A Delicious Thanksgiving

I think of all the best blog entries while laying in bed late at night when I wish I were sleeping. The problem is, I forget what they were when I get up the following morning. I sometimes wonder if they really were good ideas for entries or if maybe my sleepy mind just thought they were. We will probably never know since I don't remember the ideas any better than I remember most of my dreams.

Thanksgiving went over without a hitch. My nontraditional feast was quite tasty, if I do say so myself! I made a rib roast, baked yams, mashed cheesy potatoes (actually, Brad made those), a big salad, sweet dinner rolls, a loaf of bread, spinach dip, and several pies (pumpkin, apple, pecan, etc.). For dinner I made BBQ shredded beef with more potatoes and salad. My sister, Mariah and Mom joined us for the holiday, which was wonderful, although they didn't get to stay for dinner (everyone was still too full from lunch and snacking on pie, spinach dip & bread). After our big, yummy lunch we took pictures, played Scattergories, and just hung out. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Our Thanksgiving lunch.

Madeleine with some flowers she "saved" from the thrift store bag that I was going to take to town the day before Thanksgiving. She wanted to show my mom and Mariah her "new" flowers and ended up getting a picture of herself taken with them.

By the way, Madeleine's new bangs were the result of a "self" done haircut. She got the idea in her head that she wanted bangs one day and gave herself some. She did a pretty good job... I just had to straighten a few sections, but it was nowhere near as bad as other haircuts I've had to fix! I also gave her a haircut in the back, but you can't tell in these photos of her.

My mom, me, and Elizabeth.

A sweet photo of Elizabeth and my mom.

My sister, Mariah and Robbie.

Madeleine wrapped up in the afghan her grandma gave her.

I'm going to truly miss being close enough to visit my family when we're in Nicaragua. The thought of how much I'll miss everyone can be overwhelming at times, so I keep shoving that thought out of the way for later. I figure there's no reason to grieve my future losses! And who knows, maybe it won't work out in Nicaragua or maybe my family will join me. I don't think I'll be able to talk my friends into moving close, although that would be great!

On the subject of Nicaragua, someone asked me recently what our departure date is. We don't actually have our plane tickets yet. We're waiting on Madeleine's passport. We're also in the process of getting Ethan's birth certificate, then we have to get his passport. Our departure date is going to depend on how long all of that takes. It may not be until February that we get to leave with how long things are taking!