thanksgiving

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Neither of our families live close enough to visit, plus Jonathan only had the one day off- so we stayed home and enjoyed celebrating it as a family of four. I was nervous that without family it wouldn't feel magical. I was nervous that I would burn the turkey. And I was nervous that all the other dishes just wouldn't turn out.

Earlier that day Talmage helped me make some place mats for the table, since we do not own fancy ones. Yes, we still ate on plates :) These were just kinda fun to do and T could help "set the table".

This was actually the first year that I cooked everything all by myself. Once when we had Thanksgiving with Jonathan's parents I made two scrumptious desserts and was pretty darn proud of myself. But this year I knew I had to keep it simple since I was making every single dish. I put Jonathan in charge of the turkey because I was terrified to get near that thing...not just because it was huge and raw and still with organs, but also because I put way too much pressure on myself to make everything taste good. Since the turkey is a big deal, I thought I would hand over that responsibility to the mister :) He did NOT disappoint! It was moist and salty and a little sweet. I grew up in a household where the turkey was always cajun-fried, and although I still prefer that method over any other, the man did good.

Other than the turkey, everything turned out delicious and the best part was all those leftovers! We've been eating them for four days straight. And I'm not even sick of it...yet ;)

We had some friends and their kids over for dessert (including awesome Costco pie...see? simple.) and games. The kiddos munched on popcorn, watched Christmas movies, and played with toys while we adults played our game. It was really really fun. I'm so thankful for good friends who don't expect to be impressed but just love having a good time. Plus, I haven't played Settlers in way too long and it was much needed.

It was definitely a magical and wonderful day. As I was busy making the food, I thought a lot about how difficult it is to pinpoint all my blessings. There are just too many, some that I'm sure I don't even realize. Just being with my kids each day and husband when he gets off work is the greatest blessing I could ask for. They are everything to me. And comparing this year to the last, I'm extremely thankful for my husband having a job- especially one that he loves. And of course I'm super thankful that soon we will move into a house, even if we are still renters. The very fact that we will actually have space for our kids and all their crap will be awesome :)

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! This really is the most wonderful time of the year.