thanksgiving

My family and I had a nice relaxing Thanksgiving this year full of food, fun and family. Like every year, we first headed over to my mother.in.law's house for an early afternoon Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey is always made by my mother.in.law along with the dressing. She always thinks she knows nothing about cooking, but in reality, I think she's awesome. All the meals she prepares always taste so wonderful to me. I just had to throw that in there!

My sister.in.law, Kathleen, made a broccoli dish, mashed potatoes and a yummy pumpkin roll. I always look forward to her pumpkin roll because it's so.very.good! I wish I had taken a photo of it because you'd want it right now if you saw it! Maybe I'll ask for the recipe and post it for you all to try!

And finally I decided to make four dishes I've never made before. Over the years I've collected a few different Thanksgiving cookbooks and I scanned them all trying to find something that caught my eye. In the end I decided on a cheesy potato gratin, sausage-cranberry strata, apple-walnut salad with cranberry vinaigrette and for dessert a pecan-apple crisp. They all turned out so good and I was so proud of myself with my time management. I prepared everything the night before and threw them in the oven on Thanksgiving morning. The house smelled so good and I couldn't wait to dig in!

Marsha, my mother.in.law, always does such a great job of putting together a table scape for special occasions. Here is a picture of one of the table settings:



Before sitting down to eat, we decided to spend a little time outside in the backyard taking some family photos. I was excited to be able to use my camera and capture Evan's second Thanksgiving. Here we are all together, from left to right:

Mark, Kathleen, Marsha, Evan, Me and Ben



After a few tries, this was probably the best shot we got of the three of us together. It's so hard shooting children, have I mentioned that?



 Here is my sister.in.law, Kathleen and her husband, Mark. They just celebrated their first wedding anniversary on November 8th!



And any family gathering wouldn't be complete without the little one banging his head on something. Here he is showing off his battle wounds from his fight with the stairs.



Later in the afternoon, we headed over to my folks house for a few hours visiting and watching Evan run around back and forth between the kitchen and family room. We had to end our visit a little early due to the headaches both Ben and I had been fighting for most of the afternoon. It was nice to finally be home and relax the night away with just the two of us after putting little man to bed but we really enjoyed our Thanksgiving day!

A few of the things that I'm thankful for this year are:

1. My husbands job

I'm so thankful that the Lord has blessed us both with his job that has allowed me to stay at home with Evan during the day. I'm also thankful that Ben enjoys his job. It isn't everyday that one actually looks forward to going into work!

2. My job

While it doesn't bring in much money, I'm thankful that I have a job. I like doing what I do and it's nice to do something different a few nights a week. The discount doesn't hurt either!

3. My family

I'm thankful that both of our families live in the same city as we do. It's nice that they both get to see Evan grow up and spend time with him. I'm also thankful that my parents are basically there whenever I need someone to watch Evan for a bit if I have to run out for something. Not many people have the opportunity.

4. My house

While a lot of people are losing their homes, I'm thankful that we still have ours and that we're able to pay our mortgage each month. It's nice and cozy and just what we need right now.

5. Our cars

I'm thankful that my husbands car has been paid off for over two years now leaving us with only one car payment and that it hasn't given us much trouble over the past few years. I'm also thankful for my car and the reliability it gives. I highly recommend a Honda!

6. My husband

I'm thankful that he goes to work each day with a smile and supports our family. I'm thankful that he loves Evan and I and does whatever he needs to do to provide us with whatever we need. I'm thankful for his calm spirit and his faith in God. He keeps me grounded and I appreciate it.

7. My son

Evan is just the most precious thing to me! Every time I look at his face it just melts my heart. I'm thankful that the Lord chose me to be his mom and that He guides me each day as I learn this mothering process.

8. The Lord

I'm thankful for my salvation. I'm thankful that He loves me even though I'm not perfect and instead of turning from me he gently guides me to where He wants me to be. I'm thankful for the things He's teaching me this year and while it's hard I embrace each lesson.

9. My blog

I'm thankful that I've had the opportunity to blog this year. It has opened up so many different avenues to me and spiked up interest in several different things I'm taking up as hobbies. It has also lead me to some fabulous friendships I'd otherwise not have.

10. My health

I'm thankful that I had a healthy mammogram earlier this year and that the lump in my right breast has not grown and isn't cancer. I'm thankful for my doctors and for my health insurance as well.

So I think that about sums up what I'm thankful for this year.

What are YOU thankful for?