I'm Thankful for Family!

This Thanksgiving was just like TOTALLY awesome!! There was fun, food, games and more. But as I look back on my holiday, I realize that perhaps the thing I'm most thankful for is family.

On November 18 my grandparents drove down to our house from their abode in Michigan. I was SO excited when I learned that they had arrived! (During their arrival, I had been at work.) Friday and Sabbath just seemed to speed by, and soon November 21 arrived.

Now you must understand something. For about the past year, I've been interviewing my various grandparents and asking them questions about their lives, all the while filming. The only grandparent I hadn't filmed yet was my Michigan grandmother. To this end, my first project of the week was to film her and create the show.

WOW. Was I ever in for a surprise! Usually I will only film my grandparents for half hour or so, but my grandmother had so many more stories to share! Stories of her childhood, of going to school and family. She told me how she learned how to drive, about raising her kids. And then there were the stories of all the places she's been, like Hawaii, Europe, and Mexico! In the end the interview took almost an hour and a half...but it was surely worth it! After 2 1/2 days of work on the project, it was done and out!!

As I look back now, I am extremely happy that I did that, that some of my grandmother's stories and life experiences are captured forever. That's one of the reasons I wanted to interview my grandparents--because they are a true treasure. They have had stories that you have never knew, stories that are fascinating. Stories that need to be remembered.



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Tuesday afternoon and all of Wednesday I worked, either at the cafe or our church. But come Thursday and Thanksgiving...I was going to have some fun!

Thanksgiving afternoon my Uncle Brian was flying into Atlanta, so Grandpa, Dad, and I  were to be picking him up. After two hours of chores (poor me! ;D) our party left and headed for the best airport in the world. I enjoyed looking out the window on the way down. And I was SOOOOOO excited to see Atlanta airport for myself!!! IN PERSON!! Yeah, I've seen it on my Flight Simulator and also in pictures on Airliners.net, but it was just so cool to see it for real.

Now you must understand something about my uncle. He is very funny and loves games and jokes. Last time Grandpa and I were picking him up from another airport, he totally caught us off guard! Somehow he had managed to duck down below everyone and sneak up from behind! So this time I had told him I'd be keeping an extra eye out for one particular uncle.

So. Grandpa, Dad, and I are at the airport baggage claim area, waiting for Brian's flight to come in. I was especially glad that there was only one entrance to the area from the main part of the airport. So that way, I was SURE to spot my uncle!! Right? Uh, well, um, uh, WRONG! ;)

With three of us there, we were keeping an eye on the boards, the entrance, and the baggage claim #6 all at the same time. We got a couple calls from Brian that he was on the ground. Vigilance increased. Finally, our party decided to move on over closer to the entrance so we could up our chances of spotting Brian.

So, a little bit after that move I get a call from Brian. He started asking me some, um, interesting questions. "Are you at _____ spot?" Are you wearing a Cohutta Springs t-shirt?" (I was!) By then I knew he had seen me first and the chase was really over. Then I hear him talking, and see him directly behind me!!!! That uncle..... ;) He told me it happened like this. He knew I would be looking for him. So he took on the challenge to evade from my view. So he stealthily stole through a store that was by the entrance, went outside the baggage claim area, ALL THE WAY AROUND TO THE OTHER END, and came up behind us! That's my Uncle Brian for you! Very fun and very sneaky.

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Now you must understand something. My uncle LOVES to play games. Since about the summer of 2008, whenever we've gotten together we have played tournaments of SORRY! games, usually in quantities of 20 or 30 games. It is a very competitive but fun sport, as we are both great players. (As a matter of fact, I think Brian said that he taught me to play SORRY! TOO well!! :D) From the birth of SORRY! tournaments, we have play four tournaments, each of us winning two. This Thanksgiving we would hold our 5th tournament, and see who was the real champion. Well, we played some games on Thursday and Friday, but not a whole lot. After sundown on Sabbath we played and finished the tournament--about 14 games in 2 hours solid!! It was a TON of fun!! TON TON TON TON of fun!!!!!!!! What was crazy was that we both tied in number of games won--10. So we played a tie-breaker game, and with the draw of a card I won the tournament!! Even if I had lost, it would have still been fun. It's really about having fun and making memories with my favorite game-playing uncle. ;) And, as Brian says, everyone knows the rules to SORRY!. The key is to know how to um, um, use the rules (and play fairly) to the best of your advantage! :D

However, while it would have been fun either way, even if I lost, with tradition I must blast to the world:

Student Defeats Teacher in 21-game SORRY! Tournament AGAIN!!!  :D

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In addition to filming my grandmother, I also was able to interview Uncle Brian. While not everything went as planned, many hilarious stories were captured. (Seriously, you can't have a serious story come from Uncle Brian!) I learned about a whole slew of relatives I had no clue even existed. I learned about how he learned to drive, childhood experiences, where he's been, and how he likes being an uncle. Of course we had to include the I-walked-barefoot-in-the-snow-uphill-both-ways-to-school-every-winter story! :D

The house is quiet again, our company is gone, and Thanksgiving is over. But as I think about it, it was one of the best Thanksgvings ever: I got to be with family.  I am very thankful for family. I learned some awesome stories, and made some even more awesome memories! For ever and ever, I will remember Thanksgiving 2010 with joy, laughter, and fondness.