Especially for not having to take another road trip for a long, long time. We braved the roads for Thanksgiving and trekked all the way up to Kansas City. We'd known better. As expected, it was an awful trip. The kids hated being couped up for 10 hours, and Nate and I got frustrated hearing them fuss. The only "good" traveler in the bunch was our poor dog, who's way too big to be squished into the back of the Durango that long. He never complained.
Once we got to KC, it was a different story. This was the twins' first trip to my dad's in bipedal mode. Seeing his HUGE house on their four little feet was like exploring a new world. They even figured out (quite well!) stairs! They played with the horses, rode on tractors and four-wheelers and drove their toys all over my dad's house. Our Thanksgiving get-together was perfect. Almost everyone was there. The twins are CRAZY about their GREAT-Aunt Sharon, and they love their second-cousin, 3-year-old Schaeffer. Trevin and Kim even came all the way from North Carolina. Don and Jackie, Johnny and Aunt Margie completed the package. And, BOY, did we eat some good food! I appreciate that Johnson holidays are steeped in tradition. Most of the dishes Sharon and Margie make are passed down from their mom, a gorgeous woman who left this Earth far too early for me to have had the pleasure of meeting her. I find myself practically interrogating Sharon and Margie for information about their wonderful mom, who spent her whole life taking care of others. Sharon and Margie love talking about her, and I love hearing the stories. Turns out my Grandma was crazy about shoes! That must be where I get it... Aunt Sharon and I sifted through a big box of Grandma Johnson's linens, many of which she made. They were gorgeous, and Aunt Sharon let me pick out a few to keep. I certainly will cherish them. We decorated the Thanksgiving table with one of Grandma's nice tablecloths. It felt really special to use something she'd used so long ago...
The trip home to Amarillo after almost a week's stay was equally grueling. But we made it, sanity mostly intact, and are resuming life as normal. Despite my whining, I'm truly thankful for family times like those. It's what life's all about.
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