Thanksgiving Fun

Thanksgiving was a very busy day this year! We had two dinner invitations and a play date all in one day so I made sure to make lots of Pie. I started the day before and finished up Thanksgiving morning. Here you see two apple crumble, two lemon chiffon and two pumpkin chiffon. The pumpkin is served with homemade whipped cream and toffee brittle on top. Oh and did I mention in is made with eggnog too?  It was a new recipe I tried this year and it was very delicious! Yum! 

Warren our native Thanksgiving indian. 

Earlier in the day we stopped by Uncle Steve & Aunt Julie's house to say hello and prime our feast appetite on. Cousins Robert & Kristen had their first baby, McKenna, just a few weeks before. We got to hold & snuggle her which is always a bonus! 

After we visited Payette's we joined some good friends the Boss' for Thanksgiving Diner. Lara is known for her cooking and she did not let us down! The food was yummy and we all ate way too much. I couldn't even eat my pie! Can you believe I didn't take any pictures? I know. I forgot my camera and my phone so I have no record of the fancy table or the amazing food but it was impressive! ;D We hung out for a while, played games and watched football. 

 Later, the missionaries came over for pie and our friends the Keifer's also came over for pie and to make gingerbread houses! We made a huge mess but had lots of fun! They are too fun!

Warren & Mom's creation. When I see this picture I just laugh because I was completely exhausted. LOL It's amazing what you can do when you have fun people around to keep you going! :D 

Amy & Wyatt's and as you can see Wyatt ate more than he built! lol 

It was a fun day for us. Even though we don't get to be with all our loved ones every holiday, you were all in our thoughts and know that we are very grateful to have you in our lives! 

Thanksgivings Past

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I am so Grateful for my many many blessings. They are far more than I can count on one blog post and probably more than anyone would want to hear about. Like most I am grateful for my family, friends and for Jesus Christ and His Atonement. My life has been filled with so many of His tender mercies and am so Grateful for His love & forgiveness in my life. I am so blind and it is that love that guides me through my life and fills me with Joy.

I have been feeling nostalgic this year of our days in Ann Arbor and all the wonderful memories we made there. This is a video of our first Thanksgiving there. Our Turkey took over 7 hours to cook (we couldn't figure out why) and so we were just killing time. My dad drove down from Pittsburgh to spend it with us. I have had this video for some time but this is the first Thanksgiving that I have actually allowed myself to watch it.

If you are not aware, this Christmas will be five years that my dad died from Lung Cancer. In this video he was sick but he did not know yet. His breath was shallow and his leg swollen but he was diagnosed with phlebitis in his leg and a chest cold by his local practicioner. After his symptoms became increasingly worse they did further tests and he was diagnosed with cancer on December 8th and died just 2 1/2 weeks later. It was a brief battle but another evidence of the Lord's tender mercies, as he did not suffer long. It made me so happy to watch this video and feel so Grateful that I got to spend so much time and share his last Thanksgiving with him just before he died. So... I share this video, which is a tender mercy to me, with you this Thanksgiving Day.

Much Love,

Emily