Thanksgiving - Better Late Than Never

Thanksgiving dinner didn't really seem to be in the cards for us this year. Here's what was supposed to happen:

1. Prepare Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and pack it up.

2. Get our cold-weather gear together.

3. Send Chris to work.

4. Head to the cabin on Friday and celebrate Thanksgiving a day late.

Here's what actually happened:

Found out (get this) via Facebook that Chris' family was getting together for Thanksgiving but no one bothered to invite us. How thoughtful of them. But it's not the first time it's happened, so we weren't surprised.

We spent a nice day at home. I prepared the food and got the car packed. Chris went to work, and everything was going as planned. However, I woke up on Friday not feeling well so we decided to postpone the cabin by one day. No problem, until Saturday rolled around and Chris started to not feel so hot. Long story short, we ended up in the ER and stayed there late into the night. (He's fine.)

I started to think we should just give our dinner to the dogs.

However, when Chris woke up Sunday morning feeling better, we decided to give the cabin another shot. Packed everything up again, picked the boys up from my dad's where they'd spent the night, and headed for Crystal Mountain.

And we got stuck in the snow. Yes, you read that correctly.

We are by no means beginners when it comes to snow driving. I can drive across Snoqualmie Pass with my eyes closed in a blizzard. But my poor Acadia just couldn't handle the cabin road. In my defense, the road hadn't been plowed and the ground consisted of a layer of ice, then slush, then powder. The slickest snow I've ever been in. And the cabin road is steep and narrow. I don't have chains but they wouldn't have done any good. Even a four-wheel drive would have had trouble.

We dug ourselves out with the help of a friendly cabin neighbor who happened to know my dad and grandparents. We definitely owe him a six-pack.

When we were un-stuck, we made the decision to drive home. We talked about leaving the Acadia down by the highway and walking the couple miles to the cabin (which we've done before), but it would have been too hard to haul all our gear plus two kids. Besides, it was nearly impossible to walk in that slick snow.

Once again, I figured that Thanksgiving was going to be a bust this year. But when we arrived home we decided to go ahead with our meal.

I brought out a few pieces of china and some linen napkins, lit a few candles and turned on some Christmas tunes. We heated our food in the microwave and enjoyed a nice, quiet Thanksgiving meal with Owen and Logan. And it really felt like Thanksgiving Day. Cozy, intimate, and together as a family.

We gave the boys their new Christmas pajamas and piled on the couch for some snuggle time, and they eventually fell asleep. What a lovely Thanksgiving we still managed to have :)