Jed was so excited to go to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving that he had his bag packed--with two pairs of pants, three shirts, three pairs of underwear, socks, a night light, his bear, and a blanket (not too shabby, little man!)--by 9AM Wednesday morning. I had a hard time telling him he'd have to wait until I finished baking some pies and Daddy came home from work!
Speaking of pies, I made three: an apple, a pumpkin, and a berry pie. The berry pie didn't even make it to Thanksgiving morning. It was perfectly delicious! However, I forgot to mix in the sugar with my pumpkin pie. So sad! Pie fail. Oh well. Two out of three ain't bad. And a little added sugar on top goes a long way.
This year, Thanksgiving was everything I'd hoped it would be. (Thanks to all your preparation, Momma Nelson!) I love getting together with family to carry out traditions we do year after year. And though we often add on something completely different each year as well, the feelings of love and warmth mixed with delicious food, good company, and a
little bit heaping spoonful of chaos are what make Thanksgiving on the Nelson Dairy so memorable.
We ate ham in addition to turkey this year. Best. Decision. Ever. The boys played a game of football in the backyard. The men finally finished constructing the interior of the pool room. The women shopped till we dropped on Black Friday. (I love that my Christmas shopping is 95% done!) The entire family met for some raucous games of bowling and pizza on Friday afternoon. We all gabbed and played board games till bedtime. And the grandkids opened brand new Christmas jammies from Grandma. It was all so fun!
I even snagged the opportunity for some quiet reflection on my mile long walk to the mail box and back (for the Black Friday sale ads, of course!). My heart has felt a little achy these last months--every time a friend announces her pregnancy it's like a kick in the gut--as a third baby for our family seems to elude us. It's been nearly a year. I don't know why it seems we can't get pregnant again, but I'm trying to trust that God knows the big picture and He knows best. I haven't lost hope though. As I said a silent prayer and counted my blessings that day, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. My Heavenly Father loves me. I have been blessed with so very much! It's all going to be okay; no matter what happens.
It was truly a Happy Thanksgiving.
^^Notice Jed's dirt fence for his army guy. I love his imagination.^^
^^Levi's first football touchdown and kick on Thanksgiving day. He's so cute I could just gobble him up!^^
^^And then the disappointment when it wasn't his turn to handle the ball.^^
^^Luckily, some frozen raspberries picked up his broken spirit lickety split.^^
^^What this corner of the house often looked like. Bron's brother has nine children. We have two. That makes a total of eleven miniature crazies ruling the roost and playing with all of Grandma's cool old school toys.^^
^^Thanksgiving feast prep! I love a man, especially that man, in the kitchen.^^
^^Oh, hey! There's me!^^
^^Dishing up!^^
^^Chowing down at the kids' table^^
^^Kids in cozy Christmas jammies. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of these kinds of pictures on the stairs throughout the years.^^
