Thanksgiving 2021

After having to cancel last year's Thanksgiving trip to Virginia, we were really looking forward to spending this year's holiday with our family there. It was great to experience our special family traditions, and even better to have weather that wasn't super frigid or snowy. This year we chose to stay in Fancy Gap, and after our day-long journey, we enjoyed a late-night dinner in an empty restaurant, but one we would recommend to others - The Pit Stop Pasta and Grill.

Aren't the backroads of rural Virginia gorgeous? After checking in with my parents, and helping print Holly's address labels, we visited some friends that lived only an hour or so away. It was fun meeting their cute kids and enjoying some scrumptious homemade chili.

We took our traditional hike at a Virginia state park the day before Thanksgiving, instead of the day after.

Weston and his boys introduced Holly to Pokemon, and with beginner's luck, she won the game!

We made our traditional frozen pumpkin pies, Holly made her traditional green bean casserole, Louise took care of everything else (thank you so much!), and we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. (Two if you count the annual neighborhood breakfast she hosts.)

The next day we did some scouting for the next hotel on the list; the Lakeview Motel wasn't showing up in our internet search. We verified that there is no longer a lake (see the brown grass depression), and that the motel is closed. Maybe it opens in the summertime; we'll have to check on that before our next visit. Then we helped Holly prepare for a cookie exchange by baking a couple double batches of Christmas Tree Spritz Cookies. So much fun!

Before leaving for the long drive home, the boys sang "Thankful" for their great-grandparents. I didn't make a recording, but if you click on the link, you can hear some other cute kids singing the song. Yes, we have many things to be thankful for, just one of which is a holiday geared toward being grateful. We hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving as well.