Thanksgiving (Round One)
Yesterday we had Thanksgiving festivities with my family.  For us it is always round one of two since we get to follow it up with the bigger, more food & people filled celebration with Navyy’s family (this year that will fall on Saturday).
My family’s Thanksgiving is a pretty small affair.  My sister drove down from the Twin Cities to be here with everyone this week, and aside from my parents, Navyy, Minky, and I our only additional guest was my 89 year old grandmother.  She makes the flight up from Indianapolis without fail, which means that even if we are not able to make it down that direction we get to see her at least once in the year.  Given that it has been a full year since the little guy had the chance to see her (and given how small he was at the time) we were really grateful to the have the opportunity to have them spend some time together.
It was freezing cold yesterday, in typical Minnesota fashion, so we trekked on over (the whole 4 blocks) to my parents’ house in the car after Minky’s nap.  From there on in there was tons of playing with cars and trains, the occasional conversational lull (my family could use some serious pointers when it comes to making small-talk), and then a good - but not too overindulgent - Thanksgiving meal (we will save that for Saturday).  Our meal is pretty fixed - cheese and crackers as an appetizer, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rutabaga (Granny’s favorite), brussel sprouts (my dad’s favorite), stuffing, cranberries, and pie for dessert.  I brought the cranberries and the pie (the latter of which received plenty of compliments).
All in all, I would call it a success.  Navyy’s family Thanksgiving will be a little more raucous and fun, and I am looking forward to it, but I am really grateful for being able to spend some quality time with my family as well.
-Kat (Transparenting)
