Thanksgiving 2017

Today I feel so full of joy and gratitude.  We took this Thanksgiving at a slow pace.  We spent the morning at home.  Andrew took the kids out for a bit and then we all enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.  We chatted with Andrew’s family on facetime.  In the afternoon my mom and I took the kids out to the playground for some fresh air while Andrew started dinner.

Andrew and my mom took care of making dinner while the kids and I took over setting the table.  We finally opened our box of stoneware that we had packed way three moves ago and had yet to pull back out.  Using them again and reminds me of our newlywed days in a tiny Provo apartment.  Andrew has always been focused on the appearance of the food in addition to taste and those plates were his canvas.

The house smelled and looked like Thanksgiving.  On the menu was butternut squash chowder, winter citrus salad, mashed sweet potatoes, and a loaf of fresh sourdough bread.  It exceeded expectations and Emily has already requested – and we’ve all agreed – this will be our new traditional meal.  Andrew and I couldn’t help but chuckle as the kids at plate after plate of spinach and kale – it was their favorite part of the meal. Emily made little tacos with pomegranate seeds and feta cheese rolled up in the greens.  Nathan simply requested that his kale was cut and the spinach still had a “stick” on it.

Post dinner chatting.

Laura woke up and was ready to eat just as we started dinner.  I fed her and handed her off to Andrew and Grandma Moose to burp.  She stayed awake and it was so fun to have her join us.  The conversation with the kids was fun and I just felt like smiling the entire meal.  We talked about the things we are grateful for this year.  Emily’s was probably the most profound, “I’m grateful for people.  All the people – even the ones who haven’t met me yet.”

Our first picture of as a family of FIVE!

Nathan’s favorite part of the night was the pie.  Emily picked it out yesterday with Andrew so she was excited, but Nathan’s last words as I tucked him in tonight were about eating pie.  With plates.  And cutting it with a knife.

For a first introduction: Laura Carolyn Jackson is here! She was born at 12:22am on Monday.  We came home from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and are doing well.  Besides being sleep deprived (we aren’t sleeping longer than 45 minutes at at time with her…hoping to stretch things out to 2 hours tonight and that sounds heavenly!) recovery is going well for me and we are all in love with our sweet Laura.  Emily has been wrapping up presents for her (a little ball rattle, a picture of our family, and note that says she gave her a ball) and bringing her books, animals, ribbons, and toys to look at.  Nathan loves pointing out that she has a head/mouth/nose/etc. and then exclaiming that we each have those things too!

She arrived just in time to wear the same Thanksgiving outfit that both Emily and Nathan wore.  Her legs were scrunched up in the stomach part, clearly not fitting.  But it’s tradition!

Emily holds her every chance she gets, usually after she wakes up and is done eating.  We’ve been reading The Chronicles of Narnia to Emily before rest and read time and bed time (we read the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, then the The Magicians Nephew, and then per her request we are just finishing The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe again).  She has been snuggling with Laura while I read and it is a lovely experience for all.

Reality check: there are THREE adults around at all times since we got home and there have been plenty of meltdowns from at least the girls in the family over the last few days.  We are at the very beginning of a new adventure and it is going to take time to adjust.

I’m so grateful for a lovely Thanksgiving.  It does my soul good.