Thanksgiving 101

"Thanks for Thanksgiving, for turkey and pie."

Thanksgiving is fo sho my favorite holiday in the history of ever.  The food, the family, the warm fuzzies.  I have never felt so incredibly homesick than the handful of times in my life when I didn't get to go "home" for Thanksgiving ("home" being a nondescript place that is full of family and the warm fuzzies mentioned above).

For the past two years I've had this amazing opportunity to teach people from other countries what Thanksgiving is.  That sounds pretty cool, right?  It's the best - mostly because I got to take all of the most amazing things about Thanksgiving (turkey, giving thanks, loved-ones, gateway to Christmas, sweet potato casserole) and get rid of all of the not-amazing things (Pilgrims, football, Gray Thursday).  I had this opportunity to tell people about this holiday that my country had come up with that was all about giving thanks - something that (in my opinion) we don't do/see/hear enough in this life of consumerism and "not enough".

This year, for the first time, I got to host Thanksgiving for part of my family, which was the second best thing in the history of ever (rivaled only by the holiday itself).

This is where I should fill in the post with lots of pictures....lots of pictures I never took because I was so caught up in the weekend with my parents, baby brother, and his wife.

If you could teach someone who has never been to a "Thanksgiving" what it is, what would you tell them?