On day two I shared a little about some of my fun, and sometimes not so fun travel experiences.  Sometimes rustic, sometimes glamorous, but all times I am thankful for.

Just talking with my husband last night, I realized that the reason we ended up at the motel with the coin operated vibrating beds… still makes me crack up… was because we had air plane tickets for Salt Lake City scheduled for 9/13/2001.  Well, no airplanes ended up going anywhere that day, so we decided to drive.  Oh, what a long and not so exciting drive that is!

Today I want to continue on that theme, a little more memory lane of some of the diverse experiences I have had that I am so very thankful for.  And since yesterday was Thanksgiving day, I’m going down a little Holiday Memory Lane.

• Growing up I spent every Christmas Eve in my prettiest dress, toasting champagne from crystal glasses, eating a huge roast off fine china at a candle lit table.  The tree was elaborately and perfectly decorated, the gifts were always generous and exciting, with another pretty dress, a fantastic new toy, a cashmere sweater, or a piece of Waterford crystal, with a nice and healthy check on the side.  Soft Christmas music played in the background as Grandpa wore a fancy velvet Santa hat and red suspenders with his Christmas tie.
  

  A Gould Christmas. Los Altos, CA.

• I spent every Christmas Day tromping around a ranch in the mud, playing hide and go seek amongst the barns filled with hay, cows and a ranch dog named Pokey, with random litters of kittens hidden in the hay.  Dinner was a boisterous meal  with everyone crammed around one big table, piled with food.  The tree was very ‘Charlie Brown-ish,’ always crocked, rarely very green, with a couple of token ornaments thrown on so you could call it a Christmas tree.  The gifts were usually modest, guaranteed a stocking for each Grandchild usually filled with a pair a colorful socks, a pretty little tin of fruity candies, and a $1 or $5 bill.  Laughter echoed in the house until the wee hours of the morning as everyone played cards and Grandpa continued to announce, “Well, I’m going to bed.”
  

  A Mahacek Christmas in the 'big house'. Fulton, CA

Each home was so very different, but filled with love and memories I will cherish until the day I die.

Yesterday I celebrated Thanksgiving with some of my family.  Everyone was jovial, the food was outstanding  (I am surrounded by awesome cooks!), the weather superb…  my Aunt is healthy after a bone marrow transplant, my husband’s ankle is on the mend and I believe is completely healed from his kidney disease, his Mom was with us, 15 years after her kidney transplant, …  I am just so thankful.

We made a ‘Thanksgiving Tree’ with hand print ornaments made from construction paper, glue, glitter and yarn.  They were imprinted with some of the things each of us was thankful for.

I am so thankful for all of the wonderful family holiday celebrations, traditions old and new… watching fireworks all over the San Francisco bay area from my Grandparent’s porch, ’stair pictures’ of all the grand and great-grandkids on Christmas Eve, picnics with Easter egg hunts… and Thanksgiving trees.

Happy Thanksgiving!