Giving Thanks.

We are currently driving home from Utah.  I love to visit Utah.  These days our Utah visits are filled with deep nostalgia.  We no longer visit Grandma and Grandpa's house as it was sold last spring.  That is hard for us.  But what else can you do?  At some point we recognize that the most important things Grandma and Grandpa left behind was their family.  We have beautiful memories of Grandma's house: of kickball and football games in the backyard, of cookouts and breakfasts and sitting around laughing;  of caramel rice krispie squares and roast pork with clusky noodles; of Grandpa sitting at the bar meticulously cutting tomato after tomato for fresh salsa or sitting in his favorite chair with a glass of water filled ice; of Grandma staying up late with us because of her FOMO - but then getting up early anyways while the rest of us slept in.  Grandma and Grandpa's house was a gathering place.  Where people were welcomed and fed and loved.   Because Grandma and Grandpa understood that people mattered and relationships mattered.  And for that I am thankful.

Piper and Zina helping chop onions for thanksgiving day stuffing. 😎

These days we visit Aunt Marilyn's house.  In so many ways different but in so many ways the same.  The same people there to love, and laugh with, and heal with.   The same traditions of good food and gathering exist because we are all learning that its worth the effort to be together.  Because we are the most important things that Grandma and Grandpa left behind.  There is nothing more important then being together and creating traditions that honor their family.  Of course it's not exactly the same because it's all mixed in with a deep ache for those who aren't there but I feel so strongly that it's important none the less for the growing generation and the aging generation to remember who they are by being together.  Mark still made it to Payson for the ritual run up P-mountain.  I hope it was healing in some way.   I am slowly learning to let go of laundry piles and to do lists for hikes in the hills, and football games in the back yard.  Because at some point they will end for me, but hopefully not for my posterity.  If I haven't showed them what's important than who will?

After dinner at the Lion House in Salt Lake.  Getting ready to walk through the lights on Temple Square.  Sarah ran all over temple square at full speed and refused to wear a coat.  (She's mad here because her coat is on!)

The first time I went with Mark to Utah and entered his childhood home - I felt like I was home.  It is strange to think about and look back on because we weren't even dating at the time, but I distinctly remember the feeling I felt with when I entered Grandma Judy's house.

Home is a special kind of feeling
A feeling that the world is left behind you

Like a shelter from your cares that seems to want you

To be there

Home is that special kind of feeling

The feeling that you've made it all your own

Somewhere which you know is really your place

A place for living, your special place, your home

Home has a welcome kind of feeling

The firelight, and the warmth of hearth and home

A welcome that you know will always cheer you

Like a gentle fond "hello" that seems to touch you with a glow

Home has a quiet kind of feeling

An island when you need to be alone

A haven for the times you spend together

There's nowhere better, no other place like home

Giving thanks today for all the homes in my life both present and past.  For that special kind of feeling when I gather with people that I love.

Christmas Tree at City Creek shopping Center. 
We are still smiling after braving the millions of people on Temple Square!