as quoted in the Sound of Music "I must have done something good"

I just got back from buying all of our Thanksgiving dinner in one fell swoop and I'm pretty sure this should qualify me as an official woman, or official housewife or at least for a lightning round of Super Market Sweep.

(Because that would be awesome. I've always wanted to be on that show.)

I am the biggest fan of Thanksgiving. Any holiday that is about family and has lots of food...food that is largely categorized in the carb and dessert sections of the food pyramid...is my favorite.

In our almost 5 years of marriage we have never not spent a Thanksgiving (or Christmas for that matter) away from our extended families. Jake's family is primarily in Oregon and mine is in Kentucky. This has always meant traveling a great distance on Thanksgiving and then doing it all again 3 weeks later. When we didn't have the boys it wasn't a big deal, but then the travel and the time changes became a little too much.

So we decided to just spend one major holiday a year with our extended families. Which means this year is our first year having a holiday without extended family.

And you know what? As much we love our extended families, we are SO excited to have this time as just our family.

We are so excited to build some of our own traditions. Like this:

Our grateful turkeys for our little turkeys. :)

Each little boy has a turkey with reasons why we are grateful for them, and a small gift to wake up to on Thanksgiving morning. 

The gifts (a soccer ball for Rhett and a new board book for Rad) are gifts that we can use as a family together. We feel that probably our greatest blessings are the Plan of Salvation and our family. And so since that is what we are most grateful for, we want to make our family a priority. So we plan on the "gifts" always being something that we do as a family to bring us closer together. 

And we are SO excited for the food!

Even though it's just us, we are still going all out with a full meal. 

We're planning on adding a few new things to our smorgasbord like this, and this, and this. 

We're going to see Frozen on Thanksgiving day and set up our VERY FIRST Christmas tree, which we are beyond excited about. Previous years we were in college and just didn't worry about it, and last year we were pretty house poor from just buying our house to afford one. And Jake and I are real Christmas tree kind of people, so yeah. I don't know why that last part really matters, but now you know. :)

But I think the reason I am most excited for this particular Thanksgiving, is that I am with my family. 

The family I am helping to create.

The family that I never understood I could love so much. 

The family that seriously drives me crazy some days because all three of my boys seem to have an unending list of needs. But I'll keep em. :)

The family that loves to wrestle and loves to play the Wii together and loves our walks to get the mail when dad comes home and the family that loves to pick little presents at the grocery store for each other (like the can of cream of mushroom soup Rhett so excitedly gave me the other day).

I keep thinking of what I am grateful for this year and all I can think of is my boys and my husband. 

Because really, if I didn't have them, blessings like good health, our home, our possessions...really wouldn't mean that much.

We have a good, perfectly imperfect life. 

I don't know how I deserve it, or what I did to be so blessed, but I think this sums it up.

"For here you are, standing there, loving me

Whether or not you should.

So somewhere in my youth or childhood

I must have done something good."

                              -Sound of Music

Happy happy happy happy Thanksgiving to all you wonderful friends!