Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, but this Thanksgiving we were extra thankful.  For so many things.  Thankful for our ridiculously sweet son (wild as he may be), for the beautiful new house we are enjoying making a home, for family who is kind, thoughtful, and fun, for friends who are hysterical, generous, and always there... we have so much to be grateful for that I often feel silly ever feeling anything but happy.  In the face of so much goodness, I can only recognize that it is such an amazing (and undeserved) gift from God.  And we are blessed.

We started our Thanksgiving out with a little brunch stop at the Westras.  Time is always too fast with good friends!

 

 

 

And by mid-morning we were back at home getting ready to host my dad, Arlene, and Amber for our very first Thanksgiving dinner at the Larsons.  Amber came over early to help in the kitchen (which was a ZOO) while Matt was super dad and helped clean, take care of the beasts (i.e. Lincoln and Benjamin), and managed to get a few handy-man things done while sneaking in a beer with the neighbors.  Music was playing, laughter filled the air, and the smell of a tasty (and well-brined) turkey filled our home.  Ahhh.

Dinner turned out to be a success (the menu included pumpkin dip with apples and graham crackers, cheese and crackers, spinach artichoke dip, mulled spiked cider, cranberry punch, creamed corn, sweet potato casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, pumpkin bread, green bean casserole, corn bread and sausage stuffing, and a turkey that was a tad under-cooked... oops!  Dessert was homemade pumpkin cheesecake!).  You can bet we were full by day's end.  It was wonderful spending time with family and hosting them at our home.  Can't wait for many more fun holidays here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benjamin LOVES when dad plays music... Giant smiles when the guitars come out!

 

somebody needed the bark collar...

 

helping with the gravy that we forgot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  
And after my folks left, the Van Wylens and Westras came over for a little sing-along in the basement.  When I say I'm grateful for my friends, I really mean it.  Who else likes singing Disney songs, 90s/00s pop songs, and church tunes for hours on end?  We had a great time with them (and somehow Boaz and Benjamin snoozed through it all), and of course I only captured the two loudest singers forgetting the rest of the crew... Either way, we had a blast!  Already looking forward to next Thanksgiving!