Catching up... with gratitude

It was a lovely November for sure, from the looks of my Thirty Days entries.  It is becoming one of my favorite traditions, the daily gratitude blog in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.  Something about a reflective daily practice helps time to spread out a bit, with all the noticing. 

I am grateful for a long November.

Then-- suddenly-- it was Thanksgiving!  And birthdays!  And December!  So soon!

The holidays are upon us and we are about 80% ready to launch.  I am loving our decorations this year and the Christmas music on the radio and my giddy-excited little ones bounding to their Advent calendars each morning, and I am grateful for all of it.

I'd just like it to slow down a bit.  At least enough for me to write about it all!

So here goes.  In a few moments stolen between CircleFest and our holiday photo shoot this morning, and my WSC concert tonight, I'd love to tell you about our Thanksgiving.

A quick Facebook conversation between a few cousins led to a table in the breezeway at Aunt Pat's house that looked like this:

 ... and the back-in-time view of my aunts working in the kitchen, here at Grandma Gertie's house.

 

In my mind's eye was the overall of green appliances and the little round-ended breakfast bar, old wood cabinets and my tiny grandmother, eyes sparkling, pulling out the swiss cheese and crackers and hugs for us all.

I love that Aunt Pat has kept so many things the same in this house, this place of soft and gentle memories from my childhood..

This Thanksgiving Grandma Gertie was in all of our hearts as we gathered 23 relatives for lots of conversation and enough food to feed several small nations.  The only people missing were my Dad and Ana-- and thanks to the magic of Skype they joined us for part of the meal, passed around on the screen of my phone for boisterous greetings as we passed food and clattered serving dishes.  We only dropped them in the mashed potatoes once.

I love my family.  They are loud and honest and loving, irreverent and loyal and welcoming to all.  I am so happy to have these opportunities to become friends with my cousins now that we're all adults and age differences aren't that noticeable any more.

My favorite moments of the day?  Watching Jack and Ivy becoming fast friends with the newest generation of Strasburg cousins:  Kyler, Emma, John-John, Lauren and Sarah.  Especially when they gathered on the carpet outside the magical light-up coat closet of all toys.  Another back-in-time moment-- watching them I was 8 years old again, eagerly opening that same door to step into the world of little people and vintage dolls that awaited inside, a secret just for me.  

I am so grateful for this opportunity to give them these memories, too.