Thanksgiving 2011

For Thanksgiving Adam, the bean and I headed over to Oklahoma as we have these past three years and celebrated with my cousin Shannon (read more and see more about our Thanksgiving on her BlogHer blog) and her family. The first Thanksgiving we spent together was at my parents in 2008, after Adam and I got married. By the next year my parents were back in DC and we've been headed to Oklahoma ever since! There's no telling what our plans will become next year, Shannon's family is moving on to Texas (WOOT!) so hopefully we're able to continue things here in the Lone Star State.

Our grandmother passed away the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so it felt safe to be with another of Granio's girls the week of her passing. I've been avoiding thinking of her too much, though now that I'm here in DC it's a challenge. I find myself in tears after looking at my Dad for too long. Time in Oklahoma though was fun and surprisingly relaxing. Full of giggly excitement from 2yr old Meg and coos and cries from the two redheaded babes, just 12wks apart.

Our hands were full, but so were our tummies. Yummy food, storytelling, meandering walks, real time with our husbands and SO much pie! I love the holidays. As they develop and pass I find myself wondering what it will be like when the girls are older and running around together, when Maeve is helping me bake in the kitchen, when there is more than just one "O" baby.

Through everything, life is sweet.

Thanksgiving 2010

Continuing our "Cousins Thanksgiving" tradition, we celebrated our holiday of thanks with our cousins Shannon & Kyle for the third year in a row. Last year was the first in Oklahoma, with the addition of a baby Meg. This year it was even more exciting with Meg at an active 15 months and our first races on Thanksgiving day! Next year should prove to be even more interesting since the VanHeests will be up to a family of 4! Thanksgiving started very early for us all this year.

Edmond had its first ever Turkey Trot, where you could either do the 1 mile family "wobble", like Shannon, Kyle & Meg did, or you could participate in the 5k race as Adam & I did!

This was my first race of the year, with my goal being the OKC Half-Marathon in May, and Adam participated for support. It was 28* and we were running into a 15mph N wind half the race, but it was TOTALLY worth it! I was nearly in tears when we finished. Partially because of my hip, ha, and partially because I couldn't believe I'd just run a race, and I loved it! We headed home together, full of smiles and encouragement, ready to start the rest of our day together--which mainly consisted of Shannon & me in the kitchen, although Adam did make our fabulous main dish. We changed up the traditional meal this year, since Adam and I are eating fish, but no longer meat, and it was all wonderful.

We had artichoke dip, stuffed mushrooms, and cheese to snack on through the day, and dinner was full of salmon, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn pudding, mushroom stuffing, and wild rice! For dessert there was pumpkin cheesecake, buttermilk pie, and a wonderful apple cobbler. YUM! We spent our time talking, chasing Meg, watching the dogs play, puzzling, and watching Jim Carrey's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". We had hobo dinners with Thanksgiving dinners, listened to Kyle play carols on his guitar, skyped all of our parents, and laughed.


It was lovely. The weekend went by incredibly fast, but it was a great one. We all thought, and spoke, on what we had to be grateful, and there was a lot to say. The one repeated was, family.

Happy Thanksgiving.

A Young Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving is normally a holiday my family travels for. Not to visit family, usually, but to get away from it all. In high school, it was typically Italy we went to, later when I was in college it was New Orleans, or somewhere else across the US. Last year, we were in Amarillo and had a great time. We had a full house-my cousin and her husband came down from Oklahoma, and Adam's parents and oldest brother joined us too. This year, with the O'Connells in DC, we were invited to join Shannon and Kyle once again for Thanksgiving, this time at their place in Oklahoma City. We were all a little nervous since it was four 20-somethings with no Thanksgiving experience making everything. We soon discovered our apprehension was unfounded---Shannon did an amazing job with all the food, just look at that turkey!!!

I was very proud, because this year I attempted to make a pumpkin cheesecake, my first ever. It turned out to be fabulous!!! I think I found a new Owens tradition!

The weekend was so much fun, Adam and Kyle conquered a puzzle and braved Black Friday for a new one (yes, really), we had hobo dinners in their backyard firepit, and even went out to find their very first real Christmas Tree. We also discovered the magic that is Ghirardelli peppermint chocolate coffee! Meg was a doll the whole time. I couldn't believe how much bigger she had gotten in the last 3 months! She just quietly sits and observes, taking everything in.

Of all the pictures I caught this weekend, this one was definitely my favorite....

We had a wonderful time, and it lasted just long enough. On the drive away, I immediately popped in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Album, and began dreaming up our plans to hang Christmas lights and put out all our Holiday decorations. I LOVE this time of year!

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving for my family has almost always been out of town. The last 5 go like this 1) New Orleans 2) New Orleans 3) Hawaii 4) Italy 5) Italy. When it was announced we'd all be in Amarillo....it was weird. What was neat was that Shannon & Kyle (cousins) came down from Oklahoma City to my parents for the holiday, a special treat. An even better treat, Cyndey and Brandon came over for dinner one night, having come home early from India! I have never been happier to see Cyd! Ryan, Adam and I took Shannon & Kyle out to Palo Duro (I mean really, what else is there to do in Amarillo) for an afternoon and cave-climbed.

Can you tell we're cousins? Haha... On Thanksgiving itself, Adam's parents and brother Jacob came over for dinner and shared in the celebration with the O'Connells and VanHeests--it was really nice to get to be with all different types of family for the holiday. Afterwards was a long treck back to FtWorth and back to the grind. *sigh*