A Time for Thanks

So unfortunately school work seems to considerably cutting into my creative time this year and we didn't really get to do much ourselves for Thanksgiving - I had some great ideas that at most ended up half way completed and set aside for next year. Still, we had an absolutely wonderful time.

Thanksgiving here began about a week before when Alicia's school hosted parents to come and eat lunch with their children. I've got to say it was an interesting experience once again walking through a lunch line and sitting down at the long bench tables. The school had really worked hard to make it a special day with special clothes on the table and the principle even taking his turn as "chef". The kids were all so sweet. In Alicia's class they had learned two songs that they sang for us and they had all made the cutest pilgrim collars and hats for the occasion as well as special placemats that were laminated so they could be brought home. Oh and they had made cute turkey centerpieces with pine cones and feathers but Ryan threw such a fit when we had to leave the school without sissy that the turkey didn't survive.
The next week was spent in the turmoil of papers, cleaning, and packing. After almost having a nervous breakdown on Tuesday about all there was that I needed to do I decided to just relax and enjoy the many blessings in my life. Wednesday Mark got off of work a little early and we drove over to NY to spend time with Mark's family. In addition to Grandma and Grandpa Ostrom and Uncle Matt, Uncle Dan and Aunt Jan were in from Colorado and Aunt Kathy was up from Virginia. Alicia was a little upset when she found out that none of her cousins would be there but had a blast with the attention from all of the grown ups while Ryan attempted to hide lego men in all corners of the house so as to make sure that his presence there would not soon be forgotten.

That night, I made my addition to the meal by making my first pumpkin pies. After much consideration I decided just to try Libby's Original Recipe and I think it wound up really pretty yummy (best of all I actually could eat it without having any bad reactions to the sugar!)

The following day was a perfect Thanksgiving (excepting of course the family and friends who weren't with us) the whole day the kitchen was full of the most delicious smells from Kathy and Jan. While we waited with mounting anticipation we decide to enjoy the nice weather and go for a walk in the woods.
When we got back inside the four siblings began a game of Cranium while I tried to at least convince myself that I was being productive in my school work and Jan patiently kept tending to the turkey. After much torturing patience we were definitely appreciative of the end result...


The turkey, oyster stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, squash, cranberry sauces, gravy, and pumpkin pies left us all with delightfully full stomachs (except perhaps for Ryan who gave up about 20 minutes before it was ready and decided to sleep through it all). I've got to say here how impressed I was by my two wonderful sisters-in-law who pulled off this incredible feast.

All in all, I've got to say that I can't imagine being more blessed than we are.