a day to give thanks...

Ever since I can remember we have been saying the same two prayers. There is the short version "God is good God is Great, thank us for the food we eat, Amen". and there is the LONG one. "Dear Lord, Thank us for the night, for the pleasant morning light, for friends and food and loving care and all that makes the world so fair. Help us to do the things we should to be to others kind and good. In all we do in work and play to grow more loving every day, Amen". I LOVED the 2nd one but would alway's forget how it began so one of my brothers would have to start it for me. That was such a LONG memory and what seems like a lifetime ago. I hope my children grow up with that. To have memories of "family time" with their siblings. I miss that! SO much has happened in my family that we have sort of "lost" that closeness. It is a shame because we used to be close. But time moves on & people change. Hopefully these memories that we create with our family will stick with them. Again, I look to the light at the end of my tunnel & cannot wait for 20 years from now on...


a day to give thanks

old traditions run deep...

When I was a kid we, my entire family on my mom's side, would gather together at a local park EVERY holiday. Most of all on Thanksgiving. We had SO much fun having turkey & all the fixin's out in the wilderness. Ok it was not exactly the wilderness but we were outside under a pavillion in an extremely wooded park. This was the COOLEST park around & I was able to spend time with my relatives. This tradition lasted till I was about 18 years old. The extended family got SO large, the children started getting jobs & some even got married so we stopped doing it all together. I know, I was sad too! Fast forward many moons later & we sort of re created this tradition when I got married for our wedding rehearsal/BBQ. We, the cousins, realized how much fun it was so we decided to start the tradition up again for Thanksgiving. YAY! This will be our 3rd Re-Anniversary for Thanksgiving at the park. We invite our in-laws, friends, friends of friends, etc. Let's just say it is quite the party. Our family has grown a lot & a lot of my 2nd cousins have babies my childrens age. (I started mommyhood late!) Can I tell you how YUMMY the food is!? So many different types of fixin's that it ends up being a smorgasboard of food! Our little one's are just at the age to enjoy it. This park has nature trails, a tunnel that takes you out to the beach & it used to have an observation deck in which we thought took forever to get to. That must be looking at things through a childs eyes. The many hurricanes & years of use have taken it's toll & it is no longer in use. It was SO cool! From the top you could see the ocean through the trees or the boats in the intracoastal. Don't get me wrong, the park is still cool it would just be cooler is the observation deck was still open. I cannot wait for Turkey day! We are going to have such a fun time. I am SO thankful that...


old traditions run deep...