Thanksgiving 2013

All sorrows are less with bread.

from: Don Quixote

by: Miguel de Cervantes

There can be no doubt that each person  who traveled over the river and thru the woods to this grandmothers house for Thanksgiving this year, will have a different take on how the day looked and went. (In fact, it would have been fun to take a survey of adjectives that our visitors would  use to describe it.) This is the beauty of family get-togethers I suppose.
The following is my take on the  gathering.
There was a great deal of traveling involved with this Thanksgiving. Grandmas try not to worry about all the traveling...there's those highway speeds and driver error and the overall margins for catastrophe  in such undertakings. My Mom and Dad, and Joe and Natalie will get this years prize for traveling the longest distances....all the way from St George.  (and may I just say it again...It will never cease to amaze me that we can travel the whole length of this great state in just one day...in just a fistful of hours. I still imagine the pioneers and anyone else taking this trek, before the invention of the steam engine... and it took weeks of toil and trouble. Its a marvel that will always marvel.)
Im so grateful that my folks went to the trouble and expense to join us. It would not have been a complete celebration without them. I can only now imagine  the adjectives my folks would use to describe their visit here. I think they spent the greater part of their time here in stunned amazement at how much motion and noise can exude from such small little bodies of kinetic energy known as great grandchildren. Mom was ever the busy bee, wanting to help wherever she could and dad was once again the Master Turkey Chef!! Our 29 lb turkey..which quickly became a 30+lb turkey after being stuffed with his prize winning dressing, was once again a divine hunk of white and dark moist meat!! YUM!!! Thanksgiving isnt Thanksgiving without Dad's turkey!!
Gratitude is a paltry  word to use when I think about the journey Joe and Natalie took to get here. Over rivers and thru woods was the easy part Im sure..what with 3 rambunctious boys in the back of the mini-van. As far as Im concerned it was 48 hrs. of bliss once they got here. Wishing it could have been longer was fruitless...so Im staying grateful that we had them all at once. To have them under the same roof sharing breakfast, and smiles and making crafty things ...plus their sharing with us their HAPPY,HAPPY news about another beautiful baby joining their family in July was bliss on top of bliss!!  My major inroad with this dear family....was holding Beckham with nary a squeal!! In fact I was able to squeeze a sheepish grin from those adorable chubby cheeks!!! Score!!! Another lovely addition that came with Joe and Nat was Natalie's little brother Zac. Oh what a little gentleman that 11 yr old is. We were delighted to share our table with him and to get to know him a little better!!
Next visitor..who I suppose has a legitimate case to plead for the prize for traveling great distances would be sweet Lucie Lou, Davids daughter. Lucie now live in the boondocks of central Nevada. It was quite the drive for David to go and get her. We sure are glad he did though...for Lucie is a gem of a girl and her sweet face added beauty to our Thanksgiving table and celebration!! We are grateful that she gets to stay with us until Sunday!!
Clark and Jenna and Brian and Mericar were the next guest to arrive. Their travels thru woods and over rivers happened in the wee hours of the night...and I missed their actual arrival for I can no longer keep a  late night vigil. I didnt hear a peep in fact. I didnt hear the air pump blowing up the air mattress in the very next room. I didnt hear whispers or the goodnight kisses. I guess I was sleeping the sleep of the dead. But oh what fun to have young love under the same roof as ours. What a blessing it is to have such fine young ones amongst us!!
And last, but certainly not least, dear Brent and Kelly and kids arrived, having made the journey from Salt Lake bearing arm loads of goodies and smiles galore!! What a welcomed addition to our our feast!! More beautiful faces at our table and a crockpot full of heavenly yams  and leafy greens to boot!! Once again words will not express how welcomed their visit was for us!
Anna and David were perfect hosts.  Anna finds great joy and satisfaction in cooking for the masses. Her carrot cake will go down in history along side Grandpa Sharps turkey. Their sweet little Will will be remembered as  the 'prince of the ball'. The copious contents of their fridge will always be remembered as satisfying.  David acted as the outdoor ringmaster. The kids would follow him anywhere...even when the temps were cold outside!!
So all that was missing from our near perfect Thanksgiving celebration was dear Rob and Chels this year. Traveling over rivers and thru woods just wasnt in the cards for them this year.  They were sorely missed. Perfection is a hard thing to achieve...but boy were we close this year!!
The following is time lapse photo/video that clever Clark set up...unbeknownst to me!! It too is near perfection in my eyes. These are the days that sparkle as magnificent gems in our often dull crowns of life.

 Thank you all, for coming.