Giving Thanks . . .

The beginning of Thanksgiving week started in Lily's class at school, where they had a very impressive spread of turkey (freshly cooked by one of the parents) and all the trimmings. I loved seeing the enthusiasm on her face, and knowing how excited she was to dress the part of a pilgrim, and learn more about the "nate-of-americans." One of my favorite parts about the event, was the fact that her teacher took the time to ask the children what they were thankful for, and helped them remember that being thankful for our blessings is the entire point of the holiday, just as it was in the beginning with the pilgrims and indians. She then had us all join hands and blessed the food before we ate. I thought that was so cool!

Wednesday was spent in our traditional way, making pies :) Lily and Grace are excellent gram-cracker-smashers for the cream pies, and have their technique down almost to perfection. I won't tell you what time this was, and weather or not those are my pj's :)

When the pies were all done, the kiddos used the left-over dough to make "cookies" that were gobbled up as fast as they came out of the oven.

While the older two were helping in the other room, Grace was taking care of her little ones in her room. Love it!

Thanksgiving morning, all that was left to do was the turkey, stuffing and gravy, and all the rest was brought by friends. Jeff did an awesome job on the turkey! This is before it went into the oven of course.

This is the "after" turkey we thoroughly enjoyed,

Pie,

all the fixin's, so many choices,

And great friends who made the day perfect. Just in case you're wondering, that's Amy Schmutz in the center of the kids, mid-backflip, crazy skills! The kids had fun playing together, the adults enjoyed great conversation, and I think we all had plenty to eat! Thanks to all who helped make our Thanksgiving just right!