Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving: a new tradition?


Psalm 107:1  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever.


Do you ever wonder how family traditions get started? I love to look back into my 18 year marriage and see how well we have accommodated one another's family traditions and made them our own.  Most of them revolve around Christmas.  My family always had turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I am not sure what Kevin grew up eating on Christmas, probably turkey or ham.  For some reason, when I entered the picture in the Labella family that first year they had a standing rib roast.  I can still see my dad-in-law in the kitchen of the Old Saybrook house (with all the baskets on the walls) cooking the roast on the Farberware.  He may even have had a cigar hanging out of his mouth and certainly had a bloody mary in his left hand.  Ever since then we have always had a roast for Christmas, whether with the whole family or just our immediate selves.  Then there is the angel versus star on the tree.  I grew up with an angel and he had a star.  Early in our marriage I found a gorgeous angel holding a star scepter.  She doesn't always light up and her beautiful wings don't change colors any more, but I love the symbolism of compromise there.
Where is the rest of the pie?

Last year I think we started another new tradition.  We, formerly Texas Labellas now Alabama Labellas, have not had company or gone to Thanksgiving anywhere else except maybe once since we moved from Florida to Frisco in 2000.  I love making the dinner and all of the fixings and have gotten it down to a science for a low stress day.  The problem is that I make A TON of food for just 5 of us.  I make everything I like, some of which I am the only one to eat. And we eat later than most I think, trying to time it out to half time of the late game.  So that puts it around 3:30ish CST.

With all of the turkey and side dishes who has room for dessert?  So last year, we ate pie a day before Thanksgiving. Cutting into the pie early, gasp.  Why not, though?  We didn't have to take it anywhere and it smelled sooo good and honestly just a bit naughty.  And oh my gosh, still warm from the oven pecan pie that has had just enough time to set up--mmm--with a dollop of whipped cream..... We did it again yesterday.  The boys didn't know it was going on, which makes it even better :0) So sneaking pecan pie a day early seems to be our new tradition.
CG in charge of peeling potatoes 

Since it is Thanksgiving, I will list just a few of the many things I am thankful for right now...
~The usuals: good(ish) health, good running vehicles, jobs, nice home, etc.
~That God continues to protect us through hard economic times of our world. We have everything we need every single day.

~That I got to see my 98 yo Grandma Dorothy twice this year. 
~I got to see my daddy 3 times this year and Joanie twice. 
~All of the abilities I have been blessed with.  
~Old friends and the technology that makes it so easy to stay in touch with them. 
~New friends and friends I have yet to meet. 
that's just to name a few.  

Let me know one thing you are thankful for!

Happy Turkey Day! 

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