Thanksgiving blessings

What a wonderful couple of days it has been. Having mom here was wonderful, and it's always a special day when dh can be around more often than usual. I love the break in the middle of a week, to mix up the school schedule and enjoy the change from the day to day. Thanksgiving is all that, plus a time for reflection on all the blessings that we are thankful for, but seem to never take the time to appreciate.

This year our menu was pretty standard fare, but sometimes the classics are the best. Tried a few new recipes, and definitely got some keepers...The Cranberry Glazed Breast of Turkey (foodnetwork.com) and Pumpkin Cheesecake (also Food Network) were both ones to pull back out of the file again. I would definitely also make the Cranberry Pineapple Salad and Creamy Sweet Potatoes again (both from my Taste of Home recipe box). Of course, my mom made her yummy stuffing, buns, and apple pie. We rounded out the menu with a 20lb turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and some misc. fare. We have plenty of leftovers which is just fine with me as we can eat stress free for days. :) Brad also made a cranberry-pomegranate Bellini as a pre-meal special drink.

One other fun treat was having the kids make some table crafts. We didn't eat until 4pm, so after a morning brunch, I put the kids to work making some edible turkeys, pilgrim hats, and tepees from familyfun.com. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture but they were the cutest thing...the hats were a fudge striped cookie turned upside down, with a large, chocolate dipped marshmallow on top. Then, you used yellow squeeze frosting to make the square "buckle". The turkeys were one double stuffed oreo (sans the top wafer) with a full oreo pushed up and down into the frosting. Then, you inserted candy corn into the vertical oreo frosting for the feathers. Finish it off with a raisenette as the turkey head, and it is cute as can be. Finally, the tepees were sugar cones, frosted with white icing, then decorated with piped frosting. I don't think I'll do those again, but the combination of all of them together made for some cute decorations and got the kids involved.

Most importantly though, we had a wonderful day together as a family. From cooking with my mom and having Brad home to help and be nearby, to extended family, many games of pinnochle, and lots and lots of food, we were able to relish the gifts that only the Lord can provide. With Him, we have a freedom that can not be matched here on earth, and a promise of more than we can ever imagine when we finally join him in heaven someday. When amazing blessings abound here on earth, it is so hard to imagine that it can be even more wonderful than this - but it will be. I pray all of us will know his glory and love, through good and through bad. May God bless each and every day of our upcoming year -