The First Thanksgiving

Okay, so when most people talk about the first Thanksgiving they are referring to the pilgrims and the Indians, but that is not what I meant to imply with this title. This is the first thanksgiving that I have spent as a fiancé, celebrating with family that I just met.

Two weeks ago I flew to Boston, except that I almost went to Chicago by mistake. You know you have been traveling too much when you don’t even remember where your final destination is! I left from Eugene and flew to San Francisco where I was supposed to catch a connecting flight to Boston. Well after a late night of packing and early morning flight I was in auto pilot in the airport. I looked at the monitors upon arrival and found the flight to O’hare. It seemed strange to me that my flight was on time but leaving 8 minutes after my scheduled flight. Oh well, 8 minutes isn’t a big deal I thought. It took me a full 20 minutes of sitting at the wrong gate to realize that I was not on my way to Chicago but rather to the East coast. I quickly grabbed my belongings and headed to my correct gate at the end of the terminal with 4 minutes remaining before boarding. Thankfully I made it with no problems!

The rest of the trip has been smoother sailing. I spent Thanksgiving with Devin’s family. Two of his Aunts came to visit; one from DC and the other from Maine. Wehad met earlier this summer so everyone was familiar. While I helped with the baking and preparing of the meal, my biggest contribution was the thanksgiving crafts. Several years ago I was dubbed in charge of holiday crafts and I have done my best to add a little flair to every table I have met since then. Not wanting to overwhelm my new relatives, I decided it was best to stick with an edible project. So out came the rice crispy treat turkeys my mom and I made in elementary school. And in the spirit of adapting to my surroundings I did my best to add to the Ryan style humor with a few of my own turkey jokes on the name cards.

It turned out to be a delicious meal! Aunt Erin brought the fixings from DC for the best lamb I have ever eaten along with some savory bread pudding, homemade cranberry sauce, caramel pear gingerbread, and of course pumpkin pie. It was a great mix of tradition with some new things added. Turns out that Erin went to culinary school so I enjoyed learning some new tips from her. It was really fun to hear the reminiscing of their growing up and learn more about this family.
It isn’t often you get the chance to be part of a new family. The Lord has blessed me with so much. Not just a fabulous fiance' , but being so welcomed into his generous family. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year! Hope you had a great turkey day wherever you celebrated.