Happily Everything...: A Moses Lake Thanksgiving

Let me take you back to a Holiday that is somewhat forgotten amongst the goblins and ghouls of Halloween and the hustle and bustle of Christmas. We call this holiday Thanksgiving! Isn't it a wonderful thing to dedicate an entire day to giving thanks for all we have?! It makes me chuckle to think how quickly we shift gears from "thanks" to "wants" as soon as the clock strikes midnight and the chaos of Black Friday commences!!
This poor holiday has become a mere stepping stone to Christmas and an excuse to gorge ourselves on tantalizing foods! And believe you me I am no exception to these blunders! However, when you marry a " holiday stickler" you begin to appreciate each and every holiday in its entirety! So begins our Thanksgiving adventure in Moses Lake...
It was a Wednesday like no other...I had work off, Dustin would be off soon, and I still had to run over a homemade pie to a family in our ward before we could begin our 12 hour excursion to Moses Lake! Scratch the homemade pie I'll make a quick trip to the glorious Harmon's! If you have the same relationship with Harmon's that I do you know that they are the next best thing to homemade;) I made quite the whirlwind around the house, packing, cleaning, making my self look presentable and then I made a mad dash out the door! I dropped (almost literally)the pumpkin pie off, snatch a few more gifts, speed down 11400 to SEO.com to pick up Dustin from work and we were off! We made limited stops for gas & snacks, encountered the winter wonderland of the blue mountains and pulled up to my parents lakeside Moses Lake house in time to see one of the munchkins still awake and scarf down a home cooked meal! My parents kitchen has become the central hub for family get togethers! It's cozy and spacious at the same time and allows a great view out over the lake! After a few good laughs with the family we retired to the guest room with droopy eyes and full bellies! A great combination for a deep sleep. Despite my food coma I woke up Thanksgiving morning way to early, so early in fact no one else was awake! I silently slipped out of bed, so as not to wake Dustin, and tip-toed my way downstairs to make myself a hot cup of cocoa. Before too long I heard the shuffling of little feet making their way up the stairs...the munchkins were awake! It took them a minute to warm up to me, but when they did they gabbed non stop! As Kai told me about his adventures as Captain America (he loves super hero's) I fixed he and Jax big bowls of cheerios, because Captain America eats his cheerios to become big and strong;) Before too long one by one everyone emerged from their hibernating places until the entire house was in an uproar of laughter, story telling, hugs, and super hero impersonations. I headed out for my morning run with the two Mike and Ike's (my sister Micaiah and her husband Michael) while the rest of the brady bunch started preparations for the Thanksgiving feast. Karen was busy making the infamous "Ruth Chris" yam casserole & a very scrumptious four layered almond joy cake. My dad was up to his elbow in turkey, my mom was making her mouthwatering crescent rolls, Kai had found his new best friend, Dustin, and was towing him downstairs to play "baseball" (what the munchkins call ping pong), Caleb and Rachel were headed back to the Spokane airport to pick up their lost, now found, luggage, Seth was playing mindlessly on his phone, Jax was running around the house half naked, and Jared was teasing Abby...who looked completely bored and uninterested in anything Jared had to say. I enjoyed my favorite 2.5 mile run up the bluff with Mike & Ike, and our little, old dog Max. After coming home we took our time getting ready and tried to keep ourselves from eating anything before the big feast! Around 2:00 PM the final preparations were being putting together, Caleb & Rachel had finally returned, and the rest of us were sitting anxiously in the living room around the dining table waiting to devour this carefully thought out meal. My dad said the prayer and then we were off like horses in a race to heap and pile mounds and mounds of turkey, spiral ham, green beans, salads, stuffing, rolls, pies, cakes, and sparkling cider onto our plates and glasses. We ate, laughed, and ate some more for what seemed like hours. Afterwards, we made ourselves comfortable around the living room while Jared read us letters we had written to him during his first year in college. Some brought tears to our eyes while others brought waves of laughter. We eventually fell into our afternoon Thanksgiving naps. Only to be woken up by Caleb's declaration that it was Christmas time. And that was the end of our Thanksgiving. It lasted a mere 16 hours and it was over. See what I mean by Thanksgiving being forgotten? I may be the pot calling the kettle black as my own family couldn't even seem to give a whole day to Thanksgiving! None the less we were off to celebrate Christmas as now most of the kids are married and sharing holidays between families. The boys put up the Christmas tree faster than you and I can blink and the girls and munchkins adorned the tree with ruby red holly berries, ribbons, and sparkling ornaments until it could hold no more! We raced to our rooms to wrap, and ribbon, and address our gifts with tender loving care to one another. As quickly as we left we returned to the living room and sat around the Christmas tree in wandering awe and anticipation. The munchkins were so antsy they kept running around in their Christmas pj's telling us Santa was coming! They were right, he came, and he delivered. We walked away with much more than we deserved. Though I have to say I have been pretty darn good this year! After our Christmas celebration we slowly meandered our way to our bedrooms for a little shut eye.

Friday morning we awoke to Caleb, who is the world's earliest bird, in the kitchen playing with the munchkins. Our Friday started off with much anticipation for family photos! With a brother, his wife, & their kiddos in California; My other brother and his wife in Texas, A brother who just returned with honor from a mission to Brazil, and the rest of us scattered through Utah & Washington it sure makes it hard for a family photo. Unless, of course you count Photoshop then you can have a great family picture every year! Needless to say I took a quick run, which ended rather quickly as a huge ferocious dog started snarling at Max and myself. I am daring but I'm not messing with no rabies! So we made a B-line straight back to the house where we had to sprint to get ready to make family pictures in time. The photographer came and went within an hour and we were back to our normal crazy lives. We decided to embark on another family Christmas tradition of a movie & lunch at "Inca's". We looked at our list of options for movies and decided upon "The Guardians". It looked like it would have been up to the witty equivalent caliber of "How to train your dragon", what with it's cast being Santa Clause and all, but sadly we were mistaken. It's a cute movie for munchkins but not 12 adults! At least 2 of the 14 of us were satisfied! We left the movie hungry and unsatisfied. Inca's delivered me the best trio enchiladas I have ever tasted, so this made up for the less than Christmas worthy movie! With full belly's once more we headed home to enjoy our last few hours together before Dustin & I had to make our way back to Utah! And what better way to do it than to watch the true blue BYU girls soccer game on the parents new big scree? Yes, Santa blessed them most of all! Sadly the game ended in tears as BYU lost in a double overtime. I really believe that my true blue, through and through, husbands heart broke a little bit. It's always a sad and emotional time for me to leave my family and this was no exception. After the game I slumped back up my room to pack my bags for home. My spirits were lifted a little bit as I realized my bestest friend (and husband) in the whole wide world would be making the trip back with me. We loaded up the car, gave hugs & snogs all around, and then made our way to the front door for a final farewell. Jaxxon started crying so hard it broke my heart to watch him. As we walked out the front door Kai followed us and gave us the most vivacious wave you have ever seen. It melted my heart and brought a smile to my face. I tell myself it's not "goodbye" it's "I'll see you later" and it always makes me feel a little bit better!

Our Thanksgiving was scrumptious and our fake Christmas was magical but spending time with my family was the most splendid of all! I love you all Stones, Sowards, and Hansen's! Xoxo.