[Hawaiian dictionary: Ono=good, Ohana=family]

Aloha readers! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I love its universality. No matter one’s race, religion, or creed, you can give thanks. Unfortunately, this is my second Thanksgiving away from home (I spent last year’s Thanksgiving in Belgium). But it was perfectly alright, because I am lucky enough to have such a generous, welcoming ohana right here in Hawaii.

That is what I am thankful for today. Ohana. I don’t think I could have moved to Hawaii as a nanny had it not been for Sophie’s family. As I am not in school it was through Sophie’s family that I was able to meet other people here on the island. For my first two months here it was so nice to spend my weekends at Sophie’s house. As I was so far away from my family, I loved having a family just across the island.

You know you’re family when you can be be absolutely ridiculous in photos as such:

Usually my family has large Thanksgiving dinners, wherein everyone scatters across the house because there isn’t enough room at the table and we spend hours and hours cleaning up. Sophie told me her family usually does, too, but this year’s dinner was quiet and just the 7 of us, which, as much as I love large Thanksgiving parties, was kind of nice.

Sophie’s mom prepared most of the food, and made the most delicious pies (apple and pumpkin) and fluffy rolls. I contributed my favorite Thanksgiving food, sweet potato casserole:

and cranberry sauce with crystallized ginger and orange zest:

I did miss my mom’s roasted chestnut stuffing and corn pudding. Classics.

We took lots of pictures:

I call this look: we [aka the team, aka Sophie, Trine, and I] decided to dress up at the last minute, so I grabbed a dress from Sophie closet, threw up my hair that had been nice and humidified with the day’s off and on rain, and hoped my bra wouldn’t show as it was not the right fit for the dress. At least it was just a small family dinner!

Trine et moi.

Of course, we had to use everyone’s camera and compare pictures.

Sophie was pretty excited about the wine.

And I have to admit, so were Trine and I.

My favorite dinner companion was of course, Sophie’s dad, the Frenchman Jacques.

He’s lived in the U.S. more years than he has in France, yet still has an accent. We believe it’s out of pride.

Trine, the Bargiel family’s exchange student from Norway made an adorable card expressing her gratitude.

After dinner, the team walked down to the beach and enjoyed the salty ocean air for a while. Beautiful.

Even if I were at home in Maryland, this Thanksgiving would have been a difficult one. As I’ve posted before, my parents are getting divorced. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year, and filled with the most traditions for my family (see aforementioned chestnut stuffing!) and I know if I were home it would have been a stressful day.

If you have a divorce in your family, how do you cope at the holidays?

But let’s end this post on a vocabulary lesson, shall we?

The Norwegian phrase is pronounced “fawn tye dye” and it means…um…f you. To me, if you say it quickly it sounds like cursing in an Asian language. Love it.

PS: Check out my guest post on Whit’s Getting Fit! Whitney is also preparing for a marathon, and I love checking in on her progress.

Also check out Marathon Val’s awesome giveaway! I’ve got my eye on the runner’s package!

Have a happy shopping/gym/tree decorating day!
Maya