Thirty Days of Thankful - Day 24

Day 24 - I'm thankful for tradition.

Growing up in a large extended family, we always enjoyed Thanksgiving together. Different people were responsible for favorite dishes. My mom always made the stuffing and the homemade rolls. Aunt Peggy made the broccoli casserole. Grandma made the fruit salad. Grandpa made bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. There were menu items we could absolutely count on because it was tradition.

Another thing we could count on was our food getting a little cold as we observed another, even more special tradition. The way I remember it was when I was very young and the extended family not quite so large we would find five kernels of corn waiting for us on our dinner plate on Thanksgiving day. We would go around the table and each person would take one kernel of corn and name something that they were thankful for. As the family grew we eliminated a couple of kernels of corn and instead of going around the table numerous times we would name all (three) of our thankfuls on our turn. Often this tradition would lead to the sharing of testimonies. Frequently this tradition brought the comedians to the table. Always this tradition would focus on how grateful we were for each other. Always, always, always gratitude for family.

Even though we can't be with our extended family this year, we continue the tradition of identifying the things we're thankful for. Instead of kernels of corn, our little family uses turkey feathers. I want my parents to see this and know that we're continuing the tradition and thinking of them. I want Willy's family to know we're thinking of them today (and enjoying some of their traditional dishes, including our favorite that we call "Nana's Potatoes").

This is what we're thankful for this year:

Molly can't write her thankfuls so she drew lines for me to write
her thankfuls on. (And then when I asked her what she was thankful
for she answered "Lines".

Molly's thankfuls are: Eating cereal,
Watching TV and Going to the park.

Toby's thankfuls are: XBox (sigh), Friends
and "I love Momy" which started as "I love
Thanksgiving" but I like his edit!

Brady is thankful for Family and Friends,
The Godhead and Food.

Ben is thankful for TV, Family and Food.

Willy's feathers are green  and mine are purple :)
And for the record, mine says "Ohana" not "Obama" which is what I see now as I glance at it LOL)

Happy thanksgiving!!