Thursday, November 27, 2014

Ryder's First Thanksgiving

This year has been incredibly difficult in more ways than I can count. But through it all, our little baby boy has been a bright shining star on the horizon. His big gummy grin makes us smile whenever we see him, and his laugh makes all the heartache seem to melt away.
 
He is my joy and my reason for living, and I want to make each and every holiday a magical experience for him, filled with family, friends, traditions, and memories.
 
Sweet baby Ryder...
I've never been more thankful for anything in my life.
 
 
We planned a quiet little Thanksgiving at home this year, and invited Stew's brothers over for a day of food and football.
 
Unfortunately, my grandma was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center on Wednesday morning. Although she was stabilized by Thanksgiving, of course we didn't want her sitting alone in a hospital room for the holiday, so everyone took turns visiting her. Then, because we live nearby, we ended up with some extra surprise guests for dinner, which we loved!!
 
Stew spent the morning watching football while I visited Grandma and then worked on prepping for our feast.

I was so excited to set my Thanksgiving table with Stew's mom's china and crystal. I didn't prepare a very fancy feast, but all our favorite holiday staples were there, and we were able to stretch the food to feed all our wonderful guests.

I made Stew carve the turkey -- clearly the patriarch's Thanksgiving duty!

I made everyone go around the table and state what they are most thankful for this year, and then we dug in!

Obviously, Ryder was the most popular dinner guest.

An Alway Family Thanksgiving with Mark, Matt, Stewart, and Ryder Alway.

Plus ,I got to see some of my family, too!
It's not Thanksgiving without FOOTBALL, and this year the Seahawks played the evil 49ers -- we smashed them!

 
Even though it wasn't a typical Thanksgiving for us, we rolled with the punches and everything turned out just perfectly. In spite of all the negative things that have happened this year, we truly do have so much to be thankful for, and I wouldn't change a thing!
 
Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!
 
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6 comments:

  1. Happy 1st Thanksgiving to Mr. Ryder! What a handsome boy you have! Can't believe how big he's getting!!!!

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  2. Such an awesome way to spend his first thanksgiving -- watching the seahawks stomp on the niners! Holler!
    Sorry up hear about grandma :( hopefully she's doing better'

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  3. I'm so glad you had a nice thanksgiving. You have dealt with a lot this year but it's great that you are able to see all of the good that surrounds you at the same time!

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  4. It definitely sounds like a great Thanksgiving! It looks like Ryder (and everyone else!) enjoyed it! :)

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  5. Hope your grandma is ok! Everything looked yummy and of course, Ryder was adorable. That onesie is so cute!

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  6. Looks like Ryder's first Thanksgiving was a good one!

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