Giving Thanks, Texas Style

Every year, I’m just baffled. When November 1 rolls around, it seems completely impossible that another holiday season is already in full force. But here it is, another Thanksgiving come and gone, with Christmas and the New Year literally right around the corner. Oh, and three weddings to shoot in between. So yeah… I’m prepared for it to FLY by.

Jamie and I alternate holidays between our two sets of parents every year, so this year we spent Thanksgiving in Houston with his family, and then we’ll spend Christmas with mine. What I love about our families is that even though we share so many of the same traditions and we love both our families equally, holidays are celebrated at completely different paces. With mine, pretty much all of our extended family lives in and around Nashville, so we’ve always spent our Thanksgivings and Christmases bustling around from one grandparents’ house to another. I have tons of aunts and uncles and cousins, so it’s always been crazy and chaotic but exciting… kinda like the big family movies you see on television. But the Trinker family is spread out all over the US, so during holidays it’s quiet and cozy, just us and Jamie’s parents and brother. No places to be, so schedules to stick to… just a whole day of relaxing, cooking, eating, snoozing, playing games, and eating some more. So each year we get a little taste of both worlds. :)

We have a whole lot to be thankful for this year. Praise God for my dad’s life and health and continuing recovery after his stroke this summer. And we survived yet another cross-country move. We’ve gotten to travel all over the place and make some really amazing memories. This year has been full of challenges and rewards as my business continues to grow, and full of revelations for Jamie as he continues to figure out the career path he’s meant to be on. No one in either of our families has been laid off or has gone a single day hungry or without having all our basic needs met, and then some. I know we’ve been a lot better off than many other families who have really struggled, especially in this economy. So with that in mind, and with a delicious meal spread before us last Thursday, we gave thanks. Big, over the top, Texas-style thanks.

Here’s Jamie with the newest member of the Trinker family, Miss Jasmine (aka Jazz, Jazzy, Jazzercise, Girlfriend, and Daisy [the name of the last golden retriever Dave and Debbie had-- it was hard to keep from calling her that!]). She is SUCH a sweet girl… just look at that happy face!

Floyd (aka Big Tex), the beagle mix, is not quite so happy-go-lucky… unless he’s got a full plate of food in front of him. :)

And here’s Rudy (aka Rooty-Tooty and Big Boy), the Welch terrier, the snuggliest of the bunch. Here, Jamie’s splashing him with water and he’s trying to catch it in his mouth. Good luck with that, Rudy!

Is there anything better than Thanksgiving food? I mean, really.

Everyone always points out that when I photograph family functions, there’s never a picture of ME. So I turned the camera on myself for a hot second. :)

We played lots of Scrabble while we were there. The game below I won with a score of 164… I think it’s my record! (I totally lucked out with TWO triple-word scores with a 10-point letter in them.) Sweet victory over Jamie, who beat us all to a pulp the night before. :)

I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing, memory-making holiday. It’s so nice for us all, as a whole, to reflect on what we’re thankful for. And I’M thankful for YOU!