Thanksgiving 2009

This post goes out especially to Anna, Derik and Chrissy who were unable to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family this year.

Our little family started out Thanksgiving 2009 by sleeping in…is there possibly a better way?  Belén woke up at 6am to eat and once she was finished, we decided to let her sleep in our bed with us both because we love to snuggle with her and also because it yields the best probability that she will sleep in.  Our plan worked and we all lazily woke up around 9am.  Score!

Andy offered to make crepés for breakfast while in the meantime I fed Belén avocado and puffs.  With a child in our home, I thought it was only right to turn on the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade.  In the past we seldom watched it.  I find it funny that even though Belén is not quite old enough to get that she is watching cartoons or programs where the target audience is children, we still find ourselves turning them on for her, prematurely subjecting ourselves to programs we were happy to live without watching pre-kid.

I rallied the lazy household for a hike in the foothills.  Belén donned her bear suit I had purchased for her to wear this winter.  I remedied the gender neutrality of the suit with the same cute pink bow that her lioness Halloween costume proudly displayed.

The little bear had to come out of hibernation to hike

Serious hiker bear

One-handed

The Beautiful Boise foothills

Intimidating the cow

Mountain bikers, dogs, cows, a bear and hikers

Went back into hibernation at the end of the hike

After our hike, we went over to Andy’s parents home, where my parents, Andy’s sister, Erin and Andy’s aunt and uncle also joined us for Thanksgiving dinner.

We brought the turkey and dessert this year, both of which were purchased rather than prepared in our little kitchen.  Andy procured a smoked turkey from Smoky Davis and I purchased Gobble Pops from my friend in San Diego’s Sarandipity Sweets.  The turkey was amazing (I was quite skeptical that I liked smoked turkey and was not thrilled in Andy’s choice in birds…but I was proven wrong!) as were the Gobble Pops.  The rest of the meal consisted of Irish potatoes, corn, two types of cranberry salad, two types of rolls, two types of stuffing, gravy, wine, pumpkin pie and I am sure there is something else I am accidentally omitting.

Our moms and the turkey

Gobble Pops, as tasty as they are cute!

In lieu of the typical prayer, Ray, Andy’s dad, gave the prayer.   He went around the table and expressed why he was thankful for each one of us.  At first I thought I might be successful in fending off the tears, but we he started talking about my dad, I recognized it was going to be impossible.  By the time he made it to Andy, Eileen had added a box of Kleenix to the crowded table and we were all dabbing our eyes.  Even though Anna, Derik and Chrissy were absent, Ray still said very nice things about them as well.  It was a very special prayer we will always remember.  Too bad we didn’t have a video camera…hmmm, would it be worth daring the Black Friday crowds for one??  I think I will wait for Cyber Monday, seems more fitting.

Andy and I sitting at the table

After dinner, we talked and watched a couple of segments from pre-recorded Oprah episodes Eileen had saved.  Of course Belén entertained everyone until it was time for her to go to bed around 7:15pm.  We didn’t last much longer than she did and were home around 9pm.

Belén with Grandpa

Entertaining with giggles

It never fails...the best we can do for a family picture

Andy and I spent a bit of time reminiscing about the last two Thanksgivings and how things have changed for us in two years.  Two years ago, we spent Thanksgiving on a catamaran with six friends sailing around Phangang Bay in Thailand.

Enjoying our time sailing near Phuket, Thailand, 2007

About the time we would have been digging into turkey in the US (not taking into account timezone differences), we were wading through water up to a beach that was literally moving.  As we approached, we realized the reason the beach appeared to be moving was because of the baby crab infestation on the beach.

The crabs made these really cool balls with the sand, almost reminding me of the beach’s version of henna.

Balls of sand created by crabs

Designs on the beach from sand balls

We were the only Americans on the boat so Thanksgiving was mentioned by not overly celebrated.  Rather than a turkey for dinner, we purchased a couple of fish from some poor fishermen who pulled up next to our boat and offered to sell us fish.  Andy, the Idaho boy, was the only one on the boat capable of cleaning the fish (although I won’t go into the secret pleasure I experienced cleaning trout, as a kid.)

Last year, our Thanksgiving was spent in much the same fashion as this year except that I was in four months pregnant.  Thanksgiving dinner was the first time people started to really notice I was showing.  I remember feeling way more full than I should have since a very tiny Belén was occupying some of the room typically alloted for the Thanksgiving feast.

We hope you and yours (I just love saying “you and yours” this time of year!) had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!  There is SO much to be thankful for, it is nice to have this time of the year to nudge us to reflect upon and express it!

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Tagged as: crabs, Gobble Pops, hiking, prayer, sand balls, Sarandipity pops, Thailand, Thanksgiving, turkey