Thanksgiving Past


Thanksgiving is a great kick-off for Christmas! Starting the holiday season--CHRISTmas--with thankfulness is the best way to launch us into a time of celebration.

Thanksgiving is full of memories for me--but not the typical American memories most people have. Oh no. Not even close.

After a childhood full of Thanksgivings spent in Maine and Massachusettes, we settled into fried chicken or *gasp* peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Thanksgiving. Sounds fun, doesn't it? LoL. If it doesn't, maybe I should add that we were en route to a gorgeous South Pacific beach on the coast of Ecuador. White sand, warm breezes, great beach for swimming and walking, and friends. Little bamboo houses on stilts right on the edge of the beach so every night you were lulled to sleep by the surf. Even on cloudy and rainy days, the beach was an awesome place to spend Thanksgiving.

Fast forward twenty years.

One of the most memorable Thanksgivings my family has had was the one we spent roofing. Snow was coming and the roof of a house we were flipping was open.


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. ;-)


When he wasn't napping, 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 helped by 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.


My older daughter prepped many of the shingles before they went to the roof.


The kids aren't that little anymore! Here, let me show you... My oldest is in the back row, wearing the white undershirt and overalls *eye roll*, my middle son is in the brown shirt, my older daughter is on the far left and younger daughter on the far right. The youngest? He's in the middle behind the birthday cake. And the others? They're grafted into the family, bringing with them much joy and love.



Needless to say, a week from now the volume in my house will be loud and I'll be loving it because after all, Thanksgiving is all about family and friends.

Joining us for the Holly Jolly Blog Hop hosted by Karla Akins? Be sure to link up with us!

13 comments:

  1. Looks like you'll be having lots of fun. :)

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  2. Great post...precious memories. :-)

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    1. They are, Pamela. Especially now that Dad's in Heaven and my kids are...so much older (and bigger!!). LoL.

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  3. Wow, how impressed I am with your family's work ethic! I love nontraditional interpretations of a holiday and this one hits that target. Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. LoL. Yes, our family is very NONtraditional in many ways. It's fun but it also ensures we get lots of weird looks. ;-)

      Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! And thank you for doing this Holly Jolly Blog Hop!! :)

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  4. LOVE IT, Patty! Your kids have grown up! Can't believe how tall the boys are! WoW! You have a very beautiful family. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

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    1. Thanks, Shelley. =]
      Yeah, the boys just seem to keep growing. Still kinda shocking to me. LoL. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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  5. Love this, peejers! What amazing memories you have - AND that you'll make!

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    1. LoL. Yes, some are definitely unique. =] I love them. =] and I'm looking forward to the upcoming ones. =]

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  6. Nice post. I like that you celebrated it differently. When I lived in California and Florida, my family did things a bit differently too. :)

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    1. =] I bet you did! there's something about warm weather and palm trees that seem to...dictate that. LoL. I miss that warm weather! =]

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  7. The important thing is that you were all together. What a blessing it is to have
    family around for Thanksgiving!

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