Thanksgiving 2008

For those who talked to me in November, you'll know that one of the things that excited me most about this fall was getting the chance to sing again in St. Paul's Cathedral. I have always loved choral music, particularly while getting to sing with the excellent Auburn University Concert Choir in college. Thanksgiving 1997 when I lived in London before was my first chance to sing at the annual St. Paul's Americans in London Thanksgiving Service. Sponsored by the American Embassy and the American and International Churches in London, this service is by far St Paul's most well attended. I was thrilled to be singing in the choir again inside this beautiful building!

Thanksgiving dawned bright and clear and cool. It was such fun to get dressed up and head out early, as I'm never in the City before lunchtime. It was great to see all of London bustling about with the coffees and a paper under their arm. We sang a bit to warm-up in the room (wow! the acoustics!) and then the organ sounded it's first notes. It was *not* obvious that this instrument was in the process of restoration. It sounded amazing! Both anthems were accompanied by organ and we rehearsed several times before the congregation came pouring in. I was really pleased with the service order as we were singing some of my favorite Thanksgiving hymns again, too - Come Ye Thankful People Come, We Gather together, Now We Thank Thee All Our God, America the Beautiful.

When the service started, I still hadn't spotted Eric, but I did find him in the crowd of thousands as we stood during the first hymn... The performances themselves were near to perfect (she says, humbly) and I was so glad for all our hard work. I even took a few stealth photos during the final Organ Voluntary.

The ceiling above me (taken from my lap during the recessional!)


Christopher Wren's gorgeous central dome (up the other direction).


Light pours in from the Western doors at the end of the Nave, opened wide for the Dean and Chapter to escort the Ambassador and his wife outside to the grand staircase. (The big central doors are only opened on very special occasions!)


Here's a view from where the conductor stood to the high altar. The choir really had the best view of everything during the service.


This is the exquisite organ, the one of the most utilized in the world - it is regularly played for ten services a week.


Here's where I sat, in the beautiful quire stalls


After the service, we went to lunch with some new American friends Cade and Melissa. They have a young daughter born earlier in the year, but it was just us adults that afternoon, and we so enjoyed having a grown-up fun conversation as we got to know them better. They're from NYC, went to Redeemer Pres in Manhattan and just moved to the UK in 2008... It was great to share stories with them. Eric introduced us to a new restaurant that had just opened near his office - Chilango. This is the English version of Chipotle and we were in love - finally good Tex-Mex in London that doesn't cost an arm and a leg! I felt very thankful, munching on my burrito and chips and guac.

Since Eric had to work a full day, we decided to postpone our family Thanksgiving feast until Saturday. The day started with quite a bit of drama, as I had wrongly assumed after last year that we could find a turkey or at least a turkey breast in our neighborhood, no problem! Um, wrong! Eric actually went to more than a half dozen grocery stores that day, tracking down the allusive bird and various other last minute things (I really *hate* not having a pantry area in which to keep "back-ups" of all my essentials!) He rode up on his bike with a 10 pound turkey hung from the handlebars at just before 1pm and we had it in the oven and roasting 10 minutes later. I was really proud of his helpful attitude and the teamwork made for a wonderful feast!

We had invited the leadership team of our HTB pastorate to join us, so we were the three Wheelers, Becky (American), Hannah (Welsh), and Michael & Sarah (New Zealanders).


Eric and I prepped the main meal and Hannah made a yummy apple pie!



Brooks had a great time playing with all these fun friends that he knows well, and did a great job patiently sitting through the meal. I was so proud.


We finished the night with an unusual card game that had something to do with planting and harvesting bean fields. It was quirky, but still really fun - mostly because after Brooks was in bed, this night felt very much like our former pre-parent lives! Yummy food and game night with a group of friends.


All in all, this was a great Thanksgiving, and we had much to celebrate. I'm looking forward to enjoying next Thanksgiving with one of our families in the States, but looking back I'm glad we got to be thankful right here in our little London home!