I Am Thankful

What a wonderful year it has been! New job, new state, new baby, new home - all of it wonderful! And today we got to celebrate Thanksgiving together, in our new home, with both our babies, in the wonderful state of Tennessee. Blessings all! 

We had hoped to have some family over, but that wasn't able to happen. Hopefully we will be able to visit with our family another time soon. We also received a couple invitations to spend the holiday with friends. But we chose a calm quiet holiday together. It was a wonderful day!

I started cooking a little after 7... and finished as we sat down to eat. I love cooking, so it is always such a fun holiday for me! 

 And I had so much "help" in the kitchen this year :)

My little veggie tray sampler...  I am talking about Daelynn here, not the tray, lol. 

She loves to play with and eat olives. Before long she had eaten almost half of them!

Including some of Mommy's

Mommy's best little helpers

They were both eager to get to be the sweet potato taste testers.

This creamy goodness was a last minute addition, and a big hit. 

Case in point.

However, after a while, the thrill of helping in the kitchen wears off. But toys cannot hold them away from the wonderful smells and anticipation of all the yummy food. So then there is the waiting...

But, the waiting eventually pays off, and the pay off is delicious!

We ate at noon mainly because of the kids' nap schedule. Plus, why wait for good food. ;)

We had a ton of food! Partially due to the anticipation of guests, and partially because its Thanksgiving! We had both a ham and a turkey, and all the trimmings. 

And tons of food means tons of leftovers and leftover related meals. Yum! I am most excited about ham and bean soup and creamy turkey enchiladas. :)

A few hours after our Thanksgiving dinner... lunch... we had some pie for dinner... dessert. Jim also got to enjoy one of the Sam Adams seasonal brews for his after dessert... dessert. 

Yes chocolate beer. And he really enjoyed it. It is a fantastic "dessert beer." 

A wonderful, warm, fun and food filled day. So much to be thankful for today and every day. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, whether it was a calm, quiet day with just a few close people, or a loud, busy day spent with many friends and loved ones. What a treasure, the ones we love.