Ever since my family moved to Tennessee in 1990, I have always loved Thanksgiving. Growing up, it usually meant that my Michigan family would come visit - under the premise of seeing us, but we all knew that my Uncle Paul also wanted to get in that one last round of golf thanks to the "warm" Nashville weather. I have lots of memories as a middle-schooler and high-schooler going Black Friday shopping with my aunts and cousins, getting primarily anything I wanted since we saw each other so infrequently. I specifically remember scoring a fabulous pair of Doc Marten boots from an aunt when I was a teen and thinking that I was super cool, haha. Oh, man, and there was also that one Thanksgiving when Justin was introduced to most of my extended family - including my grandmother, the matriarch (and Felicity's namesake) - and she totally made me cry when she basically wanted to tell me all about the birds and the bees, as we walked around Opry Mills, nonetheless. Good grief.
But my absolute favorite Thanksgiving occurred later when I was a little older, maybe even post-college but when I was still living in DC. Justin and I both came down for the holiday, along with a huge gathering of aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was the year of Texas Hold' Em. Uncle Paul, still in his prime, taught us all how to play, and we stayed up for hours winning, losing, laughing, and just having the best time. It really was the.BEST.
In the years that followed, we lost our dear Uncle Paul and Uncle Tommy. The cousins, of course, all got older and now have our own lives and families. Thanksgiving felt different. There were a few years in the mix when my cousin Tim came down since he was in college in Louisville, but even that didn't last long. Most of the time, Thanksgiving was a super low-key event with just us and my parents, some times even lower than low-key when Justin would be working the holiday.
This year, though, the tables turned. We decided to go up to Michigan for a change primarily because we had found out that my Uncle Cay's interment ceremony would be that weekend, but also because we hadn't been up in ages. We drove up Wednesday afternoon since Justin had to work that day and arrived at Auntie Florence's at 3:30am. After getting a few hours of rest, we woke up on Thanksgiving morning to go to Mass and have a Filipino breakfast back at the house. The rest of the day was happily quite lazy with naps, games, and a hybrid Filipino-American Thanksgiving dinner with all of my favorites! On Friday, we checked out Frankenmuth - Bronner's Winter Wonderland and Zehnder's for lunch - before we headed back to Rochester Hills to see Christmas lights and play more games. The kids learned a family favorite, Spoons. We also played lots of Uno and a few other card games, too. And, once we put the kids to bed, we channeled Uncle Paul and relived the "glory days" and played Texas Hold 'Em.
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| Xavier's late-night car reading while Lissie is late-night car sleeping. |
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| They were so excited to wake up and see snow! A (sorta) white Thanksgiving! |
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| A Filipino Thanksgiving, for sure: Dinuguan, pancit, turkey, chicken wings, potatoes, corn caserole, and gravy. |
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| It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the pies.... and suman and empanadas, haha.  Kare-kare - yum!  At the Silent Night replica chapel in Frankenmuth  Posing with a 500 lb. brick of cheese at Cheese Haus in Frankenmuth  One of many reflective moments that I caught Xavier in throughout the weekend. |
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The Gingerbread Train at Royal Park Hotel -
a concoction that Chris helped create!
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| With the cousins |
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A rousing game of Spoons |
Saturday we trekked to Flint, my birthplace. We drove through the city, showing Lissie and Xavier the places that were important during my first five years of life. It is crazy how a city can change. It truly was unrecognizable, and it made me grateful for how God worked his life plan for us to move to Tennessee. We ended at the cemetery, where we visited my sister, my cousin, Uncle Tommy, Uncle Paul, and said our last goodbyes to Uncle Cay. As sad as the occasion was, it was good to see family members whom I haven't seen in ages. It truly was a reminder that life is short, and family is important. In fact, some of them are quite insistent that we make another trip back up at Christmas time. Whew! We'll see....
Meeting my cousin Tim's newest addition, sweet sweet Sunny.
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| With cousin Liza |
Anyway, after going to vigil Mass on Saturday evening, we went out for pho (again channeling Uncle Paul who introduced us to this tasty Vietnamese soup years ago) before heading back to Rochester for one last night. We played another round of kid-friendly games before whisking them up to bed. However, this night was not as easy - they cried so many tears, knowing that we would be leaving bright and early the next morning to head back to reality. Eventually, of course, they calmed down and went to bed so that Texas Hold 'Em, Round Two could commence. As always, with my dad in the mix, it made for lots of entertainment and good times.
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| Silly Auntie Cat and Xavier |
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| Pho! |
We woke up early today, Sunday, to make the 8+ hour drive back home. Thankfully, the kids are good travelers and only got antsy during the last stretch. We made it home safely in the late afternoon, with time for me to unpack, start laundry, write this blog, and procrastinate reality just a tiny bit longer.
I guess the point of this post is, of course, a recap of events so I can remember and reminisce later. But also I just wanted to briefly write about my gratitude. During this Thanksgiving, I had much to be grateful for. First and foremost, for my family - our livelihood and health; for my extended Michigan family - for their hospitality and love; for my faith; for the gift of life. And, of course, for all of the food. My tummy will be full for weeks to come, I'm sure.
It absolutely was a happy, happy Thanksgiving.
P.S. And here are some pics of one of the greatest dogs around, Toby! A dog who can run on the treadmill, ring a bell to signal to go out, and understand way more words than any of my dogs ever did, it's no wonder that Lissie and Xavier kept singing "All I Want for Christmas is a To-o-by!"
