The holidays are here and I’m bursting with excitement! Thanksgiving weekend was three days of back to back gatherings with each of our families, followed by a Friends Thanksgiving on the tail end. Let’s begin there.
Friends Thanksgiving is an incredibly fun tradition started by Jeff’s high school friends from Calvin Christian more than a decade ago - I don’t actually know how many years it’s been going. Instead of the usual turkey dinner the group all contributes to a soup and salad crockpot buffet that’s topped off with Mrs. Workman’s dirt dessert. The kids fill up on gummy worms and run about the house like mad men while the adults catch up in the other room - or try to anyway, because, you know… the kids. My favorite part is after the meal when we all sit in a circle and share our ‘thankfuls.’
We began the Thanksgiving celebrations in Schoolcraft with Grandma and Grandpa Smith. We enjoyed a slow morning in our PJs watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for its full duration - which is SUPER long - 8:30am until Noon - but for the first time in a long while, we were in no rush and watched the whole thing. Shortly thereafter we switched over to the Lions game (such a sad display) and later drowned our sorrows in gravy overtop mashed potatoes and turkey. Dad’s turkey and stuffing was out of this world (he outdoes himself each year), the kids loved playing with their cousins and we were extremely grateful for the time spent together as a family.
The next day we headed north to Rockford for round two with the Kladder Family. We are always spoiled by my mother-in-laws cooking and thoughtful preparation which is no small task considering the 10 adults (with two bonus adults this year including Aunt Sue and Uncle Bob), 8 kids (with a 9th due any day now!) and 3 dogs that she hosts. In all the little things Grandma and Grandpa Kladder make us all feel their love. For this we are grateful.
We also celebrated Jeff’s 38th birthday on Thanksgiving Day. Jeff doesn’t like celebrating his birthday, or celebrating himself at all for that matter. It’s true what they say - that opposites attract. So in honor of his wishes to not (ever) make a big deal of it… his birthday celebration this year consisted of a Meijer cookie cake that I ordered as part of our weekly grocery order that he picked up on his way home from work. And when I helped unload the bags later that night I realized that instead of the cake saying ‘Happy Birthday’ with balloons like I ordered… it spelled out ‘Grateful for You’ in red icing. As low key as it gets. And there you have it. Happy Birthday to the best husband, dad and PIC our family could ask for. Also, if you ever do want to celebrate Jeff Kladder… he loves a good chocolate chip cookie.
A November birthday that I did get to celebrate was our friend Dana at her second annual favorite things party. So fun! Each lady brings 3 of her favorite things and we spend hours playing a gift exchange game where items are stolen and everyone walks away winners! Items include giant candles and house plants. Mini vacuum cleaners and face products. The variety is endless. Outside of the gift exchange, Dana prepares a full spread of girl dinner (cheese, crackers, dips and treats) and plenty of wine. It’s a recipe for success. Happy birthday Dana!
One of our favorite family holiday traditions is cutting down our Christmas tree together. This year Jeff allowed a very rare early tree cutting date the weekend before Thanksgiving to accommodate for the Michigan vs Ohio State football game scheduled the following weekend. The weather was PERFECT! The sun was shining, the kids had a blast and we came home with a real winner. Big shout out to Hart Tree Farm for a stellar experience and quality product.
Speaking of U of M football… Go Blue! Holy moly has it been fun to follow along this season. And when I say follow along I mean… on game days Jeff is pacing the living room, sweating out his shirts and I’m pretty sure gains more grey hairs with every play. His passion for the team is both inspiring and startling.
The weekend before that Jeff was back in Detroit cheering on the Lions from the sidelines with some of his high school besties. Unlike their disappointing outcome on Thanksgiving day, the Lions pulled out a game winning play providing one of the most exciting 4th quarters of the season.
Earlier this month Jeff and I enjoyed the Broadway GR show Tina at DeVos Performance Hall. It’s another one this season that we’d not yet seen and while it didn’t make our list of top 3 favorite shows of all time… overall we enjoyed it. The show is the life story of Tina Turner which is very sad in parts making the show an odd roller coaster of highs and lows. On one hand it’s super fun to see her popular songs performed on stage by professionals, on the other you see the backstory on the struggle she went through in order to make them. We are so lucky to have such a strong Team at Broadway GR who’s dedicated to bringing the best shows to our city. Kudos!
With Thanksgiving in our rearview mirror we are pedal to the metal speeding right into Christmas with our first two holiday parties this weekend. It truly is the best time of the year.
