Can you believe it's the first Monday of November already?
I can't. Working full time outside the home is making the days fly by for me......I'm slowly adjusting but I don't really like it. If another part time position comes up for next year, I just may put in for that.....if the conditions are right!
Meanwhile, I'm continuing to participate in this online Marriage Monday Ministry, hosted by E-Mom from the Chrysalis blog.
This is a time where we write about marriage topics and this month that topic is IN-LAWS!
This is a time where we write about marriage topics and this month that topic is IN-LAWS!
And guess what? I love my in-laws! They are wonderful people.
Try to think of the "Brady Bunch" theme song (remember that silly sitcom of the man, the woman and the 6 kids between them??)....my post will be in a play style with the beginning based on that song......
Here's the story....of the T-----Family!
Who were busy bringing up their boys and girls.
They had 4 of them....living all together...
the youngest one in curls.
Til the one day when the 3rd child met a teacher.....who had students but no children of her own.....it was God-ordained..... and then marriage...and then came daughters to liven up their home!
Cast of Characters
Grampa T (as my girls call him) and his wife Grammy T......my inlaws...my husband's parents.....
Karen, the oldest, living out in California, and her daughter Hanna, now at college in Scotland.
Pete and his wife Kathy....and their children Adam(age 23, at U-Mass) and Beth (age 21, at U-Maine). They live in the old hometown.
Dave and me with our 2 daughters. Courtney(age 18) at college in north shore Boston and Claire(age 12) in junior high school. We live in eastern NY north of Albany.
Paula and her husband Keith...and their step daughter Lyndsay (and her baby girl Isabella) and their 2 children, Ronnie (age 11) and Debi (age 10)...they live in Rhode Island.
Who were busy bringing up their boys and girls.
They had 4 of them....living all together...
the youngest one in curls.
Til the one day when the 3rd child met a teacher.....who had students but no children of her own.....it was God-ordained..... and then marriage...and then came daughters to liven up their home!
Cast of Characters
Grampa T (as my girls call him) and his wife Grammy T......my inlaws...my husband's parents.....
Karen, the oldest, living out in California, and her daughter Hanna, now at college in Scotland.
Pete and his wife Kathy....and their children Adam(age 23, at U-Mass) and Beth (age 21, at U-Maine). They live in the old hometown.
Dave and me with our 2 daughters. Courtney(age 18) at college in north shore Boston and Claire(age 12) in junior high school. We live in eastern NY north of Albany.
Paula and her husband Keith...and their step daughter Lyndsay (and her baby girl Isabella) and their 2 children, Ronnie (age 11) and Debi (age 10)...they live in Rhode Island.
My in-laws, although with different religious beliefs (for lack of a better term) than Dave and I, are wonderful, caring people. They would do anything for you!
Generous with time, money, material goods, and love. They respect our decisions regarding how we are raising our 2 daughters. They also respect their other children and grandchildren. We are all pretty different and Dave is the only Evangelical Christian in his immediate family.
We are respected, loved, and never feel like we have to defend ourselves with our beliefs. We aren't fully understood all the time but....we are respected. This is huge!
We are respected, loved, and never feel like we have to defend ourselves with our beliefs. We aren't fully understood all the time but....we are respected. This is huge!
It's hard to know what to share so I think I'll concentrate on Thanksgiving. I know I must have written about this before. Dave's ancestor, John T----- was one of the pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower. This would make him Dave's great-great x4 uncle. His great, great, x4 grandfather came over on the next boat, the Speedwell. So...THANKSGIVING is extremely important to this family. They are direct descendents of the T---family on the Mayflower and my children used to marvel at seeing their last name.....a long-ago relative, up on the plaque on the replica Mayflower ship in Plymouth, MA.
 |
| The Mayflower II replica in Plymouth Harbor, MA |
The part of the holidays I want to share are the memory making moments.
I feel that it's so important for children to connect with the older generation. And as our culture has shifted a bit into delaying marriage and children due to more people getting college and grad degrees (Dave was 24 when we married and just finishing grad school, and I was 30 and in my 3rd year of teaching after grad school; I was 33 and 39 when I had our daughters.), I find that we, as older parents in our 40s and early 50s with children still at home or away at college but not fully on their own, are more spread out that previous generations. More of us move away from our hometown areas because of those grad degrees and careers and often we are in areas with no relatives. This is the case for both Dave and I. His parents are about 4 hours east of us and mine are about 2 hours west. So....it is up to us to make sure memories with the grandparents are made.
Thanksgiving is important to my in-laws because of the ancestry. Therefore, I agreed during our engagement, that we would spend this holiday with Dave's side of the family. And we have done that for 21 out of 22 Thanksgivings together. The first one was when we were engaged. The one we missed was the year I was pregnant for our youngest. My ob/gyn said No to travel as I was only 4 weeks away from being due.
Memories have been made.....from squeezing into their small ranch-style home where Dave grew up with the whole clan sitting close together on long tables, to the more relaxed atmosphere of the beach house where we've been gathering for the last 11 years as a family.
I will show you some pictures of memories we hold dear to us.
The setting is Buzzards Bay, MA at the family beach house.
The time is 2005 (when we first started using digital cameras at family events) to the present.
Dinner at Plimoth Plantation....a huge feast....lots of laughs...the excitement of the younger cousins....
 |
| Cousin Ronnie (age 5) and Claire (age 6) playing Checkers Thanksgiving 2005 |
I will show you some pictures of memories we hold dear to us.
The setting is Buzzards Bay, MA at the family beach house.
The time is 2005 (when we first started using digital cameras at family events) to the present.
 |
| COUSINS! (minus the 2 boys and Hanna who had to stay in CA that year) THANKSGIVING 2005 my daughters are Courtney on the far left (age 12) and Claire, the 3rd from left (age 6) Lyndsay (age 13) is the blond, Beth(age 15) is holding Claire and Debi(age 4) is in back |
 |
| The 4 teen cousins sing along with the Madrigal Singers Plimoth Plantation Feast Thanksgiving 2008 from front: Hanna (age 17), Lyndsay (age 16), Beth(age 18) and Courtney (age 15) |
the thrill for my in-laws as everyone was gathered where the first Pilgrims feasted.....a real memory maker.....
the Madrigal Singers singing with the older girls while the proud parents and grandparents looked on.......we still talk about this experience....and still savor those great times......
 |
| Claire and Daddy Dave walk from Plimoth Plantation to the Wampanoag Village Thanksgiving 2008 |
the grandparents were thrilled that Claire, Courtney, and almost everyone else wanted to tour Plimoth and the Wampanoag Village. Again. This is what it's all about: treasuring family history.......
spending time together.....
.....making memories.......and continuing the traditions......
 |
serving at a church that feeds the poor on Thanksgiving Day..... From background to foreground: Grampa T, Courtney, Hanna, Beth |
.....NEW TRADITIONS! Most of the T---clan started serving at a church in the town where the beach house is. We serve the poor instead of having our own feast. This is how we spend Thanksgiving Day...by giving back to the community. This has been great for the kids....and for my in-laws.....it means so much to them to see everyone working together.
 |
| Dave and Claire (age 10) chatting with some of the people they served. Thanksgiving 2009 |
 |
| Preparing the stuffed dates Courtney (age 16), Debi (age 8), Claire (age 10) Thanksgiving 2009 at the beach house |
.....the next day...back at the house.....
preparations for our own feast.......it's 2009 and Pete's turn to cook......everyone pitches in...even the youngest cousin (Debi!!)
My in-laws can rest, when they aren't poking their heads into the kitchen.....and enjoy the company of their children, their daughters/sons in law, and their grandchildren.
 |
| DINNER!! on left: Ronnie, Courtney on right: Claire, Beth Uncle Keith in background |
 |
| Dave and Claire play chess while dinner cooks 2009 |
 |
| The teen girls do the cleaning up Lyndsay, Beth, Courtney |
My inlaws are happy that they can relax......they have teenaged granddaughters who help with cleaning up!
This always produces some laughs and memory making moments.......
 |
| Dave and I walk the beach with his parents...... making more memories...... |
 |
| Beth, Courtney, Hanna, and Adam play games after dinner The grandparents love to watch......they are proud of their grandchildren and the memories they are making |
 |
| My in-laws....relaxing with Pete's wife, Kathy... |
 |
| the 2 youngest female grandchildren Claire (age 11) and Debi (age 9) THANKSGIVING 2010 photo taken by Courtney E T.....c.11/10 |
full of moments..........full of life......laughter.....love........family.
 |
| Behind the beach house on Buzzards Bay...... THANKSGIVING 2010 c. Courtney E T 11/10 |
 |
| Beach House Back |
7 comments:
It's so great that you have in-laws that respect your difference in religious beliefs. That can be such a divisive topic for many families.
Also, loved looking at your family Thanksgiving celebrations through the years. They look like they were so much fun!
BTW, my son did an internship at Northstar Church in Clifton Park, NY this past summer. What a small world!
enjoyed reading this.
Oh, such fun times!!! Wonderful memories of your family and in-laws. Good for you!
We loved Plimoth Plantation too. We took our family east to see that and the Mayflower when our daughter was five. She was bitten by Atlantic, and a love of wooden ships, that very trip.
Now she's an oceanographer, has taught sailing on a whaling ship in the Chesapeake (Lady Maryland) and lives w/ her Navy officer husband and new babe in D.C. It's amazing how the seeds of the life she now lives was planted way back on the Mayflower!
Thanks for sharing your family history and for linking up for Marriage Monday, as always.
Hugs, e-Mom ღ
I love how you focus on the positive and just make it work. You are a good example.
Your post was like reading a wonderful book! I loved the pictures and the comments about the memories that you have made. Now, I can't wait until Thanksgiving. :) Beautiful post! Thanks for sharing.
LOVE these memories. Isn't it neat that your daughters have such memories? You're right, you're blessed to have respect in that in-law relationship. That IS huge.
We need to talk about "work" sometime, Faith!
Ok Laura...I would LOVE to talk to you about work! I am soooo not liking my full time hours...the teaching job yes, the hours no. huge adjustment for me....was soooo much easier in my 20s and early 30s...lol
Post a Comment