Life In The Treehouse: Thanksgiving 2009

Each year on Thanksgiving we all reflect on what has occurred in the past year that we are thankful for. There are so many blessings that we receive each day, but I can say that what I am most thankful for this year is my baby Jack. He is such a joy and a wonderful addition to our little clan. Also on our list and in no particular order are health, a happy family, a wonderful church, great kids, great friends, a prosperous & thriving practice, a wonderful nanny for our kids(actually make that 2 wonderful nannies), our home, lessons learned, the love of God and much much more.

Our normal Thanksgiving traditions continued this year without missing a beat...

This year we started the day delivering a meal to a family in need. After lunch we went out to Weber's Tree Farm to get our annual Christmas tree. The kids especially look forward to it because Heath lets them take turns driving around as we look for the "perfect" tree. This year's tree like many in the past was a bit large. Why is it that they look just right out in the middle of the field, and then when we cut the twine in the living room, the branches encompass most of the room? I guess you could say it is our "Griswold Family Traditon."

Our good friends the Pohlman's joined us for dinner. The boys were especially excited to have Jacob stay for a slumber party. Miss Morgan wore one of her fancy dresses for dinner, and baby Jack got his very first tooth. Last year I let the kids decorate the tree but this year I waited for them to go to bed and surprised them with a fully decorated Christmas tree when they got up in the morning. All in all it was a pretty laid back day this year but not any less special than any other.

I have cooked Thanksgiving dinner every year but one since I started dating Heath in 1995, but our traditions didn't really start until 2001 when we first moved here. Heath always travelled for Christmas and didn't really care much about decorating or all the preparations for the holidays. I on the other hand had grown up with numerous traditions. So when that first Iowa Thanksgiving arrived, my parents came out to share it with us. I decided to take advantage of their presence to enjoy some traditions with others who shared in my excitement. We went to a tree farm on Thanksgiving and cut down a tree. We decorated it together complete with eggnog and Christmas music. My dad and Heath even put lights on the house. The fact that it was 70 degrees that year was probably more influential in getting the job done than my request. Over the years they continued to come visit over Thanksgiving until recently, and each year we did the same thing. We also try to invite others to our home who like us might not have family in the area to spend the holiday with. One year we had 15 extra people at our table. That year was particularly funny because if you know me, you know that I love to cook, but could really care less about baking, so when people asked what they could bring I said dessert. Needless to say, we ended up with a dozen pies from the Village Inn plus the desserts that I had made. Whether it is just us or a houseful of friends and strangers, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. A day to remember good times, and not so good times, eat too much, enjoy our family and friends, and truly embrace all that God has blessed us with.