Thanksgiving was such a gift this year, for so many reasons. Many out of town family members flew in for this holiday, on both sides of our family.

My brother, sister-in-law and their 2 kids, my niece and nephew, came from Arizona for the week.

My dad’s parents came from Washington for the week.

Aaron’s Mom’s Mom and his mom’s brother came from New York (& New Hampshire, I think) for the week.

We’ve been busy with full days of lazy in-between and our Turkey day didn’t actually contain any turkey.

We started the day off with brunch at Aaron’s parents house with extended family guests – they make the best brunches. Christmas is always glittered with an amazing brunch. We look forward to it every year, so to have one on Thanksgiving as well – was a complete bonus.

We had to recharge at home with naps for the kids before the next party started and they slept late. Which, actually – they’ve been doing all weekend. Three to three and half hour naps, for both of them. Heaven. Just a little bit of heaven.

We made our way out to my dad’s house for our second Thanksgiving celebration but celebrated with true Peruvian fare instead of a turkey – my step mom is Peruvian. The food is amazing -fish dishes and spices. There was pumpkin pie though 🙂 and lots of red wine. Yum.

I have photos of this whole weekend but just haven’t had time to go through them yet and I want to get these thoughts documented before I completely forget.

We had almost all the nieces and nephews in one place at one time which is incredibly rare being that my brother lives in Arizona – so we had one of those hour long, bribe your kids, pour another glass of wine, photo shoots after dark with bad, yellow lighting. I was very glad to have worn deodorant. But I think we got a couple good ones!

And instead of going out for Black Friday deals or shopping I made gluten free cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning, drank a pot of coffee while Aaron slept in and danced around in my pajama’s when the delivery guys called to tell me they were on their way with our washer and dryer.

Then I did all of our laundry. Six loads in one day – only ruined one item. ::Smiles::

The dashing up and down two flights of stairs to plug a light into a socket so I can see what I’m doing in the basement of this old house pales in comparison to actually having everything I need in one place.

Here. Right here.

I’ve been discombobulated for months now, traveling here and there with half of our life in the back of our car – waiting for someone to give me a date that the madness would just be over. The outcome didn’t matter to me, it just needed to end at some point.

This morning, in a very small way, it ended.

I have never been more excited to fold my own laundry. To switch it from washer to dryer. To find the missing socks their forlorn other half. It was a blessing to have help with all of that this summer, we were focusing on decisions with building a house and getting our daughter ready for kindergarten, and then actually TO said school, dinner on the table, homework in the folder – completed.

It was busy. Still is. But now we have an order to our busyness.

So what am I thankful for?

All of it. The journey to this day, right here. The small destination of today. The courage we found to keep climbing.

I’m thankful for our robust families – colorful and safe yet dangerous and tumultuous, they’re our biggest fans/loudest cheer leaders and the hardest part about being our own person. They’re us, we’re them. I love them all so much.

I’m out of this world thankful for my two babes. For having had the experience of their pregnancies, for witnessing all kinds of miracles and grace through becoming their mom. Not a mom. Their mom. I’m also thankful for the very title of Motherhood. So many women long for that very thing and I often take it for granted.

I love my husband and am thankful for his steadfast loyalty. That’s a big deal to me. I like to test his strength in this area, how far can I push him away and he’ll still come back to me? Oh the hurdles we jump. The engrained relationship advice you get by witnessing the men of your life walk away from you. On purpose. I’m thankful for the patience I’m learning with myself in order to break these methods and move on. I’m thankful for a heart thats willing to heal.

Truth is, I’m just a girl who’s someone’s wife, mother, friend, daughter and sister. I’m just a girl who’s trying to get from here to there. I’m just a girl who’s willing to do what it takes to make sure that at the end of this season I’m more of a woman than a girl. More of a rock than a pebble. More of an ocean than a creek.

I’m thankful for this space to be wide open and raw and for friends as an audience who embrace me in doing so.

I’m thankful for all of you.

Thank you.