Our First Thanksgiving

As I typed the title to this blog I realized that this year has truly been a year of firsts. Most every single second of Hill's life so far has been a monumental (or even non monumental) first for him, and sometimes for me and Chip too.  Hill will never have a first Thanksgiving again.  How does time just slip by us? 

As I reflect on the things I am grateful for big and small, important and petty, materialistic and charitable one word just finds it's way back into my mind.  Love.  Not just this Thanksgiving, but this whole year to me can be summed up in that one four letter word - love.  I love my husband, my mother, my father, my family, my friends, my dogs and they all know it.  I don't always tell them everyday how much I love them and I don't always think about how much I love them every day.  It's just a given, I know, they know - it's love. 

With Hill, it's different.  It's different in the fact that I think about my love for him every day.  I literally have multiple moments just out of the blue throughout the day where I sit and think about how much I really really love him.  How much he means to me.  How blessed we truly are to have him so healthy and perfect and funny and just a precious little ball of joy. 

He makes me think about how awesome our God really is to have created this tiny being inside of me and to watch him come into this world and be able to watch and help him grow into this little man.  It's love.  I have found the meaning of agape.  What a phenominal feeling Christ must have at all times knowing this feeling of divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, thoughtful love.  It sure makes me want to be a better person.

I could list all the things I am thankful for like my family, our health, my job, the Tivo (DVR), the internet, fountain cokes, and electricity.  Yet this year has a new perspective and I am thankful for my year of firsts and for the love I have for my family.

With that said, our first Thanksgiving was wonderful.  It was just me, Chip and Hill - no hustle and bustle, no running to 8 different lunches and dinners, no pressure.  Chip bought a honey baked ham, made green bean casserole, bought Country Crock stick in the microwave mac & cheese, then I heated up some corn, bought some rolls and made a rum cake.  Literally, Thanksgiving took 35 minutes to do. We ate at noon and I had the kitchen cleaned by 1:00.  We took Hill on his first 4 wheeler ride around the neighborhood and he had the biggest smile on his face, clapped the whole time and pointed to the trees.  We have a little outdoorsman on our hands.  What a perfect day!

Here are the pictures of our Thanksgiving spread.  It was really good, but now that I look at the picture most everything we ate was yellow - corn, mac & cheese, green bean casserole topping, butter, rum cake...

OUR LITTLE TURKEY

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your hearts be filled with agape.