Thanksgiving
Always a fun holiday in our household, Thanksgiving brought extra meaning this year. Joel and I were fortunate enough to have two Thanksgivings - one with my family the weekend before and one with his family the day of.
Because my brother is a chef, he usually has to work on holidays. Because of this, it can sometimes be difficult to get everyone together for a nice dinner. He and his girlfriend, Danielle, came home the weekend before and we had a great time. My mom and I decided not to fix a bunch of the traditional Thanksgiving fare because we would be having it a few days later, so we planned a different menu. For lunch, we had chicken salad croissants (the recipe is from a friend of Joel's family and is soooo yummy), and for dinner we had pot roast with carrots, potatoes and onions. We also had rolls, fruit and 3 choices of pie - cherry, lemon and pumpkin.
Since I wasn't feeling well that day, Grace decided she would be the family photographer. She nabbed my camera and took these lovelies of the family (keep in mind she's only 4):
My brother, Shawn, and Danielle
Well, at least Grace got the majority of my mom's face!
I don't know why my dad has to be such a goofball! :-)
Yes, you can definitely tell I wasn't feeling well. But, I only have about 6 weeks left until the 2nd trimester, so hopefully I will be feeling better soon.
All in all, it was a fun family day. On Thanksgiving, my parents went to my aunt's house just outside of Columbus, KS. Joel and I took the girls to his sister's house in Newton, KS. I again wasn't feeling too well, and I forgot to get my camera out, so I had to borrow some photos from my sister-in-law's blog.
We had a TON of food (as always). I made the obligatory green bean casserole (which I normally do) and Oriental salad, and we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry salad, black bean salad, strawberry whip and 3 kinds of pie for dessert. In addition to us, Joel's parents, his grandmother and Marc's parents, Joel's sister Sarah and her husband Marc hosted two foreign students from India who are attending WSU. They also hosted a student last year for Thanksgiving. So, we had a full house. Here are some photos from the festivities, courtesy of Sarah:
The frying turkey... yum!!!
The "Pre-eating" station - or "pre-stretching" as Joel likes to call it. Every year, Marc's mom makes hamburger dip (with Velveeta) and brings chips for everyone to nosh on while the turkey is cooking. Joel and Marc like to think of it as stretching their stomachs for the big meal. All though, this year, Marc didn't eat a whole lot of Thanksgiving dinner - he said, "Too much pre-eating!"
Joel pre-stretching...
The girls at the kiddie table...
The girls with their cousin Luke and Grandma Koehn...
No photos of me, but that's perfectly OK!!! I didn't really feel like cameras...
We are thankful for so many things, and family is definitely toward the top of our list. We always enjoy our get-togethers. This year we have something extra to be thankful for as we await the birth of our third child. We are praying that it will be a healthy baby and there will be no complications. We are thankful for God and Jesus, each other, the girls, our home, our jobs and our health. We are also thankful for the thousands of men and women who served or are currently serving our country and fighting to protect our freedoms. We are eternally grateful for everything they do.
Every day is a new blessing, and we are so glad for the lives we lead.
Here's hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Now it's time to get ready for Christmas...
Because my brother is a chef, he usually has to work on holidays. Because of this, it can sometimes be difficult to get everyone together for a nice dinner. He and his girlfriend, Danielle, came home the weekend before and we had a great time. My mom and I decided not to fix a bunch of the traditional Thanksgiving fare because we would be having it a few days later, so we planned a different menu. For lunch, we had chicken salad croissants (the recipe is from a friend of Joel's family and is soooo yummy), and for dinner we had pot roast with carrots, potatoes and onions. We also had rolls, fruit and 3 choices of pie - cherry, lemon and pumpkin.
Since I wasn't feeling well that day, Grace decided she would be the family photographer. She nabbed my camera and took these lovelies of the family (keep in mind she's only 4):
My brother, Shawn, and Danielle
Well, at least Grace got the majority of my mom's face!
I don't know why my dad has to be such a goofball! :-)
Yes, you can definitely tell I wasn't feeling well. But, I only have about 6 weeks left until the 2nd trimester, so hopefully I will be feeling better soon.All in all, it was a fun family day. On Thanksgiving, my parents went to my aunt's house just outside of Columbus, KS. Joel and I took the girls to his sister's house in Newton, KS. I again wasn't feeling too well, and I forgot to get my camera out, so I had to borrow some photos from my sister-in-law's blog.
We had a TON of food (as always). I made the obligatory green bean casserole (which I normally do) and Oriental salad, and we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry salad, black bean salad, strawberry whip and 3 kinds of pie for dessert. In addition to us, Joel's parents, his grandmother and Marc's parents, Joel's sister Sarah and her husband Marc hosted two foreign students from India who are attending WSU. They also hosted a student last year for Thanksgiving. So, we had a full house. Here are some photos from the festivities, courtesy of Sarah:
The frying turkey... yum!!!
The "Pre-eating" station - or "pre-stretching" as Joel likes to call it. Every year, Marc's mom makes hamburger dip (with Velveeta) and brings chips for everyone to nosh on while the turkey is cooking. Joel and Marc like to think of it as stretching their stomachs for the big meal. All though, this year, Marc didn't eat a whole lot of Thanksgiving dinner - he said, "Too much pre-eating!"
Joel pre-stretching...
The girls at the kiddie table...
The girls with their cousin Luke and Grandma Koehn...No photos of me, but that's perfectly OK!!! I didn't really feel like cameras...
We are thankful for so many things, and family is definitely toward the top of our list. We always enjoy our get-togethers. This year we have something extra to be thankful for as we await the birth of our third child. We are praying that it will be a healthy baby and there will be no complications. We are thankful for God and Jesus, each other, the girls, our home, our jobs and our health. We are also thankful for the thousands of men and women who served or are currently serving our country and fighting to protect our freedoms. We are eternally grateful for everything they do.
Every day is a new blessing, and we are so glad for the lives we lead.
Here's hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Now it's time to get ready for Christmas...
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Kim