Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving this year was celebrated at my dad’s house in Jefferson City, MO. Unbelievably, it had been six years since we’d last celebrated a holiday at his house. Dad doesn’t like to travel, despite numerous invitations from us, so we usually have to go to his house for celebrations. I didn’t mind because I do enjoy spending time with my dad and Karen’s cooking is amazing.

We arrived late Wednesday afternoon. We would have been there earlier but I forgot my prescription so we got detained at the lake while Walgreen’s argued with our insurance company to get me enough drugs to survive the weekend. We spent some time wandering around the Marshall’s Mega Store and Target before finally getting back on the road.

Karen, my dad’s wife and my other mom, was such a good sport this weekend! Unbeknownst to us, she had already bought the Thanksgiving meal of smoked turkey and ham. When she mentioned that’s what she was planning to serve, we all protested that what we really wanted was ham loaf. Now, Karen’s given us the recipe for ham loaf so we can make it any time, but she does the best job at it. It’s one of those things we really love to have when we visit. Being a good sport and stand up person, Karen indulged us and made a gorgeous ham loaf to accompany her homemade mac and cheese, green beans and sweet potatoes. Here’s Karen making the first cut into that delicious, meaty loaf:

Blair, Ralph and the kiddos arrived Wednesday night and the house was full! Steve and I brought the inflatable bed and slept in the living room while everyone else took the bedrooms. I thought about playing rock, paper, scissors with Ralph to see who got the bedroom, but figured I’d let her and Blair have it and we’d park all of our stuff in there. The room was a mess and we stumbled over all our crap, but it was fun. The girls enjoyed bonding with their Nana and Papa and I enjoyed some quality time chatting with dad and taking a power walk with my sister. All in all, a great holiday with no stress and lots of great food.

Thanks, dad and Karen for hosting such a great holiday celebration! We look forward to seeing you again soon and not waiting six years for the next family event.