Our Thanksgiving Day

The natives are restless, the food is all ready to be devoured:)

Kole and Kyzen wait ...patiently:)

Not my best look, but I had been cooking all day and ran 2 miles that morning!

I just have to express my gratitude about my life! I am grateful that this year I decided that I , personally, would rather begin our own Thanksgiving tradition and celebrate as just our family. Every year, in the past we have spent with either Robert's family or mine or both and it has been wonderful each and every year to gather with family and eat and spend time together! Those are moments you just can't live without. This year felt different for me. I realized that my bubbie girl is getting older and has only 3 1/2 years left in our home until college and then probably will get snatched up real fast for marriage so I had t5o make the best of it now! I wanted to spend all day Wednesday and Thursday with just my family. Cooking, cleaning, playing laughing, enjoying. We did just that ...minus a few hours of football and such:) I have not had a stress free holiday dinner in over 16 years! I just felt good, happy, pleasant. Jaydn even commented on how happy I was when we were making pies together. We did not cook together Thursday morning as I had hoped because of the turkey bowl that Robert took all the kids to but I had the time of my life preparing this wonderful meal for my little family! I felt such pride in knowing that I have acquired such amazing cooking skills so that I can present my family with the best food in the world! The rolls were amazing( yes, I had one, but only one!)The yams rocked the house!!!...so I have been told! I made homemade cranberry sauce of my own recipe this year and Leavi said it was the best she had ever tasted!!!! I snuck just a taste and I agree...it was SUPERB! The stuffing was totally amazing this year! Every single thing I made was incredible and turned out fabulous. then... the oven started smoking while I was baking a cheesecake and sent Robert outside to finish eating due to the smell. well, it was almost perfect anyway:) I had to put the oven on self clean and bake the cheesecake later but in the end the day was as close to perfect as one can get in this life! I am grateful for all of the positive changes I have made in my life this last year that have made it possible for me to find joy in the simple things and rest in the time I spend with my immediate family.

I miss my extended family but I know how important it is for me to have the connection with my husband and my children and to feel the gratitude for that!

I am grateful for my many blessings!