Thanksgiving tradition

As we approached our first holiday season as husband and wife in 2002, Bryan and I began talking (at the last minute of course) about what our family traditions would look like.  We settled on putting our tree up on Thanksgiving evening while snacking on leftovers; however, there were two issues.  One - Thanksgiving was the next day.  Two - We had no tree or decorations.

So, Wednesday night we headed out to pick up the necessities.  We stopped in at Lowe's first to look at trees.  We liked one a lot, but decided to look at Target first before buying.  Target had ornaments that we liked, but not a tree that we loved.  So...   We headed back over to Lowe's.

But, there was a problem - Lowe's had just closed.

But my husband, now fully committed to this tradition that we dreamed up two hours prior, wasn't to be deterred.  He spotted an employee in the window and knocked until he got their attention.  Through the window he pleaded, "Can we come in PLEASE?  For just a minute.  We just need one thing.  This is a Thanksgiving emergency."

I still giggle at our Thanksgiving emergency.  Christmas tree shopping!

The nice guy let us in and we bought our tree and were out in a matter of minutes.  Then we headed back over to Target to buy our ornaments, but found that the ones we wanted were on display, with very few remaining on the shelf.  And we were told we couldn't undress the trees to buy the ornaments ... even though they were individual ornaments and each had a price tag on it.  So, each time the worker looked away, we'd sneak what we wanted off the tree!

The birth of our Thanksgiving tradition is always funny and wonderful to look back on.  My husband loves me so much that our tradition was an emergency. 

For the first time in ten years together, Bryan worked on Thanksgiving this year.  We changed up our tradition a little by putting the tree up on Wednesday ... and dining on smoked ham, candied sweet potatoes, twice baked potato casserole, and sweet potato rolls.  Regarding the menu, our kids put it best - we love the potatoes and pig around here!

We had another blessed Thanksgiving this year.  We put our tree up on Wednesday, then went to my mother-in-law's for Thanksgiving lunch, turned on our outdoor lights, took our first light drive of the season, and had Bryan's father over Thanksgiving evening.  God is so abundantly good and generous.