Thanksgiving and Black Friday

I don't know about everyone else, but we sure had a great day yesterday. I thought it was going to be a pretty emotional day for us Goldens, but by golly, it wasn't! We were sad of course, but there was a comfort in knowing that Gma and Gpa were still there with us, if only in spirit. They'd have been proud of us, I know.

When my Mom's parents were alive, we always spent Thanksgiving with them. Once they passed away, we continued to have Thanksgiving "on our own" instead of with my Dad's side. Mom enjoyed having us kids here and having our "own" little celebration. So Mike, Jenny and my two nieces came down, Matt and Tammy came over, and then there was Steve, myself, Mom and Dad. The only person missing was Tanner, who was in Arkansas with her Dad this year. :(

We had a great dinner and had such a fun time together. It was fun to just sit back and listen to all the conversations going on. There was A LOT of laughter and joking around, which was awesome. Matt was tired, but seemed to be doing good otherwise. Physically, he LOOKED great. I am so thankful that they got to be at dinner with us.

Matt and Tammy had to leave right after lunch to head back to Warsaw since Tammy had to work this morning. They left and the rest of us napped! After napping we walked up the street to one of my Dad's sister's house. She had Thanksgiving for her family and another one of my Aunt and Uncle's from Joplin. The last couple of years since they live so close to Mom and Dad's, we've taken our desserts up there and enjoyed them with that side of the family.

We all gathered around the tv a little before 6:30 and watched the Plaza Lights come on. Oh my word-if you've never heard of the Plaza Lights, look it up "The Country Club Plaza" on the net and look at the Christmas pictures. Anyone from Kansas City knows that Christmas doesn't officially start until the Plaza lights come on! As kids, my Uncle from Enid would take all of us cousins down with the tens of thousands of people to watch them come on in person, but the older we get.....yea, we now prefer to watch them from the comfort of the living room couch!

When we came home, we held our own version of the Plaza Lighting Ceremony in the front yard of Mom and Dad's, complete with a countdown and a some funny antics by my Dad. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were insane!

This morning my sister in law, Jenny and I got up and went shopping. We have always been Black Friday shoppers-even in high school! The older we get though, the less we feel the urge to get out at 4:00 a.m. This year we left at 7:00 and went nonstop until 1:00. Oh Lordy, my feet are sore, my body is tired, but oh the bargains we got! Was it worth it? You betcha! I now have the majority of my Christmas shopping finished. Yippee!!!!

Mom, Dad and Steve are in decorating the living room now. How funny is that that my hubby is decorating and I'm avoiding it-instead blogging. We don't call him Stevie Stewart or Martha Parker for nothing you know! The boy is in his element when he's decorating and I'm alright with that!

We are heading up to my brother's house tonight to watch the KU basketball game. I'm sure I'll be out by halftime if I'm not careful!

Tomorrow Mom and I are heading to a small Amish town about an hour and a half north of here, called Jamesport, Missouri. Our church takes a group of ladies there every year after Thanksgiving. The Amish hold their annual craft fair this weekend so we all go up there and shop and eat. We went last year and had a lot of fun. I enjoy the crafts and the food, but most of all I enjoy the time spent with my Mom.

Oh shoot, one more thing, then I need to go check on the decoration progress. At JC Penny's this morning, Jenny and I saw Kim, the home health nurse who took such great care of my Grandma before she died. Kim was literally an angel sent from God. She took such wonderful care of my Grandparents and really became one of our family. Grandpa always joked that he was going to claim her as one of his kids on his taxes since she was at the house so much! When Gma died, Kim got there right as the ambulance did. She stayed quite awhile with the family and helped them get through the initial shock. She then took Gma's quilt that she was on and washed it and cleaned it so the family could have it. She came to both of their funerals and cried just as much as the rest of us did. I'm telling you, I truly believe she was angel sent from God for my family.

Anyways, when we saw her, she said "Of course I know who you are! Your Golden girls!" Oh, my heart melted. (I take such pride in being called a "Golden Girl.") We stood and talked to her for a few minutes and it was so good seeing her. She asked how all the family was doing and said to tell everyone hi and that if they need anything at all, to just call her. She had a big piece of my Grandparents heart and it was so neat to see her again and be able to tell her once again, thank you, for taking such great care of them.

Well, I need to go check on the decorating status......last time I was in there, Steve was working on decorating the mantle while Mom and Dad sat back and watched. When I told Mom that Steve was in his element, she said "I know, why do you think I got this stuff out now while your here!?" HA!!

Toodles!