So Thankful :)

We invited some friends over for Thanksgiving. . . otherwise I probably would not have decorated.

Better yet, Allie decided at the last minute to come home.  Some of the extra bonuses are that she knows how to set a table and I didn’t have to do all the dishes.

I am so grateful that she came home.  Holidays is a time when it is NO fun to be an empty nester. 

Gobble Gobble

I used to decorate for ALL the holidays, but then the kids all left and decorating became an afterthought. . . meaning I thought of it AFTER the holiday was over.
None of the kids were coming home for Thanksgiving *sniff sniff* so I figured I needed the décor more than ever.. . .


We even got gobbled (which was nice) . . .

We had decided that we were going to sorta skip the traditional Thanksgiving and have yummy food that we love more and isn’t as much work.
But less two days beforehand, because I am a girl and it makes it okay, I changed my mind.  How could it be thanksgiving without the turkey and trimmings plus NO family.  That is taking EVERYTHING good away. 
So we ran to the story and bought a FROZEN turkey.  We figured if it didn’t thaw in time then we could go buy a fresh (more expensive) one.

I was planning on making a pie, except I didn’t have a recipe which was stressing me out.  A GREAT friend who knew this showed up on my doorstep with a pie!

Turkey day came and Paul decided he would get a jump on things and put up our Christmas lights!


I was missing a couple of items so I ran to the store expecting a crowd.  Boy, was I wrong. . .

We prepared our feast. . .


And filled our tummies!
We knew of someone who had nothing for the holiday so we packed up a big meal and delivered it.

From there, we had decided to go the movies, but we were running early.  So we stopped by the store to wander around.  The shelves were being stocked for the Black Friday sales and the aisles were more crowded.
After the movie we came home to eat dessert (we finally had room!)

We were so grateful that although our kids decided not to come home, they got together and enjoyed a great meal together. 
What a difference a year makes. . . the previous year, we had them all and the house was filled with noise and laughter.  While we missed that, we enjoyed our quiet time together.  We are so blessed with so many things.  Whether our children gather with us or not, it does not diminish our gratitude. 

A Time of Gratitude :)

It had been years since everyone was home for Thanksgiving.  I didn’t have a lot of hope that this time would be any different, but I was wrong!
I know that it hard on my college girls to come home because finals are just around the corner and transportation is always hard.
However things fell into place.  A few kids from our ward were heading home and had room in their vehicles.  Jennifer was motivated to come home and Allie like the idea.
So in the midst of a BIG snow storm, they departed for the long, slow journey westward.  Waiting up half the night was so worth it.
We had several days with all our kids, plus one.



Paul wanted to play with his camera and tripod a little bit.

Jennifer and her man wouldn’t let anything or anyone come between them!

Paul kept up his tradition to put up the Christmas lights.  Only the cat wanted to *help*

It ended up taking longer than planned (so what’s new?)

We attempted to make a drive up to the lake. . .
but had to turn back due to the lack of chains and a whole bunch of sliding!
We were so glad to have them come, but it was eerily quiet once they left.

Sometimes You Don’t Realize . . .

Wow . . . we did not realize how boring, dull and sedate our lives were with no kids at home until one came back!
Allie did not plan on coming home for Thanksgiving but the stars aligned just so and we were blessed by her presence.
Allie and one of her best buddies decided to have a Wal-Mart adventure one evening.  They came home with mustaches!
They decided they were hungry and bought all the ingredients for an Italian feast!
We have no clue what time they ate (who can stay up that late).  If you can’t tell, the same person is holding BOTH forks and the other is snapping the picture.
Oh and one mustache is really a set of eyebrows.  I just haven’t spent much time around that fun toy dispensing machines.  They needed to tell me that.
The next morning was the annual Turkey Bowl.  What we didn’t know is that no other females were going to the event.  But that didn’t stop these two!
Paul and I planned on just watching (while nursing our aching knees) but Paul caved and joined the fray.
We enjoyed our feast.  It was fun to have her home for a few days.   We might actually have all our children home next Thanksgiving!
The house was really quiet when she left.