Thanksgiving Surprises

Happy Thanksgiving!

Around this time of year I always think back to one of my favorite Thanksgivings ....

It was Kirsten's (my oldest sister) first year away at college in Minnesota, and since the rest of us (mom, dad, 3 sisters) were in New Jersey, she assumed she'd be spending Tday sans immediate family (but there were tons of aunts, uncles, and cousins around). Well, little did she know we had something up our sleeve. You see, my family likes surprises. Ok, we really like surprises. And this situation just beckoned to us to create one of the best surprises in our family history by piling in the van and driving through the night to show up in Minnesota in time for turkey. Being the family that we are, we just couldn't resist such a surprise, and also the chance of celebrating Tday with Kirsten and many other relatives. So ... off we went across the Pennsylvania Turnpike and beyond in our purple van, singing Christmas songs (and trying to sleep). We now know it takes 21 hours to drive through the night from NJ to MN and that gas stations are pretty fun at 3am (at least when you're running on adrenaline). We rolled into Andover MN at 9am, a little earlier than anticipated. Someone had the idea to park down the street a ways to avoid a premature discovery of our arrival. ... in hindsight I'm not sure if this was necessary, but it made for a pretty exciting adventure -- and an entertaining video! See for yourself! (and sorry this one is not HD)


Thanksgiving Surprise from Carolyn Pierson on Vimeo.

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we are blessed to be sharing the day with my parents, sister Sarah and her boyfriend Caleb, and my Grandparents! Our house is cozy but filled with joy and thanksgiving. Where are you giving thanks today? Any memories you always think back on this day?