I’m going to jump around here.  Don’t worry – I have a running list of all the things I haven’t told you yet.  I’ll get to KB’s birthday and Halloween and other stuff, but I felt like I should tell about Thanksgiving now, while it’s fresh on my mind.

This Thanksgiving was like no other for us as a family.  There were no hours spent cooking, no guests invited over, no road trip to see Grandparents, no nothing.  This year we hung around in our jammies, watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and then headed to south city for our Thanksgiving meal.  Yep, we let the folks at the City Diner do the cooking.

It was a big decision for me but I have to tell you, my husband was giddy excited.  There were no looming complaints from children, no dishes to clean, no tension in the air as we tried to get everything prepared at the right time with young children under foot.  Honey was a happy man.

I found the City Diner on a list of places to eat on Thanksgiving in this lovely city of ours.  Yes, they publish lists like that.  The Ritz was listed at $100+ per plate and Bristols at $80+ a plate. I decided to stay away from places like that because eating there would create a different type of stress and negate what I was attempting.

Further down the list I found the Diner and they offered just what I was looking for: a full menu AND a traditional Thanksgiving meal for a reasonable price.  I made reservations and crossed my fingers.

Our turkeys dressed for the occasion   

What a wonderful experience!! The Thanksgiving meal was  super yummy and included turkey, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, cranberry sauce, dressing, yams, and the choice of pecan or pumpkin pie!! Add root beer to drink and my Honey had all he needed and boy was he thankful!!

When he cleaned his plate and was ready for more, the waitress came over, Honey said, “turkey, potatoes, and veggies” and moments later a boy brought them out to him.  He would NOT have gotten that kind of service at home.  This woman might have asked him about seconds but our boy would have dropped the plate on the way to the table and the mess to clean up in the kitchen would have compounded and no one would have a thankful heart.

And take a serious look at these kids!! Three grilled cheese sandwiches with fries – – these were three thankful children, I tell you what! Little ate her sandwich and half of KB’s and was trolling for some of Bubba’s but I reminded her of dessert (scoopes of vanilla ice cream – perfect).

We took time at breakfast and lunch to share things we are thankful for and it was really fun this year.  Sticking to our “no family, friends, and God” rule was tough for the kids but quickly answered that I am thankful for Promise Christian Academy and the City Diner.

After lunch we headed to the theater to see The Muppets.  It was so very cute and the nostalgia factor was super.  The kids liked it okay – it was long for them – and KB has referred to “the green frog and his friends” a couple times today.  If you go, you have to stay into the first of the credits.  When I was little, my brother would sing, “Mnah, Mnah” and I would sing, “Doot Doo doo doo doo”.  The end of the movie made me tear up a little bit because of that nugget from my history.  Good times.

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! Hope you celebrated the day in a way that met the needs of YOUR family and allowed your hearts to be filled with genuine gratitude.

Our God is so good all the time and I pray you experienced that on this Thanksgiving Day.