Thanksgiving

November 23, 2012

Thanksgiving

There are so many reasons to be Thankful. Sometimes I get all distracted by burdens, worries, and anxieties, that I forget all the reasons I have to be thankful. This year, Ray and I started a tradition to write down things we're thankful for. I think that it helps to reflect and consider all that we have. In the end, it helps us to realize that while we are thankful for material things, it's the intangible things and people that really mean the most - the relationships and the love. Here are some of the things we wrote this year. We're thankful for -

Our God - Who continues to love us and provide for us even when we forget Him. He is always good and always works together things for our good.
Our family - Who is always there for us and loves us unconditionally.
One another - We've stuck with each other for the past 4 1/2 years and we are so thankful for our marriage.
Our son - Who is almost here!
Our jobs - That we enjoy and we are thankful that they challenge us.
Our health - We have been blessed and had great health this year.
Our friends - We love our friends and we are so encouraged by them.
Our house - It's exactly what we need and even more. We love where we live.

For Thanksgiving day, we went to Ray's aunt's house for a little while to visit. It was great to see everyone over there. Then, for dinner, we went to my parent's house.

Check out the awesome turkey made of fruit! My dad actually made this. I guess I have always underestimated him because I do not think of him as the artsy or crafty type. I always thought that I got my creativity from my mom rather than my dad, but dad, I'll give you some credit here - you did a good job!

Even though he was so pretty, I had no problem eating him.

And here's the real turkey frying. Frying turkeys scares me - I leave this up to the parents. I even sent Ray outside to take the picture.

But I don't have a problem eating fried turkey. Ah... That's a pretty bird.

Kathryn in the kitchen cooking her fried dressing. It is so so good. This is why I love Thanksgiving dinner more than any other meal!

It is so so good. You have no idea unless you've tried it. I need to get Kathryn to teach me how to make it, but I got there too late this year.

And here's most of the spread. I could not get a picture with all the food included. This picture shows: gravy, green bean casserole, mac n cheese, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, roast beef, salad, turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes. Not pictured: bread and deer stew. And I may have missed some dishes!

And here's my plate with my favorite things - Turkey with cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, and dressing with gravy. It was AMAZING. I only wished I could have eaten more, but I could not do that because this baby is compromising the space in my stomach.