What happened to Thanksgiving?

I went grocery shopping the day before Halloween and I was surprised to see Christmas candy. That's right, they were already putting away the Halloween candy, the decorations and costumes were already marked down 50%, and Christmas candy was loaded onto the shelves. All the yellows and oranges were being replaced by reds and greens. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. It's my favorite holiday and my favorite time of year. I'm not even really big on Halloween, but I look forward to it every year because it means that Christmas is that much closer. It wasn't the presence of Christmas merriment that bothered me, but the lack of celebrating another holiday: Thanksgiving. What happened to Thanksgiving?

My reasons for being distressed about the disappearance of Thanksgiving are two-fold. First, Thanksgiving is not just another minor holiday like Flag day or Columbus day; commemorating an important event or piece of history, but barely noticed by most people. Thanksgiving is a big holiday in the United States. It's a federal holiday. Public schools get a 5 day weekend for Thanksgiving and most people get the day off work. There's the Macy's Parade, the football games, the pie and the turkey. Then there's the actual significance of the holiday itself. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God and the native americans for helping the pilgrims survive the winter. Most people celebrating the holiday today realize this significance and also show gratitude for their blessings and abundance. I personally love this holiday because I get to spend a few days relaxing and being with my wonderful family, one of the things I am most grateful for. And all the delicious food we eat is an added bonus. I understand that a big reason many companies have for selling Christmas paraphernalia so early is that they hope to make more money from a longer display time. Why not capitalize on Thanksgiving more? Sell turkey shaped chocolates! Pumpkin pie cups! (similar to a peanut butter cup. I just thought it up, but it sounds delicious!)

My second reason for annoyance at the early Christmas celebration is that it's just too soon! I love celebrating Christmas, and seeing all these Christmas-y things is getting me in the Christmas mood. I want to play Christmas music, wear Christmas sweaters, buy Christmas presents, and decorate my house with a tree and lights. It's just not time to do those things yet! There are still orange and yellow leaves all over the ground, not snow. I have to wait until after Thanksgiving to do those things. If I start playing Rudolph and White Christmas now, I'll be sick of them before December. And yet, my Christmas glee is hard to suppress.

Remember Thanksgiving! Don't be in a hurry to skip over it. We still have 3 weeks to appreciate the Thanksgiving season and express gratitude. There will still be time to fully acknowledge Christmas. In the mean time, I put this on display to appease my Christmas yearning:

Sweet Tooth

Someone discovered the candy bowl.

"Mmmm, this stuff looks so good."

Success!

Happy Halloween

Our ward Halloween party/Chili cook-off was last night and we went as Aladdin, Jasmine, and Abu. My mom got the monkey costume for Dallin a few months ago, so we tried to think of a theme that all three of us could use for our costumes that included a monkey. Of course, this was the best one.

I made the vests for both of the boys and Mckay made the hats.

My costume was assembled entirely from things that I already had in my closet.

(Doesn't every girl have a pink jingly scarf?)

We had a good time eating chili and seeing friends. I think Dallin's favorite part was playing with his Daddy.

Progress!

After working on this one for almost 3 weeks, Dallin has finally finished one entire jar of baby food! He is making a lot of progress with eating. Today I fed him sweet potatoes straight out of the jar (not diluted) and I gave him twice as much as I normally would. He ate it all. Now that he is getting used to the texture and thickness of baby food, we'll try some other flavors. I hope he likes them.

Mirror, mirror

Dallin really likes looking at himself in the mirror.

He hasn't realized yet that it's himself he sees.

But he sure likes smiling at that other baby.

Notice how he's sitting by himself. He's pretty good at it.

most of the time...

The trouble with food

Getting Dallin to eat baby food has been a struggle. He really puts up a fight and screams and tries to jump out of his chair to get away from the food. The following two videos show some of the things he will do when I try to feed him. Because he was too distracted by the camera, what you see is very tame for his normal reaction to food, but you get a taste of it.

And I'm happy to report that for the past 3 days, he's been eating a lot better and actually enjoying the food, I think. Who knew that sweet potato soup is what the little guy was craving? (pureed sweet potatoes thinned with milk)

Snuggly Bug

This is Dallin relaxing and getting ready for bed.

Just sucking his thumb and snuggling....

...his burp cloth.