Bits with the Belchers: Thanksgiving

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thanksgiving

I have already typed and published my Thankful Thursday post, but I want to recount how we spent the holiday as well. We have always done every other year for Thanksgiving and odd years are with my side. Awhile back- two, three months maybe- I was talking to my mom about Daniel and I needing a vacation. We've all been there, especially if you have kids, where you just need a break, a minute to be a couple again. And we live away from our family, so if we want a date night it costs a fortune, which is why we don't often get one.
So we discussed the idea of Daniel taking off the whole week of Thanksgiving, we drive in early, drop off the kids, and go away for a night or two. I knew by this point Maggie would be weaned and getting her to sleep would not be an issue. Well, that's just what we did (I know, my mom's great, right?). And to tie in with my TT post, I'm so thankful Daniel has the time to take off, the means to get away for a couple nights and a willing and available mother to watch our kids. We chose Cedars of Lebanon State Park....it's maybe 20 minutes from my parents house so if either child did have an issue, we weren't stuck far away and their cabin rentals are very reasonable. Enjoying some time together as a couple without the noise and interruption of our children was a great way to start the holiday weekend.

We returned Tuesday afternoon and I got to work on my pies- I usually contribute dessert to the meal and make the mashed potatoes. Wednesday company arrived- family drove down from St. Louis and flew up from Florida and of course all my siblings were in attendance. Chaos ensued but it was a fun time with family....hospitality is definitely one of my parents' spiritual gifts because the house was packed! The food was delicious as always...I think my parents spent the whole week in the kitchen not only preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, but food for the remainder of the weekend and of course cleaning up. We watched movies, played games, sat outside by the firepit a couple nights, even had s'mores.