Thanksgiving 2023

Our Thanksgiving travels kept us closer to home this year. For the third Thanksgiving Day in a row, we have celebrated in a different place; yet each one has been special and with ones that we love. In 2021, we traveled to Woodstock, VA to celebrate the holiday with Boomer's extended family. Last year in 2022, with the uncertainty of Boomer's grandfather's health and with Matt deployed, we traveled to Carlin's in Wilmington to celebrate with Boomer's immediate family. This year, we made a day trip to Star, since Boomer's mom is still recuperating from her surgery. With no overnight travel plans, the extra time at home over the break was so nice. On Wednesday, with the Daddies at work, Megan and I met up with the kids for a workout at the Y and then lunch at Dairio. It was a much more preferable way to spend the day than taking the PRAXIS like I did last year on this day. Whew, I'm so glad that is behind me. But as you can see, we had our hands full!

Before we hit the road to Star on Thanksgiving Day, there was a little downtime at home, which included watching the Macy's parade. We arrived in Star around 11AM. We had two big meals that day: chicken pot pie for lunch and steak for dinner. In between, there were naps off-and-on for the adults, golf cart rides for the grandkids, baseball and soccer in the yard, and some time sitting around the fire pit. After dinner, we made the drive back to Kernersville and arrived home just before 9PM. 

On Friday, we went to the Wake Forest vs. Charleston Southern basketball game. Grammy, Grandpa, and Paw Paw came along, and they helped to improve the kid-to-adult ratio. It sure is nice having five adults to only two kids! With the extra hands and laps, plus the snacks of popcorn and pretzels and sips of Grandpa's soda, Emmy and Eli were thoroughly spoiled. At halftime, the Deacs were losing 28-32, but luckily they came back in the second half to win by double digits 71-56. It was Emmy and Eli's first Wake Forest basketball game, and we hope there will be many more to come.  

We had our Bakewell Thanksgiving earlier today at the Houstons'. We gathered around 1PM, and while Zack finished up carving the birds and plating the sides, the kids played outside while the Mommies enjoyed a glass of wine :)  Zack deep-fried a turkey and a duck this year; Meg made her broccoli casserole, and then Grammy made the other tasty sides of sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes. After the cleaning up was done, we had dessert: apple pie, pumpkin pie, and fresh chocolate chip cookies. What a meal!

We have much to be thankful for! As we prepare for the Christmas season, we pause to remember all that God has blessed us with. I think Emmy captures it well in her writing at school. I pray that we carry these feelings of gratitude into December and all throughout the year.