Happy Thanksgiving

Beyond words, we feel grateful in our hearts this year for the many blessings we have received.

A new job, which Sam seems to really enjoy. He has especially enjoyed working for his boss and on his team of colleagues. They compliment him highly in his work, and it helps us feel grateful that he has found such a good fit.

A new house--that we feel was prepared and preserved for us. It seemed to be below the radar on a very busy market until we came along. I overheard two investors ask each other how this home could possibly have escaped their attention. It was nothing short of a miracle that this home was available for us to purchase, in the price range and exact location we needed it to be in.

And of course our new baby girl.

We celebrated in style, with dear friends and  lots of food. We went to a dear friend's home for the big feast on Thursday. Thank you Brandon and Cassandra!

I invited a few people over at the last minute to enjoy pie night with us on Thanksgiving Eve. Such a worthy tradition to perpetuate. We had a tiny crowd because it was so last minute, but hey--it's always fun to skip dinner and just eat pie. Besides, we had a mother-daughter team join us who keep us laughing. Another worthy tradition is this strawberry tort. When my sister makes it, it's yummy and gorgeous. Lucky for us, I got the yummy part down. It still looks like it would have slid off the plate if we hadn't consumed it right away.

Showmanship: 3

Taste: Perfect 10

In the store, I told David, "You know, buddy, I think you're big enough to make your own pie this year." His eyes got as wide as saucers, and he asked me to please repeat it. "What did you say, Mom?" The old lady in the aisle with us looked up from her list to wink at me. David rolled out his own pie crust, and filled it with chocolate creme pudding. It was gone in a flash.

Our thankful tree was a little sparse this year--but we lost steam when we couldn't get the leaves to properly stick. Maybe it's because it was on a cold sliding glass door? However sparse our tree looks, our hearts are certainly full.

I looked up the proclamation this year by George Washington when he first declared a Thanksgiving Day. It was not a day of just giving thanks. It was a day of giving thanks to the Almighty God. He mentions Diety 17 times in two paragraphs. What a stark contrast to the "Giving Thanks" we do in our day--it seems that we elude to offering thanks to an unknown "nothing" or "abyss" before we admit that we are offering thanks to our Father in Heaven. 

How grateful I am that the traditions of our families have preserved the sacredness of this day to pause and give thanks--particularly, to give thanks to God for all that we have.