Thanksgiving Grinch

I'm afraid I'm a bit of a Thanksgiving Grinch. After spending most of this Thanksgiving Day peeling potatoes and yams and juggling the baking of traditional dishes, I whined to my mom that the only people who love Thanksgiving are men and children. She reminded me that Troy really likes to bake, so I added "people who like to cook/bake" to the short list.

So I was feeling kind of grumpy as this Thanksgiving approached. We ate with Charlotte's family and John's parents. Charlotte and I divided up the meal, and there was a lot, because you always feel obligated to have all of the traditional dishes. She suggested that we come over early and let the kids play while we cooked together. That sounded good, but at the last minute, I sent John with the kids, and stayed home to cook, where I didn't have to search for utensils or juggle oven time. I turned on some Christmas music, and it was kind of peaceful, working there by myself. Not too bad, I guess.

I love the gratitude aspect of the holiday. All this month, our Sharing Time lessons were on gratitude, and I enjoyed helping the kids see all the things for which we can be grateful.

And I love being with family. I treasured the time with John's parents, since we don't know how long we'll have with them. John's dad sleeps for most of the day now, and sometimes seems disoriented when he's awake. This last weekend, we had them stay with us, and he seemed more like his old self. It was a beautiful visit.

I will finish this post with pictures of what I am most grateful for:

My Savior (and this picture of Him)

I don't have a recent full-family picture

And, while this will certainly cement the bad impression I've given in this post...I really love Black Friday! I do most of my Christmas shopping that day.