The best Thanksgiving ever

It all started Thanksgiving morning when I woke up with a giant raspberry being blown on my stomach courtesy of the Mr. He thinks he's so cute sometimes. We stayed in our warm cozy bed for a while and recognized the many ways in which we are blessed and all the who's and what's that we are thankful for. And because we had already declared this the best Thanksgiving ever, BD got up first and started making breakfast burritos (score!) while I stayed in bed for one more round of solitaire (double score!). I was on a pretty impressive winning streak, after all. Before long, BD was spandexed-up and headed out on a brisk bike ride and I prepped my kitchen for pie making with the Thanksgiving Day Parade turned on in the background. We set the DVR to record the National Dog Show, because duh, cute doggies. With the Mr. exercised, showered, and shaved and all the food prepped, baked, and bagged we set out for Mom and Papa Ed's.

I am of the opinion that the best part of large family gatherings is the symphony of chaos that occurs in the kitchen right before. There's nothing like a warm, crowded kitchen with busy bodies everywhere, catching up on this and that, tasting and stirring, rolls in the oven, rolls that won't rise, turkey shrapnel flying, gravy that needs salting, appetizers that need eating, everyone happy and hungry and stepping on one another trying not to get burned or doused or otherwise. A blessing on the food and somehow, miraculously, everything makes it to the table warm and perfect and tasting like Thanksgiving should. Then the pies come out, and well, that is why it was the best Thanksgiving ever.

Our families, both sides, are ever changing. There is a cute new boyfriend on the scene, a soldier still away from home, newlyweds with big smiles and unshaven beards, newly engaged couples with sparkly rings, babies on the way, babies hoped to be on the way, a surprise visit from the great nieces and nephew, new ballroom dance shoes, others on the road away from home, talk of new jobs, new gadgets, a call from T&T, and of course the WHATTHEWHAT?! revelation of the day. Gotta have that. We love and cherish our families and all the crazy they bring into our lives. And we very much appreciate them accepting the crazy that we likewise bring into theirs.

Hugs and kisses and just like that we were back in the car headed home sweet home. Only, we ran into horrible stand still traffic on the north bound freeway, which is never fun. But since this was the best Thanksgiving ever we squashed our complaints and instead prayed for the families that were affected by whatever it was that had shut down the freeway. They were most likely not having the best Thanksgiving ever and if I could have I would have given them my leftover pumpkin pie. By the time we arrived home we were so full that we vowed to never eat again, and so tired that we vowed to sleep forever, and ultimately so thankful that we vowed to never forget our blessings, which are many.