Favorite time of the year

The kids helped with the Thanksgiving banner and the name cards--I always loved name cards!

Kash just wanted his picture taken and Ben never turns down a chance to be in a picture.

I love the fall and I love Thanksgiving and I love Christmastime. I like Christmas, but I mostly like the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone really seems to be a bit kinder to one another. And we are all thinking about our families and what would make the perfect gift. For me, it reminds me of all the reasons I love those I love so much. I love to give gifts and really think about what might make someone happy. I will be honest and say I have missed the mark on a number of occasions, but I still love the feelings this time of year. I have such great memories from my childhood revolving around the holidays. Thanksgiving at my Grandma & Grandpa's and being amazed by the amount of mashed potatoes my cousin, Rex, could eat. Then the next day we would have a second Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma Eva's. She had a very small house and all the adults would have to move every piece of furniture out of her front room so we could all eat together. After dinner, there was always a good card game going on and the smell of cranberry pudding steaming in the background. I like cranberry pudding, I don't love it. But I can't have Thanksgiving without it--just doesn't seem right. There is just something so perfectly wonderful about being with your family. I know that is why I get the most homesick at Thanksgiving. I did okay this year, we had the sister missionaries over and Chris, who came to work with Brian from Cuba. We had a great dinner and my first attempt at a pumpkin pie turned out pretty good. I used to make fruit cake every year with my great aunt. I had the recipe out the other day and found taped to the back a pumpkin pie recipe and decided to try it--it was really very good--a great find! That made me miss Tilda and Grandma Eva and my Grandma and Grandpa and everything about my childhood that when I look back makes me feel like I had a fairy tale sometimes. I know I had a wild imagination, but I really did have a great childhood. I just remember feeling loved and so happy. I have great parents. I had great grandparents. I have super aunts and uncles. And I have so many wonderful cousins I liked playing with (most of the time) :)!

I knew I would be busy getting things ready on Wednesday, so I had projects for the kids to work on while I cooked. They helped with all the decorations and some of the treats. I was so glad when Jake said the family prayer that night that he was thankful for the all the fun they had getting ready for Thanksgiving. I only hope I can provide for our kids the quality of memories I am blessed with. Memories are truly priceless.

I was especially excited about this Thanksgiving because my cousin, Matt, and his family stopped here on Friday night and stayed until this morning. It was so nice to have them here. Matt reminds me so much of my Uncle Kent and I really love my Uncle Kent. Matt is quite a bit younger than me, so it was just nice to get to know his family a bit better. It was just a perfect way to end this Thanksgiving weekend. I was busy and got to have a bit of my family here--I have loved every minute. And now I get to be excited about the next month and all the fun we will have doing everything Christmas! Kash and I have already listened to Christmas music once! Brian always makes fun of me because I can't wait to get the music out--I LOVE Christmas music!!