Giving Thanks...

I've been doing it all week, and it's been wonderful.  I woke up early on Thanksgiving morning to attend a yoga/boot camp class at a yoga studio right down the street from my house.  What a glorious way to start an otherwise gluttonous day.  I earned that cheese!  and wine!  and pie!  As the sun was rising, I was doing my pigeon pose to stretch out my hips after doing what felt like a million squats.  I was ridiculously sore the next day, and it felt so good.  I was reminded to give thanks for my body.  My strong, healthy body that takes me where I need to go and allows me to do everything I want to do.  

The rest of the day was spent in the kitchen, where I cooked a feast.  A fresh turkey from the farm, roasted acorn squash, green beans, salad, garlic and sage mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.  I was reminded to give thanks for good food, and the ability to fill my plate with it.  

Kevin's mom, sisters, and brothers-in-law all came for the day.  We had a wonderful time hanging out, catching up, playing games.  The boys wanted to play numerous rounds of checkers and connect four, and they even got outside for a bit to play football on a really cold day.  Family is what the day is really all about.  My sister-in-law is due to have her first baby any day now, and we give thanks for an uneventful pregnancy so far and hope for a smooth delivery as our family continues to grow.  

The boys and I put together our annual soup can turkey, and he had a lot of feathers this year.  Aaron asked everyone what they were thankful for, and he wrote the answers on each feather.  A nice family, health, good food, Buzz Lightyear, everybody here, Woody, baby Alex, cute boys, good music, a warm house, a nice brother, friends, Uncle John…  A great list of things for which to be thankful.  (Can you tell which are Nathan's contributions?)  

After the big day, we got our Christmas tree and decorated the house.  We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas as we decorated our tree, as we do every year.  And Aaron had Grandma's help making the paper chain for the tree this year.   I'm thankful for traditions, and I'm hopeful that the boys will cherish them as they get older.