Thanksgiving and a "sort-of-first snow"

​This morning I woke up, and Emilie had crawled into bed with George! I grinned, it was so cute! I also noticed in amaze that it had snowed outside! I consider this our first snow of the year (though we did technically had a pile of it beside the house and garage but I wouldn’t really consider that our first snow… and we had some really light flurries yesterday, but I wouldn’t consider that a “first snow” either. Anyway, this is our first “substantial snow” (I can just hear everyone back east laughing at me…). Ooh! Big puffy snow flakes are falling right at this moment! Oh, how beautiful…. There’s nothing more beautiful than snow in the mountains… which can only be appreciated by hiding in our heated bedroom looking out threw the window. ;)


For Thanksgiving last night, we decided to try something as a family which we never tried before, we had a thanksgiving meal dining out! I never would have considered trying this, but since we already had our Thanksgiving celebration early when family could come out and visit, I wasn’t about to prepare another ordeal. ;) Well, it was an interesting experience. We went to Claim Jumper and were presented with Thanksgiving menus, and then proceeded to wait and watch football on an overhanging TV and chat as we waited for food. The food took forever, but it was really really good! If I had the chance to do it again though, I’d still opt for being with family at home rather than out, but it really was a fantastic experience. The menu was quite expensive, the whole meal per person starting at $23 each! Luckily this included a three course meal. We were floored at the end however that the waitress informed us that our meal was entirely taken care of and paid for by someone else! I couldn’t believe it! How kind of those people! I was really shy and didn’t know how to respond to the whole situation, this has never happened to me before! I really think it was the couple across from us, they had been chatting with the waitress and I remember it seeming odd that she had been sitting down with them to chat! I couldn’t be sure though, but apparently they didn’t want credit even if it was them! Oh how sweet. Thank you to whoever you are who were so kind.


It seems funny, but with not being in a frenzy this year in the kitchen and being out and about with Scott and the kids, I realized and felt how close Thanksgiving and Christmas relate to one another as I was feeling so thankful, being in the moment with them. I realized that being in the moment and with being thankful, I felt more happy and even more thankful too! Gratitude is far more important than finding presents for others and going crazy during Black Thursday Friday sales, and that gratitude and kindness to others, I think (like the sweet-thinking folks who paid for our meal), are the sweetest gifts we can give to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, don’t you think?  It was so interesting how, with not being in a rush, how you can stop and really appreciate… Maybe, just maybe, we go too overboard with Thanksgiving if we can’t see how they truly tie together with Christmas. Being out and about and hearing Christmas music helped me connect the two too I think. ;)


I’m so thankful for my family, here and abroad, and I love you all. I hope you had a splendid Thanksgiving and are having a wonderful Christmas season, and we send our love!