Thanksgiving Sunday…..

Today is Thanksgiving Sunday……my favourite holiday of the year, always has been. It’s not about gifts, it about food, family and friends……yes possibly in that order. 🙂

My husband and I share the cooking duties for thanksgiving dinner…….his favorite part is basting Tom, but that’s not the only part he does. He peeled and cubed the turnip, got the squash ready and “tested” the stuffing to make sure it had the right amount of everything. My family loves turkey, we’re not sure why we don’t cook it more often throughout the year (It probably has something to do with the amount of preparation and clean-up involved.)

Tom.....before the tanning bed.....

Chris applying the tanning lotion.....or basting Tom.....

Tom.....after the tanning bed......

My kids were all home for thanksgiving dinner except for my youngest son Nick who moved away a couple of weeks ago. I love family dinners, everyone talking at once, telling stories of what has happened since the last time everyone was together……..complete and total chaos.

I remember thanksgiving dinners when I was a kid, to me it was the greatest meal of the year. I used to love it when my grandparents came for thanksgiving, before dinner we kids would climb the trees to pick apples from our orchards for my grandmother. The only part I never appreciated about thanksgiving dinners when I was a kid was “squash”, I couldn’t figure out why anyone would choose to eat that. My mom was a firm believer in making us eat everything on our plate and no matter how hard I tried to avoid it squash always seemed to make it’s way onto my plate. I have since learned to like appreciate squash but I do not make my kids eat it.

It seemed like Thanksgiving was always the last nice weekend before winter hit…..it wasn’t always a nice weekend but I remember it as being so. This year it’s definitely a nice weekend…..like summer not fall……temperatures in the high 20’s to low 30’s……..what a day!! The leaves were always at their peak by this weekend…….bright reds, yellows and oranges……..and by the following weekend the trees were generally bare. I’m sure that’s why these are my favorite colours, and why Fall is my favorite season, it is by far the prettiest season.

I always try to take “Fall Pics” of my kids on or close to Thanksgiving weekend. We try to find a different place every year that has the best leaves. This year we took them in the park by our house. I may have to photo shop Nick into the pics. :), he was never a fan of my picture taking…….neither are the other kids but they just tolerated it quieter than he did. My husband always helps me out by telling them…… “This isn’t about you, it’s about your Mom, just let her take the pictures so we can go home.” 🙂 I love my husband, he’s always straight to the point (and he doesn’t like having pictures taken either).

Dinner was delicious and afterwards the “girls” (that would include me) sat in the kitchen and told “baby” stories……ok mostly me telling them stories about funny things they did when they were babies, and the “boys”watched the hockey game……a typical boy/girl kinda thing to do.

Tomorrow we will eat leftovers, and I will eat the dessert that I didn’t have room for today! This was a great Thanksgiving Day!!

I am very thankful for my wonderful husband and children and that we can all get together and enjoy each others company……and that they will still agree to do Fall Pictures for me. 🙂

My Family.....just missing Nick who wasn't able to be here this Thanksgiving.