Thanksgiving Blessings

It's been fun and an adjustment to have the kids home for the whole week!  Sophie has been teaching us some fun Thanksgiving songs.  We, in particular, like this one:

I'm glad I'm not a Turkey on Thanksgiving Day.
They'll stuff you and bake you and then they will taste you!
I'm glad I'm not a turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

We have been enjoying the nice weather at the local parks too.  It's been in the 70s!  And it's really gorgeous right now with all the autumn colors--lots of red and orange this year.  So nice!

At home the kids made these cute turkey hats.  Mommy is a pro at that accordion fold but the kids did good gluing and panting.

Thanksgiving Day our early rising children entertained themselves and let us sleep in another hour and a half, until 8 a.m.!  Neal made chocolate chip waffles and we spent most of the morning doing food prep with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on in the background.

At one point, the Pilsbury dough boy was the spotlighted balloon. Keri asked who it was and Sophie explained, "He is white and had blue eyes, and fixes tires."  Seems she had confused the the Michelin Man for the Dough Boy.

The afternoon was spent at the Garvin home watching football and just hanging out.  It was nice down time and the kids played well with Kenzie.

Back at home, our Thanksgiving feast was influenced by fast food this year.  We made turkey burgers dressed with a spicy cranberry pepper compote, caramelized onion. lettuce and mayo on a multi grain bun.  On the side we served up sweet potato "fries" and washed it all down with a spiced pumpkin milk shake.  Easy, kind of traditional, kind of fun! Neal made a nice pumpkin pie for dessert.  We, as parents call it a feast, but Sophie has informed us that there should be a lot of people there, so it wasn't.

Near the end of the evening, Keri presented the kids with a special early Christmas gift.  She had been working on it here and there for a few weeks and made it specifically for them.

It is a wooden, hand-painted nativity set for the kids to get their hands on, play with, and love on.  For a couple of years she has been wanting them to have a set of their own so they could come to love the true Christmas story in their own way.  The nativities we had were not made for little, sticky fingers.  Of course, we will be sure to see the "Superman" Christ child zoom past the shepherds, and Mary dancing and rockin' out with the Magi but the important thing is that they will come to love the creche as their own and the Savior as their own some day.

Happy Thanksgiving!