Happy Thanksgiving

Writing what we were thankful for on the wall.

Teaching Madeleine how to make homemade rolls.

Getting ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner.  Honestly, I love kids.  Whenever I am with my sister Em, and she has her 5 and I have my three, I think, "This is how many kids I want!"  But, I know it would never be enough and I am just glad that I have kids and nieces and nephews to love.

Rachie lived in a Snow White dress while we were there.  I loved having so many kids there.  

We took the night before Thanksgiving to read them a book about their ancestors.  When I studied about it again this year what stuck out in my mind was what the pilgrims were willing to endure.  In England they were put into jail and their homes were ransacked.  That was scary, but the alternative was scarier to them.  From Holland they used their fortunes to come to a new land. That was difficult, but the alternative would have been more difficult.  They didn't know if they would be able to survive in a land with the natives and if they would be able to sustain their own lives off of the land.  That was terrifying, but the alternative was worse.  They endured terrible sea sickness on the journey and horrible hunger after they arrived.  Their sacrifices were so great that only 6 women surveyed and one of them was my children's ancestor.  Priscilla Mullins.   All of these sacrifices were  terrible for them to endure, but the alternative was something that they couldn't endure...a life in which they were not able to worship their God.

The next day was Thanksgiving.  We wrote up the menu with the kids and told them that they would each be responsible to cook one item on the menu.  They loved this.  Christian loved it most of all.  He made the cranberry sauce.  The entire time he was making it he kept asking Em if she thought everyone would love his sauce and if it would be the best ever.  Of course we assured him it would be.  Then when we finally tasted the sauce Em and I oohed and ahed.  He ate the attention up with a spoon.  I told him that I didn't think I would ever be able to eat another Thanksgiving meal without this sauce, but I didn't think I would ever be able to make it the same.  He took my compliment, and my dilemma to heart.  He immediately wrote up instructions:

1. Mix it-Good!

2. Mash with the edge of the spoon

3.  Eat!

We wrote little question about gratitude,  wrapped them in tin foil, and baked them in the rolls.  Durring Thanksgiving dinner the kids got little questions that we made.  The questions were supposed to help them think of what they were grateful for this year.  Some of the questions were:

1.  What is something nice a friend did for you this year?

2.  What would be the hardest to live without-- heating, air conditioning, running water, or electricity?

3.  What freedom are you grateful for?  Who helped you to have that freedom?

4.What was something beautiful in nature that you saw this year?

5.  When was a time that you felt that God loved you this year?

6.  When was a time that you felt the Holy Ghost this year?

7.  When was a time that you felt loved by your family this year.

The last question happened to be the one that Christian opened.  He gave his answer in three words, "The cranberry sauce."