Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday by far. Each year we get together with the whole Olson crew as well as my Gramp's sister's kids on down. The number seems to be increasing each year and we must have been somewhere between 40 and 50 this Thanksgiving. Of course we too have a few annual traditions- one of our favorite being the football game. I remember when at times it used to be soccer on the ice, however that has not been an option for quite awhile as the ice is no where near thick enough by the end of November anymore. Now it is good old two hand touch with few rules and always a ton of laughs. Another tradition is playing a game called "4 on a couch". I couldn't really explain it if I tried- but it isn't Thanksgiving until we've played a few rounds- and yes I was on the winning team. Of course LOTS and LOTS of food is just a given which means the big group walk has become another part of each year. This year we added a couple things like a little music session complete with piano, guitars, amps, and mic; a few episodes of the What Not To Wear marathon on TLC; and adults and children alike rolling down the large hill we came across on our walk. After missing a few family events it was great to be home to be a part of this one.

After two days of eating, laughing, playing, sleeping, and just hanging around- we are now all headed in our opposite directions and today I will be headed to Iowa to spend some much needed time with my good friends Amy, Steve, and Jack as well as meeting with Roger and Karen, and spending some time with the Bolands and my other friends in the great city of Marshalltown.