It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the USA… It’s my favorite family holiday!
Growing up in a family where biblically based holidays such as Christmas and Easter were more tension than happiness, it became easy to focus on and love Thanksgiving. My sister’s family belonged to a church that didn’t celebrate Christmas or Easter so getting together was typically not a family event and being the family wasn’t all there I could always feel a touch of bitterness with the family that was there. I had an awesome childhood minus all the religious frustrations…
My sister’s family did acknowledge Thanksgiving though so it was the one holiday that we could all agree on…and everyone came. Oh what a lot of us there were.
Many people when they think of Thanksgiving meals….their mind goes to this…
No way…not for us. There were plates…they didn’t match though. At the time with five kids in the family and a number of them married, with kids, there was no table big enough for us all. There was no passing of plates. We ALWAYS had a buffet style feeding where all the dishes went in one spot and we walked through a line to dish up our plates.
The grown ups ate at the dining room table. Us younger kids headed to the basement with our plates.
I am the youngest of the siblings. My sister is the oldest at 16 years older than me. Our three brothers are in between. I was much closer in age to my nieces and nephews so I didn’t hang out with the grown ups. That was okay with me….I loved the kids…We always had so much fun.
After my parents passed away, we don’t really do Christmas or Thanksgiving anymore together. We all have our own families with our own grandchildren. Together there is 54-ish great-grandchildren with 3 more on the way. It’s too many to fit in a house anymore so we all opt to do things with our own immediate families. It’s something I love and hate at the same time. I’m sure some of you can relate.
Today most everyone is expected to be home at our house. Jason will be later because of farm chores….Buck with have the kids by himself. Lora works at Best Buy as a manager and can never be here for Thanksgiving…Kalissa has to leave early to work. The small hospital that she works at is short of nurses with no budget to add to the staff so she’s working overtime and not on her holiday. UGH. She was bummed about that. Like me, she’s a big time Thanksgiving girl. So we’re eating early…11am-ish so she can be here.
As a kid, I always loved it as our big house grew smaller and smaller as more families arrived. I love it even more as an adult. Few things can ever beat the days the kids are home!! It’s fun to think that at least two more will be our table next year.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Kramer house to yours…..I am thankful for all of you who have become a part of my extended family. May your day we filled with happiness too.
Happy Thanksgiving Jo to and your family! May it be a very enjoyable day for everyone. I know one family in my small community with over a hundred relatives and they get together at a local church or rent a hall for the day for a Christmas gathering each year. Thanksgiving is celebrated in smaller groups in people’s homes.
Wishing you an abundance of blessings this Thanksgiving. Enjoy the delight of family, conversations, laughter, joyful noise from the little ones, and delicious food. D. Weeks (aka Momma Llama)
Happy Thanksgiving, Jo, to you and yours. Since most of us don’t have family near, several of my hospice quilting friends made a reservation for dinner. Sounds good to me, although, I will miss being with my family back in Iowa as they gather in CR. Enjoy your special family day! Cheers!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Really enjoy your blog about your quilting and your family.
Happy Thanksgiving and much joy in being with your whole family
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Hope your day is happy!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Our house gets smaller as all the kids come home … and noisier! We will be missing the Michigan family this holiday, they can’t be home for everything when they are far away but they our in our thoughts and hearts.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your family Jo! I’m so thankful I found your blog! Makes my day!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. We all have so very much to give thanks for don’t we?
I love reading about your family, probably because I’m an only child from a tiny family. The largest dinner we ever had was 8 people and they’re much smaller now. I’m used to small celebrations so it’s all good. Have a great day with your family. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
You write a wonderful Blog. Happiest Thanksgiving. Cathy
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, whether they are home or not. Each of us has a different set of circumstances that change the family dynamic. If we all get together, there are only 8 of us. This year, we will all be together. I’m thankful for that.
Happy Thanksgiving, Jo, to you and your family. We will probably have around 25 at my stepdaughter’s house…not everyone can make it. (That’s parents, kids, grandkids and greats) Life is good!
Happy Thanksgiving Jo and the Kramer family! This is the second year it’s only my son and I for dinner. Missing my sweetheart and hoping he is happy with his parents in heaven on this day and knowing we are thinking of him. That’s why I enjoy reading your blog so much. It gives me something other than sadness to focus on for a few minutes.
Praying for your health! <3
Blessings to you and your family on this Thanksgiving Day. My family gathering sounds much like your family growing up. My parents are still alive so we all make the effort to get together. We’ll be missing a couple of siblings, and one in heaven, but the rest of my 7 siblings and all the grandkids will be there. Just like your family, they come and go at different times, but will show up for some part of the meal. Blessings to all your readers.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Remember that little boy fabric that you got from Karen? Well it showed up in another blog I follow…what a fun surprise. The fabric is a couple years old and is called “Greatest Adventure” by Cinderberry Stitches for Riley Blake Designs.
Happy Thanksgiving Jo. We celebrate Thanksgiving in October here in Canada. It is a time to thank God for all we are thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. I have enjoyed following the adventures of your household for a few years now. I started the year you took off from childcare to focus on designing and quilting. My husband and I have been involved in ministry to International college students since 1968, so our Thanksgivings have grown over the years. The biggest group we ever had was 37. I think we had invited 40, but at the last minute 3 couldn’t come. That was when we lived in Illinois. Five and a half years ago we moved to Tuscaloosa, AL to be near our oldest daughter. We now are involved with students at the University of Alabama. This year we limited it to two tables because our daughter and her family drove up to Wisconsin to be with their newly married daughter. So this year we had people with us from Taiwan, China, India, Nigeria, Brazil, and 2 Americans who were not going home for the holidays. We always have the traditional foods, but we often have International foods brought. This year we had chicken and a cake brought by some Taiwanese guests. Sometimes we have extra people come. This year a Taiwanese couple brought 2 extra men, so we quickly added two places. This year most of the people came early, so we had lots of help. It is always a lot of fun.