Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful holiday. We started our month with a "Thankful Jar". All month long each time we thought of something we were thankful for, we wrote (or drew) it on a slip of paper and dropped it in the jar. On thanksgiving our jar was overflowing! Among many other blessings that made it into the jar, here are some of the things that fill us with gratitude:
Natalya: School, bubbles, Thanksgiving dinner, Jesus Christ, family, music, Dad, plants, birthdays, heaven, light, parks, the world, pilgrims and Indians, teachers, stuffed animals, Mom.
Branson: All the stuff in our home, food, plants, Jesus, our fish, my baby sister, the sky, our drinks, and food (again).
Irelynn: "Ummm... House. Pancakes, Waffles." "I am fankful for nursery!" "I want Grandma come over" "I fankful for Karlee. I go to Karlee's house."
Brian: Cafe Rio, PF Changs, peanut butter, heating and air conditioning, football!!, Uno and Yahtzee, my awesome family, dodgeball and wrestling with the kids, the best wife ever, and a warm, comfortable bed.
Krystal: Brian, music, singing, good lyrics, rain, families, library books, imagination, winter coats, shoes, water, kids' artwork, good friends, church teachers and leaders, The Articles of Faith, temples, lights that turn on, toilets that flush, cars that drive, ovens that heat, phones that work, running water, a cold fridge, toothbrushes, soap, belly laughs.
We were thrilled when we heard that my sister Ellen could join us for Thanksgiving! We prepared quite a feast: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry orange relish, garlic Parmesan rolls, green bean casserole, creamed corn, pineapple blueberry jell-o, mandarin orange banana fruit salad, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread pudding with Craisens, and Martinelli's. We ate until we made ourselves sick! It was awesome.
I read several books with our kids about pilgrims and Indians. So Thanksgiving day the kids and I made hats for everyone. And Natalya made a turkey hat at school - she would walk around the house impersonating a turkey saying, "Gobble-gobble-gobble!"
Auntie Ellen provided the entertainment Thanksgiving night. It was "airplane" or "Super Man" for all three kids. And they loved it.
The next morning we "slept in" until almost 7am, had a lazy morning, ate pancakes, and Daddy wrestled with the kids on our bed. That's one of their very favorite things to do. Well, wrestling Dad and playing dodgeball with Dad.
Each Thanksgiving it's one of my traditions to do a big puzzle. I love Thanksgiving night after our bellies are full and the kids are in bed - because I stay up for hours with my puzzle while watching a movie. It's so relaxing. And being 6 months pregnant, that's all that I want right now - relax!
Ellen's birthday was the day before Thanksgiving. So we celebrated by going to a movie, Tangled, followed by a cake and birthday wishes.
Saying Good Bye wasn't easy. But it was nice to share the time we had together. It doesn't take a holiday to help me realize my blessings. I am so thankful for my family.
