Thanksgiving 2006

I love getting together with Brad's family. I don't know if it's seeing him together with his two brothers (which usually means the boys are watching the Thanksgiving football games or talking Vikings or tossing the football around outside while the women tend to the cooking and child care) or if it's watching the nieces play together. And since we all live so far away from each other (MN, FL, IN, and NC), it's good just to be together.

This Thanksgiving we met near Gatlinberg, TN and rented a house big enough for all of us and our growing families. Because airfare was OUTRAGEOUS, Brad and I decided to drive. NEVER AGAIN!

We used to love road trips. We drove all the way from Bismarck, ND to Spokane, WA the day after we got married. But with a one year old (who was, by the way, incredibly well behaved and content almost all of the 4 1/2 days we were on the road...aside from throwing up once the first day...) and the simple fact of being in the car for 12-14 hours a day, well, I was ready to be home.

And even though I felt we were in the car way too much (especially once we got to TN), and I was bummed we didn't get to play many games together after the kids went to bed, we had some really good times. I really enjoyed spending time in the back of the van with my sister-in-law Sarah. We had an incredible view of the Smokey Mountains from our house. Meeting my new niece, Lauren, was such a treat, and seeing Grandma Hedberg enjoy herself in Gatlinberg was a joy...even though I was very cold and very tired. But the best was taking a family picture (with all 11 of us) and a picture of Grandma Aust with her three granddaughters. We did everything we could to get the girls to smile...and placing food in front of them finally worked. We laughed and laughed until we cried. It was a very long ordeal, but well worth it.

But on the way home, as we sat in traffic for 2 hours (by the way, we traveled a total of 15 miles in those 2 hours), I began to think that it would be nice to have a holiday for just Brad, Sammy, and me. I love seeing Brad's family (and mine as well), but spending more time in the car than at the actual place we were renting was really hard. And if we would fly anywhere next year, after October, we would have to pay for Sammy as well.

So when does one start spending holidays as a new family unit and not as a large group? How does one even make the suggestion to the extended family? I don't know the answer to those questions, but Brad and I will certainly be thinking more and more about it as our family grows and as the distance between the members of his family remains so great.

But, for now, I will be thankful for the opportunity to get away for a few days (even though most of it was in the car) and remember the boys lifting Grandma Hedberg up an embankment (in her wheelchair) and pushing her into three lanes of oncoming traffic just because we didn't want to drive to get to a restaurant, and I will smile.