Thanksgiving

Yes, I'm WAY behind on blogging. Believe me, it's not for a lack of things to write about as will be obvious from my flurry of posts in the coming days.

I believe I left off at Thanksgiving, which we celebrated with friends for the seventh year in a row. It all started in Schweinfurt in 2003. Our first Thanksgiving away from our families, I remember being so happy when our group of friends decided to do a big Turkey Day potluck. There were probably 20 of us in the party room of the blue building and there was fantastic food and drink, and A LOT of laughs. We quickly came to realize the truth in the quote "Friends are the family you choose for yourself." For though they could never take the place of our families, we surely felt among family that Thanksgiving and every one since that we have spent with the good friends we have made along our Army journey.

This year's Thanksgiving began at home with the Macy's Day parade. Drew snuggled up on the couch with his buddies and some blankets and set about watching the floats, balloons, and other excitement of the parade. Unfortunately, I sort of forgot that the parade's telecast includes so many singing numbers from the various Broadway plays. They didn't hold Drew's attention for long. Maybe next year. But he did like seeing the giant balloons of some of his favorite characters.


Later that afternoon, having filled our house with the yummy smells of Bill's ham, my spoon bread (thank you Sarah Cook), and homemade applesauce, we moved our potluck contributions over to our friends' home. There was enough food for a small army and plenty of good company and laughs. Here's a family shot.

We have much to be thankful for, but this Thanksgiving we were most grateful simply for being together, as Bill will spend next Thanksgiving in Afghanistan. Even though we do not look forward to that time, we know we must be thankful we have had as many holidays together over the last five years as we have. A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Belated Thanksgiving Thoughts

I intended to write this on Thanksgiving day but the trytophan got the better of me. Anyway, I thought I'd make mention of just a few of the many blessings we are thankful for.

• Our family: The 3 of us are together for the fourth consecutive year. Yes, miraculously, Bill has been with us for all but a few short weeks of Drew's life. We know many military families are not so fortunate and we count ourselves very, very lucky. We're also very glad to report that Bill's brother Eric is back from Afghanistan. Even though he's not quite all the way home to Liz & Madison yet, at least he's safely on U.S. soil. Finally, we're blessed to have such supportive and generous extended families. Though we're not able to see everyone as often as we'd like, we hold you in our hearts on a daily basis.
• Our friends. While thanks in large part to the Army, most of them are spread all over the U.S. and a few other countries, we are very blessed to have so many good friends that, like our families, we miss greatly.
• Our health. Despite the colds and allergies that never seem to quite leave us (or at least Drew and me), the Cherkauski are a pretty healthy bunch and we are grateful for it. Also amazing, despite Drew's penchant for ladders, climbing, and hanging and Mommy's general clumsiness, we have also managed to be fairly accident and injury free. We're thankful to not have to spend extended time in the doctor's office, ER, etc. (Now excuse me while I run to knock on some wood...)

In closing, in the words of Drew, Happy Thanksforgiving! Yes, the little guy couldn't quite get out Thanksgiving in one mouthful and decided instead to make it "Thanks for giving." The adorableness of it all probably doesn't translate in the written word, but it was very cute.