JollyDaze 4 Thanksgiving

JollyDaze 4 u & me meme

Welcome to our first 
JollyDaze 4 u & me meme! 
For 6 weeks we'll be posting about the holidays, and this week is Thanksgiving. For more information and the post idea starter schedule, check out the informational post for JollyDaze here.


And now, a step back in time...

Anytime my crew gets to talking about Thanksgiving, they circle quickly around to 2005--one of the most memorable Thanksgivings we've had. Now, you may consider us unAmerican, but remember, spending my teen years in Ecuador kind of altered how I view holidays. Turkey was unavailable there so we made due with what we had, and since it was THE best time to go to the beach, that's what many of us did, even if it meant eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along the side of the mountain on the way. Which it did. So, I thought I was doing great and in the spirit of the holiday by making turkey lunch meat sandwiches for the fam in 2005. ;-)

Thanksgiving of 2005 found us scrambling to get a house roofed before bad weather moved in. And it moved in the evening of Thanksgiving day. If we wanted the house under cover so we could work on it through the winter, we had to work on Thanksgiving... So we did.

Here's my youngest--he was about 4 here. Can you see the Thanksgiving Dinner anticipation building?


Our family has always worked together--in the house and out of it. My older daughter preps the shingles before they go to the roof.


The easiest way to keep an eye on the youngest was to give him a hammer and bring him with you up on the roof. Now, before you freak out on me, remember, my kids have all been brought up around construction and they're taught about roof behavior very early. VERY early. What you don't see in this picture is his daddy only two feet lower than him on the roof.


My middle son and younger daughter help in many ways, including cleaning out the original flower bed. It had been full of shingle bits and pieces from tearing the roof off a couple days earlier. They were up and down off the roof too. Many times they were shingle preparers and transporters.


And here's the cooker of Thanksgiving Day 2005. This man is amazing!! That year he roofed half that house in record time, even as the temperature dropped and the clouds grew heavier.


I didn't have a picture of our turkey lunch meat sandwich dinner, probably because I was busy making those sandwiches, but here's one of our desserts that day. Fruit and nut granola bars! Can you say yumz? My youngest sure was!


Like every Thanksgiving, there were moments here and there for naps... Here's my oldest in the comfiest spot around. Well, actually, that would've been the bench seat of the old pick-up but the youngest was crashed there. ;-)


We may have worked our tails off that Thanksgiving, but we sure made memories. The kids still love talking about it and we had fun...right up to when the snow started and we packed up and waited for Jim to finish the last few rows, in the spitting the snow. But we got it done and the inside work continued through the winter. Lemme tell ya, we were THANKFUL!


Happy Thanksgiving!
May you make many memories.

If you're joining us for the JollyDaze 4 u & me meme by posting on your blog this week about Thanksgiving, be sure to add your name and the link to that particular post in the linky gadget here.

On deck for next week, the 29th: Favorite Christmas Traditions... memories of a tradition... 

9 comments:

  1. What a beautiful story of a blessed Thanksgiving. Love the pictures! Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving 2011--not sure it can compare to 2005. Hugs! Love ya!

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  2. Those types of non-traditional holidays are what cement the memories in your mind! May yours be blessed this year - and may you not need a new roof!

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  3. What an awesome story-and photos! Thanks for sharing.

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  4. A roof over one's head is certainly something to be thankful for!

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  5. Awesome way to spend the holiday. What a memory you all have. Our kids grew up around construction too and I didn't even blink when I saw you son on the roof.
    Diana
    www.pencildancer.com

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  6. What a totally amazing and memorable way to spend Thanksgiving! (and i would have FREAKED OUT to see those kids on the roof. But I wasn't there :D)

    GREAT post!

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  7. LOL--I knew someone would freak out over the kids on the roof. I did too--when it was our oldest on the roof for the first time. But by the time the 5th one was up there it was old hat. ;-) But we were still VERY attentive and careful and always right with him!!!

    Valerie, that particular roof wasn't for our personal house, the one we live in. It was for one we owned at the time and were fixing up to sell. It was his winter job that year so getting it closed up was critical for working through the winter. Lots of great memories from that job! =]

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  8. great fun photos. Thanks for hosting this! will be fun go explore other blogs

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  9. This is a great post (and a great idea, Patty). Bet you're glad you took all those photos -:). I can imagine the sinking feeling in your stomach when your first son when up on the roof!!!

    I wouldn't have imagined you to be that brave when I first knew you at age 12!!

    Thanks for getting me going on a blog ... I've got a lot yet to learn.

    With love to you all ...

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