Sunday, November 29, 2015

Thanksgiving 2015

I'm not sure we took a single picture this weekend, so I'll just have to paint one! The first half of the weekend was full of cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. We threw in a little laundry and cooking for good measure. Then the families arrived...we hosted nine Wernets (and friends) for Thanksgiving brunch in the morning and 14 Tuinstra/Wacyks in the afternoon for dinner. It seemed like a good idea to host two events in one day the month before, and right up to about noon on Wednesday. Then it seemed like a silly idea. Once we made it to dinner, it was fine again!

The day was a bit of a pleasant blur, and it was lovely to have (almost) everyone together during the day. We were especially blessed to have Dave, Laurel, and Roger there, because it's been awhile since we saw them on Thanksgiving, and who knows where they'll be next year! The kids--eight and eight, now--are mostly old enough that they kind of disappear before and after the meal, and giggle endlessly during it.

Annie searched for "pilgrim girl" costumes and created her own. She also led everyone in her Thanksgiving prayer from school:

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to you and pray.
We thank you Lord for all you'd done,
Especially the gift of Jesus, your son.

When I finally sat down (late) that night, I thought I'd never get up again! Luckily, we got to enjoy the fruits of our labor for the rest of the weekend. That is, we got to eat leftovers in a relatively clean house. We mostly sat by the fire and watched White Christmas, Charlie Brown Christmas, and football. After a long stretch of school without breaks + hunting season, it was great to be together for so many days. We saw The Peanuts Movie at the Sun, taught the girls how to play Scattergories, played many rounds of Uno (Annie tries to sit strategically because she doesn't like to play Draw 2s and 4s on me!), and made cookies without an electric mixer because we forgot we loaned it to Laurel. Kevin and I went on a date (the shooting range and the mall - something for everyone) while the kids played at his mom's, and--with lots of help from the girls--we decorated the house for Christmas.

It's back to school and work tomorrow...sniff. The especially wonderful thing about Thanksgiving break ending, though, is Christmas break right around the corner--and all the fun in between!

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