Thanksgiving 2016

  Ahhh Thanksgiving!!! My very favorite holiday. 

 There are no gifts to wrap, no eggs to hide, no cookies to make, and no candy to buy.

There is however pie! and rolls, and turkey, and green bean casserole, and. . . .well, you get my point.

(Speaking of pie, HERE is my family's traditional award-winning 'pie' recipe)

I just love Thanksgiving Time. 

 I love the decorations,

 the snow,

 olives on fingers,

spending time with family,

  and our annual game of Thanksgiving Bingo.

But the thing I like most about Thanksgiving is counting and focusing on the thousands of things God has given, and done for me.

There's just something about focusing on these blessings that makes me so happy.

I love that we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday first which gives us a chance to focus on the millions of little things God has blessed us with; and then immediately after, we head right into the Christmas season where we celebrate the Greatest Blessing of all, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving is always a fun day. There's nothing better than gathering the whole family together around a nice, big, delicious meal.  This year we celebrated up at Heber Valley Camp with my missionary parents.

It had snowed the night before, and the fresh snow was perfect for playing in. 

After the feasting and waking up from our turkey-induced comas, we (when I say we, I mean everyone except for me) went sledding. 

Everyone took turns sliding down the hill and then being pulled back up by the side-by-sides.

(That's my kind of sledding -where there's little to no effort involved.)

It was one of the most fun Thanksgivings yet.

I'm Alive!

It's true!  I'm alive.  I wish I could say the reason I haven't blogged all week is because I've been glued to my couch, unable to do anything except to relax, read, and eat Bon-Bons. The truth is I've been running around like a turkey with it's head cut off (pun intended). 

So just in case you missed me and have been suffering withdraws from lack of super interesting informative post this past week, let me recap.

I. Last week was Sadie Hawkins.  

Just look at this adorable group of guys and girls!

They came to our house for a "Make-Your-Own-Pizza" date before the dance.

(more on this later)

II. Last week we also moved Gram again.  

She moved from HERE to a brand-spankin' new place 2 blocks down the street.  It's super nice.  The staff is incredible, and she's getting more bang for her buck!

It was very fortunate for us that the night we moved her stuff in was PIE NIGHT at the assisted living center.

 

When #3 was little, he used to always write, say, type, sing, sign: "I like pie."  

Needless to say, he likes pie, and was very happy to be rewarded for his service with pie.

III.  Last but not least, basketball has begun.

#4 is playing on an accelerated league, and the season is in full swing!

I've also been busy helping with Thanksgiving activities at the elementary school, trying not to go crazy figuring out this years Christmas gifts, and cleaning -always cleaning.

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!  I'll post more about ours next week.  I'm so grateful for all my blessings, and the God who gives them all.

Thanksgiving 2014

 This year, our Thanksgiving was a little different. -a good different.

We hosted my parents and Gram at our house as the rest of the family was at Disneyland.

 It was small and intimate but really really fun!

 Everyone pitched in to help make the feast a delicious success.

We had turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn, hot rolls smothered with butter and jam, and of course black olives and beets.

  This little girl's new Thanksgiving hat helped add to the festivities.

After dinner and clean-up we went to the movies.

Afterwards we came home to play our traditional game of Thanksgiving BINGO and gorge ourselves on dessert - Pumpkin Supreme, Pumpkin Pie, and French Silk Pie.

 (After stuffing ourselves with turkey dinner and then popcorn and candy at the movies you'd think we'd be full- apparently not!  This family likes to eat.)

 Thanks Mom for starting this tradition- every year,  the kids look forward to winning a $Dollar store prize.

 There was also some football watching, a little napping. . .

some coloring, puzzle building, 

and this!

Have you ever played the game QUELF?  It forces you to do some pretty funny and embarrassing things!

I ate too much!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 My daughter brought home the following poem that pretty much sums up my Thanksgiving:

 I ate too much turkey,

I ate too much corn,

I ate too much pudding and pie,

I'm stuffed up with muffins

and much too much stuffin',

I'm probably going to die.

I piled up my plate

and I ate and I ate,

but I wish I had know when to stop,

for I'm so crammed with yams,

 sauces, gravies, and jams

that my buttons are starting to pop.

I'm full of tomatoes

and french fried potatoes,

my stomach is swollen and sore,

but there's still some dessert

so I guess it won't hurt

if I eat just a little bit more.

-Jack Prelustsky

Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving.

Food for thought-

We're getting all geared up for Turkey Day, which is right around the corner.

Last night for FHE (family home evening) Clint had us write down the Top 10 things we are grateful for.  Blessings varied from: my family, good neighbors, a job, to education, food, Jesus Christ, and life.  Then he had us narrow down our blessing list to our Top 3, and then again to the Number 1 thing we were grateful for.  (You try it.  It's pretty hard!)  He then had us write the number of times this past week (1-7, one for each day) we told someone (friend, parents, God, coworker, etc) we were thankful for that one thing.  

The whole point of his lesson was to help us see the blessings in our lives, but more importantly to remember to Give Thanks Daily for them.

source

If you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday what would you still have?  What would you miss?

Gratitude

 The month of November makes me happy.  I love taking the time to really focus on being grateful, and looking for all the blessings in our lives.

 We really try to engage our family in the season of Thanksgiving, and counting our blessings.

 We do different activities each year, but this year, as we are making a huge GRATEFUL poster.  As we think of things we are thankful for, we are writing them down on our poster.  We are hoping to have the entire thing full of blessings by the time Thanksgiving day is over.  Afterwards, it will get framed and hung on the wall to remind us that gratitude isn't just a holiday thing, it's how happy people live.  After-all, as the saying goes: "It is not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy".

More on Choosing to be Grateful HERE

Thanksgiving Past (2013)

Wordless Wednesday