Thanksgiving 2010

These are some things that made Thanksgiving Great-

~Handling a great big bird, putting him (or her... not sure) in the oven, and waiting on that highly-technologically-advanced pop-out timer to "pop"!~

~Sweet Potato Casserole and Pie Baking~

~People we love sleeping in every corner of the house~

~Watching Elijah sneak dog treats (and probably other things) to Toby every chance he'd get~

~The first viewing of Christmas movies of the year~

~The Andrew and Elijah Thanksgiving Show- where the boys dress up as Star Wars characters and reenact scenes from the movies (complete with commercial breaks)~

~A new Chick-fil-a team pulling together to serve the masses under the management of a great boss (way to go, Micah!)~

~Taking pictures in the non-functioning mall photo booth with my camera~

~Sending the boys on a scavenger hunt to find Elijah's new piggy bank... followed by watching the boys do subsequent scavenger hunts for various objects with clues like this one written by Andrew: "I saw something with my eyes. It was mysterious with my eyes; I looked at something in my room, so if you just look under something then you will find this treasure. It may be gold, but probably not. You'll find out!"~

~People climbing over each other at 4 a.m. at Target to get the best deal on flat screen TV's and Puffer Vests?!?!?!~

My family came to share Thanksgiving with us this year. There were many memorable moments, but the one I may remember the most is the Target experience. I usually stay away from shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving, however this year, there were some really good deals all at the same store that I just couldn't pass up. So my Dad and I got up before 3 a.m. and went to Target. I loved trying to find out who else was crazy enough to stand in line for an hour in the freezing temperatures. I also wanted to make clear to everyone within earshot that if they wanted something bad enough to run over me trying to race into the store, I would gladly let them pass. There was a lady and her daughter behind me that had been shopping all night. She let me know about all the good deals in the surrounding stores but would never tell me what she was after at Target! I guess I looked threatening enough that she wasn't going to take any chances that I may go for anything on her list! Another of our line neighbors was a guy who was shopping for his niece and nephew. He looked through the newspaper ad about six times in the course of 45 minutes, making his plan. He told me about them and what they liked and disliked. He also shared that he had left all his friends at home asleep to come out by himself for them.

Finally, right on time, the doors opened and the mass exodus from the sidewalk began. By the time my Dad and I got a cart and started on our list, there were already people racing to the checkout with their items! We had used the online store map to prioritize and headed toward the things we wanted. Thankfully, most of our list included items not in high demand and we had a fairly easy experience getting those things. There was one item I hoped to pick up that was a popular. My strategy: make friends with others asking about it and try and help them if I could. I am happy to report, that it worked! I finally got a Target employee to give me the correct location of the item (after three incorrect locations) and I relayed the information to someone I had met in line. My new savvy shopping friend crawled down to the bottom shelf of the display and handed two back to me (one for me and one for another gal behind me) of the last three left. Our camera has been on its last leg for a while and I was able to get a new one for a really good deal! It was quite an adventure.

On our way to the back of the checkout line that stretched the length of the store, I saw the guy shopping for his niece and nephew. He smiled at Dad and me and held up his finds: four board games, $3.99 marked down from $9.99. What an uncle! We were so glad to get out of there, head home, and get a bit more sleep.

Micah is always good about reminding the boys that it isn't enough just to be thankful- and we have so much to be thankful for. We have to direct our thankfulness to the One who gives us all good gifts. Our best gift is Jesus, and He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him gracious give us all things? -Romans 8:32. We are blessed beyond measure~