Carson's First Thanksgiving

Everyone enjoyed being a part of Carson's first Thanksgiving. On the Sunday before, we had dinner at Papa Green's house after church. There we got to see Papa Green, Nanny Judy, Uncle Darwin, Kevin and Marsha, cousins Caleb and Jessica, and little cousins Aaron and Kimberly. Of course, Granny and Pops and Uncle Eric were all there too. This was also the first time Carson met Uncle Darwin.

On Thanksgiving Day, as Marty said, we went from one extreme to the other. We went from ex-military shooting guns to gospel singing around the piano! For lunch we had the Parker Thanksgiving at my Daddy's house for the first time ever. It was fabulous. We had lots of good food, including Grandmother's famous chicken and dumplins, and got to spend good quality time with the family. Carson got to meet Uncle Jerry and Aunt Becky, Uncle Lynn and Aunt Beth, and cousin Tiffany and her boyfriend Chris(?) for the first time. We also got to see cousin Kristi and little Olivia again, as well as Uncle Eric, Papa Steve and Glenda, and Grandmother. We were sad that Aunt Billie couldn't be with us because she had to work. After lunch, several went outside to shoot guns. Eric thinks he counted about 16 different guns out there!




Some of the men gave Marty a hard time because he would rather babysit than go out and shoot the guns with them. He decided to watch Olivia for Kristi so she could go out and shoot. Marty's secret is out now...he loves babies! He has always been great with kids, but now that he has a baby of his own, he is perfectly comfortable with holding other babies too! And during this moment, Carson discovered he could pull someone's hair other than Mommy's! Olivia has plenty of it to share...




For supper, we went to Nanny's and had the best food ever! There we saw Granny and Pops, Uncle Darwin and Aunt Donna, and cousins Caleb and Jessica, Kimberly, and Aaron again. We also had a special surprise: Great Aunt Jimmie and Great Aunt Nancy were there too! This was the first time Carson met them and Aunt Donna. Aunt Jimmie had a fit over Carson and had to fight Granny to keep holding him! She sang him to sleep. We think he loved her so much because she is goofy. After supper, Aunt Jimmie played the piano and we gathered around and sang from old hymnals. It was a GREAT time! Of course I love to sing, and Carson loves singing too. He shouts while we sing like he is trying to sing with us!


Enjoying the singing


Our Thanksgiving sing-a-long leaders


Aunt Jimmie singing to Carson

Some random reflections on Thanksgiving:

I have discovered that there is one thing that Carson doesn't have a shortage of (besides clothes!), and that is Great-Great Aunts! On my mom's side, Nanny has 5 sisters, and on Marty's Daddy's side, Grandma Ravenna has 5 sisters left also! That's 10 SO FAR! And there are a few more on other branches of our families. Aunt Jimmie realized at Thanksgiving that she is Carson's Great-Great Aunt, so she just kept saying "Great" because she lost count!

I also came to the realization that Carson will never be able to eat Thanksgiving turkey. Now is the time to be sad, because when he is old enough to understand, we have to show him it is completely normal, and by then it will be. This is the first time I have had to digest this information. Because of Carson's special diet, he cannot have any meat. If I hear one more person ask if he had some turkey I will scream! We need everyone in our families to learn and understand so that Carson will never feel alienated at family dinners. We will learn to make food especially for him and make him feel right at home no matter where he goes. Start practicing now, people...no more turkey talk.

At the same time, I have SO MUCH to be thankful for. God has TRULY blessed us with an abundant life just as He promised. Although Marty still has not found a full-time job, our needs are met exceedingly. We are blessed to have our wonderful, big families, including all our grandmothers. I still have one grandfather, and Marty has a great-grandmother! Our families are all in good health right now, and so are we. And now we have our beloved baby boy, Carson, who blesses our lives every day! God sent us a special son to love and care for, as He desired. We prayed so hard and waited so long, and now we have our first baby.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will grant you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Living proof of that right here. GOD IS GOOD. Let us give thanks.