Thanksgiving 2014

I L-O-V-E Thanksgiving!  

Mostly because it laser-focuses my attention to being grateful for the abundant blessings in my life all. month. long.  

They say that experiencing joy doesn't make you grateful, being grateful let's you experience joy.  (I am paraphrasing here but you get the idea).

I have found this to be so, so true.  When I am recognizing and thinking about how good the Lord is to me, I am happier.  I feel His love.  My days go better and I feel so great.

This is something I want my kids to learn and experience also.

November is a fantastic time to focus on this, so we talk a lot about gratitude - at dinner, at Family Night, in the car, when their not being grateful... :)

We also do some sort of Thankful Tree or chain to recognize and count those blessings.  It's amazing how when you start counting your blessings, you are reminded of others that you perhaps don't think about as often.

It also reminds you to actually express gratitude for those.  

November and Thanksgiving reminds me to give thanks.

For the big day, we did something we haven't done for a long time...we hit both extended family gatherings!  

This was easy because now we live with Trev's mom - so coming home from my side of the family, meant being with some of his side who were still here from their feast and enjoying pie and conversation with them. :)

It was so fun to see both sides of our family!  

We started the day heading up to Logan and eating from about the minute we walked in.  We continued that until about the time we left, aside from our little break-away impromptu photo shoots I discussed in the the previous post.

After getting back from those mini-shoots, the crafting girls made Pilgrim hats and Indian headdresses, while the mom's finished food prep and the boys played or watched sports.

This game got pretty intense! :)

Here are my parents who were so sweet to host, even though my poor mom had just went through surgery the week before to remove a cancerous mass on her thyroid.  She is a trooper.

This handsome guy was put on official turkey carving duty...and this little girl could not stop picking off bites as he cut. :)

My amazing sister-in-law, Becca, became the Thanksgiving meal guru!  Poor thing was cooking for 2 days straight to help my mom and oh my, the food was FANTASTIC!  I ate way, way too much.  But it was so worth it. :)

She is truly a great cook.  And when I realized how much she had to do, I vowed to help more next year. ;)  

Here we all are chowing down on all the deliciousness.

These silly boys are seriously thick-as-thieves cousins.  I love that my boy has them because he sure lacks in the brother department.  Cousins are the best!

Here is the princess table.  These four are also inseparable at every family gathering.  They are so sweet to each other.

We finished off the day with a few treats for the road and started the 2 hour drive back home for pie with the remaining members of Trev's family.  Again, we all ate too much.  But lucky for me we put the kids in bed and Trev and I ventured out to do a little shopping at the Traverse Mountain Outlets to walk off a few calories.  The weather was so warm and it was so fun to just shop, chat, and run into friends from our old neighborhood.  We got some great deals and went to bed late that night.

I woke up the next morning and did the remainder of my Black Friday shopping online in the comfort of my pj's as the rest of my family slumbered.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had.  My heart was so full realizing and enjoying all my abundant blessings.  My faith, family, friends, health, and all the other joys of life.

Another very Happy Thanksgiving! :)