thanksgiving

happy belated thanksgiving!
thanksgiving is an exceptional time of year.
any holiday that's sole celebration is gratitude is spectacular.
i have a lot to be grateful for.
every year i think i've maxed out on things i can be thankful for- i've been blessed a lot my whole life- but then thanksgiving comes around and i discover new things to add to my list.
sometimes it's things i should have realized i was thankful for long before; or sometimes there are new things i become thankful for.
this year i'm extra grateful for a good husband.
one i can live around the country with and always feel like i'm at home.
a man that does any teeny thing i want him to when i'm pregnant.
a father that will stay home with his little girl when i have to go to work.
everyday i'm exponentially more grateful for my mary.
she teaches me something every day.
simple lessons i've long forgotten that only a child can teach.
she makes me happy every moment i'm around her (yes even when she's crying; which seems impossible, but it's the reality of things.)
i've never learned so much from a single human being in all my life.
i'm grateful for all of my six senses- i take them for granted, and i never should.
i'm grateful for health and ability and mental capacity.
i'm grateful i get to be a mother again and that i don't get crazy morning sickness or feel really bad when i'm pregnant (although i'm still not very grateful for the whole pregnancy experience).
i will always be grateful for my family.
for a home.
for food.
for freedom.
there's a million teeny tiny things i'm grateful for.
like evergreen trees
and the smell of cut grass
and hot chocolate
and cardigans
and a smile from a baby
and the sound of music
and a list a million miles long.
there are beauties all around that deserve our gratitude.
a gracious god gave us infinitely many things to thank him for.
he'll show us if we look.

our thanksgiving day began with a turkey trot.
i told dale if he's going to enter races he better place and win a prize (preferably a cash prize).
he told me good luck having him meet all those criteria.
so i bit the overcoming cheap bullet and said he could sign up even if his racing confidence was low.
mares and i bundled up and headed to the course.
we saw the start, and somehow only barely saw the finish even though they were at about the same place and we barely moved.
dale took 3rd overall and won his age division- and i told him, "i told you so."

we found ourselves hauling around one good sized turkey.
a turkey that really got us fretting over our freezer space.
even mary got to participate in her first organized athletic event- a kid race.
at first we thought the age groups were 0-2 so mares would be destroying the competition, but last minute they informed us it was only up to 2 so instead of mares being the eldest she would be the youngest in the 3-4 age division.
she solo ran her little heart out.
that competitive drive lined her face.
she dominated one person she competed against.
it was the most adorable second to last place finish in all the land.

she got the same prize as all the other kids, so her competitive spirit wasn't instantly crushed by her first race.
dale's sister, amanda, and his father, doug, also ran the race- they also placed in their age divisions.

by the end of the event the loot total was:
2 turkeys
one pumpkin pie
a head lamp/flashlight combo
and an electronic tire gauge
an extra successful turkey trot 2014 for the golding crew.
the rest of the day was full of wish washy family picture taking decision making that made me a bit loony.
then there was the feast-
there were only 4 items on the menu that didn't have double options and dale and i supplied 2 of them....
when you have
mashed potatoes
green bean casserole
rolls so good they must be made from drugs
homemade cranberry sauce
2 types of stuffing
2 types of meat
2 types of sweet potatoes
2 types of beverages
and then the grand haul of 8 types of homemade pie
(pumpkin, german chocolate, pecan, apple, lemon meringue, 2 blackberry, and pineapple)

uncomfortable is the only level of eating that's appropriate.
we waited an extra 4 hours from the announced time of feasting, but options like that can be waited on only mildly begrudgingly.
(and only mildly because i hadn't eaten all day otherwise i would have been pleased to wait.)
after eating i took dale on his first "brown thursday" escapade.
target and best buy were our destinations.
he said he doesn't care if he ever goes again.
thus concluded our thanksgiving holiday.

hope your thanksgiving holiday was spectacular.
there are a million wonderfully beautiful things we should all be terribly grateful for.
happy belated thanksgiving!