This year was the Chadwick's turn for Thanksgiving. Somewhere in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I found a "Guess Who?" game at D.I. and decided to turn it into a Chadwick edition. There was some debate about how to use everyone's faces. Initially, I was just going to use an actual photograph, but Rachel thought it would simplify things to make them "Cartoony." We tried several avatar generating apps, but the ones we liked best didn't have enough variety. They especially struggled with red hair, and since we have so many redheads in the group, that wasn't going to work. I started to use Chatgpt to help me, but they would only allow 3 or 4 attempts each day, and it still couldn't get it right. This is where Brian got involved. He used some kind of AI and credits, wrote a script, and we cranked the whole crew through and got some pretty cute versions of the whole crew. Here's our family's.
I couldn't wait to show everyone their Guess Who avatars, and everyone got a kick out of it. We had extra cards for everyone, so we ended up getting headbands and making a headband game of it as well so more people could play at once.
The next morning, Brian, David and I took Henry, Rachel, and Aaron to the temple to do baptisms. It was fun to see these cousins in the temple together, and it was really fun to see Henry so excited about the work he was doing.
As a reminder, these cousins are really close in age--Rachel was born in January, then Henry about 3.5 weeks later in February, and then Aaron in May.
Wednesday was filled with Thanksgiving preparations. Here the kids are helping Grandma break up the bread for the stuffing.
On Wednesday night, Taryn and Chelsea gave the kids the bears they'd made from Grandpa Linville's shirts. All the bears were in a big black bag, and we had all the kids sit in a circle and spin a bottle to see who got to go reach into the bag and pull out a bear. Here's Michael with his Grandpa Linville bear.
Here's Gabe.
Here's the bottle spinning in action.
Finally, Rachel got her turn.
Reaching into the bag.
Here's everyone giving hugs to Chelsea and Taryn for their efforts.
Thanksgiving was a bit rough with Gabe--bad sleep, overstimulation, too many people telling him what to do. Here I am trying to help him stay calm, feel loved, and unwind before bed. I think I want to remember this moment with him instead of all the rough moments that made me want to quit, so that's all I'm going to say about it.
The next day, it was Thanksgiving, and it was time to finish all the food. David smoked two turkeys overnight, and my mom was going to toss the third into some liquid smoke overnight, and I asked if we could just roast it normally. Chelsea agreed, and we prepped the turkey together, stuffing it with so much butter, herbs, and fruit. I think it turned out really good, and Mom and Chelsea used the drippings to make the gravy.
Here's David carving one of his turkeys.
We're finally all ready to eat!
And then there was just a bit of drama. Would it be Thanksgiving without it? This time, it was an unlikely source (Chelsea), and apparently partly caused by me. We're all carrying around so many feelings, so much grief, and it came to a head right as the turkeys were being passed. Chelsea and I spent the meal talking it all out, and then we came back and enjoyed everything after it was mostly cleaned up. Brian was upset because he said it was his turn to cause the drama this year and Chelsea took that from him. Let the record show that Brian called the drama for 2027--no butting in line next time.
Other than that and kid fights, we had a great Thanksgiving. Here I am with Michael and my mom!
On Friday morning, Heather asked me to take pictures of her, Errick (her fiance), and Bailee (her future step-daughter). She'd been trying to connect with me for over a month, and we finally made it happen. They turned out great, I think. She said they were her favorite pictures ever. Chelsea got her kids to jump into the fray as well, so I also took pictures of Chelsea's whole crew. Chelsea also wanted me to take a picture of her with Mom, so I did.
Mom found these Oreo house kits for each of the kids, and they all put them together together.
We forgot to get our matching White Christmas sweatshirt picture last year at Christmas, so everyone brought them to take a picture together this year. I got mom a t-shirt to coordinate with us since she didn't want a sweatshirt. Chelsea and I did a little dancing while we waited for everyone to come out.
We proudly present, the Chadwick Sisters (and their amazing mom!)
Grandma remains our favorite family celebrity. I feel like it is such a gift that we still have her, that she is still fighting.
Thanksgiving was tough for me. I realize that I'm still carrying around a lot of grief from losing Grandpa last year, and it feels like I shouldn't be. I knew it was his time. I know he lived a good life. I know he's happy. But there is this tiny piece of me, clear back in my subconscious that is just really ticked off that this world no longer has him in it, and that I won't have my Grandma much longer either. When we walked Grandma to her car and said goodbye, I came back into the house and couldn't hold back tears. Every time I say goodbye to her, I worry that it will be the last time I see her until the next life. Grandma and Grandpa Linville were often less like grandparents and more like a second set of parents. Grandpa has left a giant hole, and we're still feeling the hole that Dad left.
With all the drama and hurt feelings we've had over the years, my mom asked me, "Is this all worth it? Is it worth it to try to get together?" "Yes!" I said. None of us are promised tomorrow, and I would rather take this crew with all their problems, baggage, weaknesses, and grief than not have them at all. Life is precious, and people are not expendable. Relationships matter and are worth fighting for, and the fighting is sometimes a bit messy and always uncomfortable, but again, worth the fight. (For the record, I don't think this applies in abusive situations. Forgive, but don't subject yourself to abuse. Thankfully, this isn't something we have to deal with).
We headed home Friday night, as late as I felt I could push it and still get home safely. We'd finally started having fun playing games Friday afternoon, and I was sad to leave, but I was also glad to end on a highish note.
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