Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Greetings from Finland. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

It's the first year I'm not celebrating Thanksgiving with the traditional meal. I know some Americans here who did decide to cook, and they had to search high and low for a lot of the foods. They ended up making substitutions for many of them.

So, with no turkey, stuffing or pies, my kids are feeling cheated! They look at Thanksgiving as a precurser to Christmas, the time when they really start getting into the Christmas spirit, and when they start counting down the days until the big 12/25. They say that without Thanksgiving, it just doesn't feel like Christmas is coming. Even though it's been cold, dark and wet here in Finland, we haven't had snow yet. So despite the fact that the town is lit up with amazing holiday lights, I agree; without the snow - and Thanksgiving - it feels like we're in a bit of a time warp. 

Holiday Illuminations in Tampere, Finland

I understand how it must be for them. We've spent every Christmas at home in Vermont. Now our new home is in Finland, and even though we are traveling back to the states for Christmas and New Year's, we won't be in the home they've always known, since we sold it. But we will be with family, and really, that's what it's all about. And hey, it's never a bad idea to incorporate new things into your holiday traditions!

Since family is so important to us, tomorrow we are headed to Paris to spend our "European Thanksgiving" weekend with my niece, who is studying there this semester. We're hoping that the holiday decorations and the marché de Noël on the Champs Elysées will get Helen and Sophie in the holiday spirit. 

marché de Noël

There may not be turkey, but I know we'll enjoy soupe à l'oignon and pain au chocolat. Either way, there will be some belt loosening.

So I'm finishing up on some work this afternoon, and then it's packing time. As usual, the trip knitting is my biggest stress!