HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Oh we have SO much to be grateful for!!!
I will list a few, ok...the TOP TEN, to share with you. I am grateful that:
1. Mark and I are together and happily married
2. We have such wonderful children
3. We have the sweetest baby that actually SLEEPS and is happy most of the time!
4. We own a wonderful home that the Lord provided for us! Thank You. Thank You!
5. I can stay at home to teach and train my own children instead of sending them off every day to be "raised" by someone else!
6. Mark has an excellent job.
7. We have such a WONDERFUL family & extended family
8. I am making some really great friends here in the desert.
9. I'm happy with where I'm at in my life right now. I am content.
10. We live in a free country, THANKS to all our soldiers who are willing to go out and put their lives on the line to protect our freedom and way of life.

MOST OF ALL (and I know this is more than 10 but without HIM none of this would be possible) I AM GRATEFUL FOR A LOVING AND MERCIFUL GOD!!!


Now that we've done the top 10 I'll move on to what I've been doing today, er, YESTERDAY! I just realized it's now after midnight so it is officially Thanksgiving Day here in Washington. Anyhow, we were originally going to go to my family's homes in the Seattle area for Thanksgiving as we always do...BUT due to Mark being on call at work we had to stay a lot closer to home so we decided to have it here. We invited Mark's mother & some local friends. Mark's mom couldn't come until Sat. so we thought we'd just do it then but I had already invited our friends so now I'm doing TWO Turkey days...well, I decided I'd do the big one today and do leftovers plus some other goodies on Saturday for our belated T-Day celebration with Gramma "E", as the kids call her. So, as you can guess, I was busy cooking all of Wednesday. Here is what I've prepared thus far:
1. TURKEY is in a kosher salt and sugar brine in the fridge
2. Stuffing is all made and ready to stick in the oven to bake
3. I made delicous pie crust for three pies
4. I baked two PECAN pies (Mark's fave)
5. Baked two butternut squashes and made a lovely puree with butter and real maple syrup out of it. Check out THIS LINK (my fave blog besides my own!): http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/2007/11/butternut_squash_puree_try_it_or_ill_deck_ya_.html
6. I baked two sugar pumpkins then made a fresh PUMPKIN PIE (MY favorite!)
7. I made our family favorite; PARTY SALAD, a delicious mix of lime jello, cream cheese, carrots, celery, heavy whipping cream and ummmmmmm...I think that's all...NO, WALNUTS too. MOST DELICIOUS!!!
8. I got the fresh heavy whipping cream and some powdered sugar in my handy dandy whipping cream dispenser with co2 cartridge power!

I'm sure there's more but my brain is beginning to fade and with that what little memory I have left! The point is, I WAS BUSY TODAY!!! And I feel so good about it. I am feeling a little like my own mother tonight. Partly because I'm still up and she always says, "If you want to get anything done you have to do it after the children are asleep". SO, here I am. It's nearly 1AM and I'm totally wired (though brain dead). I'm not sure I'll ever be able to sleep. Thanks Mom! Now I know how you feel.

OK...I also wanted to share with my friends and family who read this my sorrow for NOT posting before now! I really do apologize. I think about posting often...just haven't gotten to the actual DOING of it until now.

I will try to post some pics tomorrow of my food and our day. If I can function well enough to USE a camera tomorrow. I can always ask Mark, I suppose.

Oh, here's something sweet to share. The kids were done with story time and Mark was taking them in for prayers and bedtime and I told Avi she could stay up with me. She was SO delighted. She got to help make the pumpkin pie and you should have heard the chatter that was coming out of her. She felt like such a big girl for getting to stay up late to help Mama. She said she's going to help me cook EVERYTHING from now on. :-) We'll see how long that one lasts. Ha ha. She's was so cute. I wish I could capture the essence of moments & experiences shared like that on a camera or some other device...but it just has to be left to your imagination and falls under that category, once again, of "Guess Ya Had to Be There!". The sweetness of life with children! I can't imagine my life without them. What joy they bring. Not like it's always so dreamy perfect...
We definitely have our moments! And they do drive me insane pretty regularly...but it's TOTALLY worth it!

I'm going for the BOLD and posting this without even reading over it. I have no idea if this flows or is random. Spelling or grammar errors...Yeah, I'm sure there are lots. Please just try to overlook them...and know that if you're reading this... I AM GRATEFUL FOR YOU! I also know I have a habit of using "..." and while it may irritate some who are picky about grammar etc. or distracted by it...TOO BAD. I really can't help myself. I LOVE those little dots. Anyhow, Love to you and a heart of GRATITUDE on this day. OH...I have to share a quote from I know not who, but it demands to be shared! HERE GOES:

G is for gratitude. When I'm in gratitude, if I even stop and make a list of the things I'm grateful for, that's a form of prayer. It breaks my trance of misery or self-absorption.
I did send that out in an email so if you already read it, well, it's worth reading twice so I'm not going to apologize.

LOVE TO YOU ALL and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.