone else to talk to while I was doing dishes or something. That's one of the greatest things about having family around - they are such great friends! The conversations are endless.

So yes, I'm feeling a little sad and lonely in my teeny-tiny area of the country. It makes me feel grateful for the wonderful family and friends I have. And especially grateful for my opportunities to be with them.