Thanksgiving

I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful that God chose to send Jesus to die for me while I was still His enemy to rescue me from destruction and give me a new nature. I am thankful that He is sovereignly in control and that He is altogether good.  I am thankful for the innumerable blessings that He has given, some of which I know about and some that are a mystery to me.  Some of those blessings include my family near and far, friends who we get to love and be loved by, the country where we live that is the most free the world has ever known, and the comfortable home that I get to share with the most amazing man and kids I know.

Our Thanksgiving Day was filled with food, family, and relaxation. Addie woke us up bright and early dressed in a turkey costume that she had fashioned earlier in the morning from construction paper. Gobble gobble! When I threatened to cook her for waking us up early, she informed me that she'd "been to the White House. So there." Who could argue with a Presidential Pardon?

After breakfast, we watched the parade, played, and did some last minute cooking.

My mise en place - everything measured and ready to cook!

Brining the turkey.  Jason calls this my "witches brew."  Just about everything but the kitchen sink went in there.

gratuitous diapered baby picture

Sis and bro watching the parade.  Fabulous, Harry.  Love the feathers.

Thankfully, I had staged all of our dishes the day before, so there wasn't much kitchen time left. Both of Jason's parents and my mom came for the feast. We had such a great time enjoying the food and company. Teddy and my mom really had a sweet time together talking and cooing to each other. He doesn't usually give out smiles like this, and it was so precious to watch him and mom building those bonds.

Gumpers, food, and a sneaky little silly pants.

cooo

One highlight of our day was the eating/judging of our pies. They were all quite tasty, but Addie's was really amazing. We voted anonymously and unanimously. We each had a plastic token to place under our pie of choice. Addie's won handedly, and when we picked up the pie to count the votes, two stuck to the bottom of the plate. This is hilarious for us because in one of our favorite books, Duck for President, time after time, election after election, there are always 2 sticky ballots found during a recount stuck to something...the bottom of a pig, a plate of pancakes, the bottom of the Vice President...you get the idea. It was so appropriate that 2 sticky ballots should be found stuck to the bottom of her pie.

from the top and clockwise:  pumpkin, pecan, Addie's winning frozen peanut butter pie, key lime, blueberry, and apple turnover in the middle

We ended our day Skypeing with Jelsea, Mateusz, Leo, and (sleeping) Julia in Hawaii and playing a board game. I pray that your day was as sweet as ours and that the thanks we feel and express today point to the One who is alone worthy of all praise. I pray that for you as for me our giving thanks in this day pales as the reason for the day, replaced by a focus on the magnificence of the One who ultimately deserves our thanks.