Thanksgiving at our House

Most people who know me, know fall is my favorite season, the rain, the smell, the yummy (calorie loaded) food and of course family and good friends.  This Thanksgiving I heard of several families who have struggled with jobs and mortgages and other personal problems and it made me so grateful for what I have.  I often get caught whining about my husband's forever long program, but this fall, made me appreciate him and his efforts even more.  I am so blessed to have a beautiful home (most of which he had built, repaired or updated for our family), he is able to go to school and get an education (which is a pretty secure income in this economy.)  And though we don't make a lot of money, we have the gospel, cars that work, our kids go to great schools, we LOVE our neighborhood, and our extended families help us out in so many ways that I would say I am a very WEALTHY woman.  I am grateful that we plan a holiday every year to spend with family and reflect on the many blessings we receive.  

Jeana really wanted to help make food for thanksgiving so we decided to make an apple ie together.  She was such a good helper, instead of putting slits in the middle, we put a 'J' for Jeana the cook.

Nathan and Melinda joined us for a very yummy Thanksgiving feast on my new(er) dining table. (We are so grateful to still have some family close by!)  Jeana made some party favors and Melinda's potatoes were so good, Jeana and Abby requested the same ones for Christmas (though we didn't get them quite right!) However, my girls said the highlight of the meal was a chocolate raspberry pie (a recipe given to us by the Runyans.) Of course Melinda and I spent most of the day creating a plan of action for Black Friday shopping, we were a little disappointed with the deals, but managed to still spend money and get the items we were after.  ( if you look closely in the background you can see a Halloween bowl and a Christmas bowl in the picture too...guess I just can't make up my mind!)

Over Thanksgiving weekend we took our kids down to the train display at the museum and of course we got to see Santa.  The museum always does a great job with creating a fun, learning environment for kids.  We got to see several train displays and the kids even got to ride on a small train together.

If you look closely at the writing on the picture, it reads, 'Idaho Springs.'  Even when we are far away from home there are still subtle reminders of it over the holidays!

We have recently adopted the tradition (I say tradition because David doesn't like the word) of watching the Polar Express and drinking hot Chocolate, and since it was on TV and Noakes were still here, we shared the tradition with them over Thanksgiving weekend.  This is also a cute thing that most schools do and the kids all seem to love it.