Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday

It seems like every November I post the same thing and the truth is "I'm gonna do it again".  I love November.  When I was a kid, Thanksgiving was good for two things: eating a lot and three days off of school.  I was never extremely close to our extended family and even if we did get together for the holidays, none of my cousins were my age so I don't have a lot of big family moments around Thanksgiving.  But I've grown up and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
My first Thanksgiving memory: Kurtis and I had been married 10 months and I was just entering my second trimester with little "Sammy in the oven".  We had our first home that we had purchased about 6 months before and decided to squeeze all the extended family into the house for our first Thanksgiving as a married couple and in a new home.  After everyone left, we had a mess to clean up but it was late and Kurtis had suggested we hold off washing the dishes till morning.  I was tired but couldn't sleep so I found myself washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen at about 11 at night.  As I went back to bed and laid down, I felt the tiniest little flutter, almost like a little finger running down the middle of my belly.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the first time I felt my baby move.  Not just the first time I felt Sammy but the first time I felt any baby of mine in my belly.  It is imprinted in my mind.
Now fast forward quite few years to Thanksgiving 2009.  I was 39 weeks pregnant exactly on Thanksgiving Day.  All the Christmas decorations were up. Christmas presents were bought, wrapped and hidden.  And at 4:30am on Black Friday, Kurtis and I were on our way to Kettering Hospital to bring in that new little baby of ours.  Something special about Kal like no other of my children, we did not know the sex of the baby until he was born.  We already had a boy and a girl so either way we would be surprised.  Kal's birth is the only one I cried at and I simply believe it was b/c he was a surprise to us.  One of the most perfect Thanksgivings ever!

 Then Thanksgiving 2012 (actually the week after) we had a similar experience.  Christmas was done and ready and the Thursday after Thanksgiving Kurtis and I welcomed our last little guy, our grand finale, Zekey to family.  I even broke the tradition and brought him home in a turkey onesie b/c it seemed appropriate.  It was a special delivery b/c we knew this was the last baby.  He just means so much to me b/c of the joy he brings to us.

So yeah, Thanksgiving means more to me than all the holidays. It is a time to be thankful, to cherish and enjoy our families, to remember that no matter what happens in life we are blessed.  So before you  put up the Christmas tree or break out the Christmas albums, take a moment to appreciate the turkey and what his special day really means.