Thanksgiving Part I

Last year my family had Thanks- giving in the middle of December because my mom had just had a hip replacement and couldn't get out of the house. This year, my family decided to have Thanksgiving early because my mom had choir practice on Wednesday night before the big day and wouldn't be able to prepare. This opened up Thanksgiving day to invite Kris' parents over for dinner.

So Thanks- giving was the Sunday before Thanks-giving and I was a little leary about it especially when my dad called to say that we were going to go bowling after dinner. I thought bowling sounded fun, I just didn't know how fun it would be when I have small children who need naps. I have to say, the day was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed everything.


We had dinner at 1-ish and Kodi slept while we ate. Kyson said the prayer for the big dinner. It wasn't as entertaining as his typical prayer. Half way through it he tried to have a conversation with me. I whispered to him to say "Amen" and when he did, we started passing the food. It was nice that we didn't have to play the "Not it" game about who was going to say the prayer.

Dinner was so fantastic! I loved everything about it. I thought that Kyson might eat a few things, but I was wrong. He really liked one thing in particular - ranch. He asked for some on his plate and I thought it would be to dip his roll or something, but no, it became an entree on his plate that he ate it by the spoonfuls. I was so disgusted I had to take a picture.

Next came bowling. Kodi woke up just as we were getting ready to leave so the timing was perfect, but Kyson still hadn't gone down for a nap. He'd never been bowling before, he ate a lunch that consisted of Ranch, and he hadn't had a nap. This could have been a lethal combination, but it turned out well enough. He wasn't an angel, but he could have been worse. He did pretty well at first, but lost interest quickly when he saw a game room at the bowling alley with rides. He could be bribed to throw the first ball, but that second ball he wanted nothing to do with it.

My father was the most enter- taining. He and my mom used to bowl on a league back in the day, and they brought their own balls and shoes like regular pros. He wanted "competition" on his lane of bowlers so Kris, Josh, and I joined his team to try and give him a challenge, although, we weren't as experienced as my father. Well, my dad didn't disappoint, he got many gutter balls and was getting more and more disgusted with each frame. I don't think he even broke 100. We teased him mercilessly and we enjoyed every minute of it. Kris, surprisingly was very good. He nearly broke 200 and at one point got four strikes in a row. I had no idea he was such a talented bowler - it's a good thing he was bowling against my dad, he needed some competition.

The entire day was so much fun and even though my children weren't perfect, I'm grateful that my family loves them unconditionally.