Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Day!

Since moving to Alaska, we have developed the tradition of going to Dave and Les' home for Thanksgiving. It is always a great time, and a ton of people are there. This year, we had over 30 people there spending time together as a family. Not all of us are technically related, but we are mostly related through our bond in Jesus Christ.

The Daniels (Les and Dave) set up a table that goes from the dining room all the way into the living room, and we all sit around it at our assigned seats. Half the fun at Thanksgiving is finding your name tag at the table. It has been an ongoing joke between some of us about where we are seated at the table. Mark Knudsen and I brag about who is sitting closer to the "head" of the table. This year, he won the bragging rights!

After dinner, some of us break out the games and spend time cutting loose and getting loud while others just sit around and visit about the year gone by. This year I noticed the plethora of young ones running around and enjoying every square inch of the Daniel home. It was great to see the children of our friends developing the next generation of friendship. I'm happy for our friends who have children and hope they cherish this special time of year.

I have to admit though, this time of year makes it especially hard to be away from my family back in Indy. Of course I talk to them on the phone, but I miss staying up to the wee hours of the morning with them as we play cards or dominoes all the while taking wise cracks at each other. I miss my family dearly, but I know they are all there for each other and that I have incredible in-laws here. That makes this time of year wonderful!