Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

We are in full preparation mode here at our home, getting ready and learning all about Thanksgiving. I love this time of year, and I really enjoy focusing on Thanksgiving and really truly stepping back and looking at all of our blessings. This year I didn't want to just stop at being thankful, I really wanted to serve and give some of our time to others so just maybe they have something to be thankful for as well! We have had lots of fun and even created some new traditions. Here is what we have been up to.

We started making this Thankful tree about three weeks ago and it has been so fun watching it grow. The things the girls have told us that they are thankful for are absolutely precious and have made Jeff and I pretty proud. I'm going to be sad to take this down. We are definitely going to be putting another one up next year. Even Jeff and I have put some hands up there which the girls have loved.


This is the bible verse we have been memorizing which went perfectly with our tree. The girls have done great with memorizing their verses.


Of course we have made lots of turkeys and read lots of Thanksgiving books.





God has been putting lots of new things on my heart lately. He is definitely up to something! Lately I have been convicted of living a very complacent life and He is at work changing me. I keep being reminded through scripture and friends, that God calls us to be His hands and feet. And that is what I want to do, and that is what I want my girls to learn as well. So I stepped WAY out of my comfort home and decided we would start visiting a nursing home in the area on a regular basis. I figured that was something easy enough, and close to home that we could definitely do. So the girls started making Thanksgiving cards, and we made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to take up there. We delivered everything this morning and it went really well. My girls (super shy, quiet girls mind you), handed their cards to the patients, said "Happy Thanksgiving" very very sweetly, and actually offered their name a few times. I was so proud of them for also stepping out of their comfort zone and serving others. They were so excited when we got in the car and Aubrey immediately asked when we were going back. One tiny step down!

Here they are making cards and helping me make cookies!






This next part was so very fun and definitely something we plan to do again! The girls weren't quite getting the whole pilgrim and Indian thing at all. So I decided that it would be really fun and help them understand a little better, if we made hats and had a "First Thanksgiving Dinner" (actually lunch for us). They loved loved this! We had turkey (really just lunch meat rolled up with cheese), green beans, tater tots, grapes, rolls, raspberry limeade from sonic, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We talked all about the first Thanksgiving while we ate, and we also talked about all sorts of things that we are thankful for. I really loved doing this with them. I even made an Indian hat for myself to participate in the fun!



Enjoying dessert!






Aubrey actually took this picture. I was super impressed. And now you can see that Avery really was a part of it too!

Now we just have to get ready for the real thing. Family comes in next week and we are so excited and anxious for them to get here!