....check everything off my list

...and write a new one

I am running out of steam as I finish preparations for tomorrow.

I was trying to think what I wanted for the big day; here is the new list of things I came up with:

• I just want everything to be tasty and I want to make the things my visitors want.
• I just want everyone to feel comfortable in my home.
• I just want my children to behave and mind their manners.
• I just want my children to be appreciative and thankful for their relatives coming to spend time with them.
• I want to enjoy the day tomorrow.

Looking at this list it is probably similar to what many people want from tomorrow.  The Hallmark version of a family Thanksgiving.  Something to frame.  Something to remember.

I can tell you...I can vividly remember nearly every Thanksgiving since Mark and I have been married.  I am not sure why this holiday is so marked in my memory.  I suppose it is because every year has been celebrated in a different location, a different state, with different family members.

(Here is a little trip down memory lane...)

The first Thanksgiving after Mark and I were married we were living in Lompoc, CA; near Vandenburg AFB.  My in-laws made the trip to California to visit us.  We spent the actual holiday in Monterey eating at a very bad restaurant...but I made a traditional meal before we left on that little trip.  That was my first Thanksgiving away from home.  I was so homesick.  I spent a good portion of that day sobbing.  Most notably, running off to my bedroom, right before the meal was served.  

One of my favorite Thanksgiving weekends was when Isabella was a toddler and the Crow families all met up on Cape Code.  I loved visiting Plymouth Plantation on Thanksgiving Day.  I have some of my very favorite photos of Isabella as a baby from that trip.  She even began walking well that weekend!

Another favorite weekend was the year Abbey was born.  Both of our brothers and their wives made the trip to visit a very VERY pregnant ME in NJ.  We have such a fun weekend together...watching movies, indulging in some wine, and enjoying each other's company while waiting for #3 to join us.  She barely missed meeting her aunts and uncles that weekend and instead was born the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  

One year we went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade!  Mark, myself, all the kids, and my brother and Taylor faced the crowds in New York City.  What a fun experience (though Mark might use a different word to describe that adventure).  I loved that parade (what we could see of it) and wished that we could've gone back...maybe another year.

We have been to restaurants on Thanksgiving (some terrible and others pretty good), I lost my grandfather the Thanksgiving weekend the year Isabella was born, we have celebrated our baby's first birthday on a Thanksgiving (2008) and we found out I was pregnant with Audrey on another.

Thanksgiving is always a memorable holiday weekend.

It's easy to understand why this will be another memorable holiday weekend.  And this is not likely to be in the top five of my favorite Thanksgiving day celebrations.... 

I have changed so much since that first Thanksgiving back in 1998.  Our family has changed even more.  I am incredibly thankful for that.  But, this Thanksgiving I won't spend much time blubbering about what I don't have or who isn't with us.   Instead, I will quietly miss him so SO much.  I'll pretend I am holding his hand during the prayer at dinner.  I will miss him telling me to 'sit down'...'relax'.  And I will cherish the time I have with our family.

I have done everything I can possibly for my wish list to happen.  

I won't worry too much when my children don't behave or mind their manners.  

I'll do my best to help teach them appreciation and thankfulness.  

There is plenty of food tomorrow.  And Mark's family is super easy to please.  

Likewise, they will be so happy to see us they won't even realize I didn't mop the floor.

That brings me to the last one...

And well...I am already enjoying the day and it isn't even here yet.  

Can't you hear the kids voices now?  The squeals and giggles?  The love in their voices?

When they see their grandparents?  When they show Aunt Sandy their rooms?

....and when they talk to their Dad to wish him a Happy Thanksgiving.