A Thanksgiving to Remember

Well they all are really. But I was going for a "catchy" title.

We spent the Turkey day with a conglomeration of people...Bek & Kev stuck around so we at least had some family to spend the day with this year! All five of us decided that doing all the work that a Thanksgiving meal entails was too much for us to handle. So we went to Brandon's boss' house where some of their family, some other SEBTS families, and a sweet Chinese family all enjoyed the holiday together. It was a big crowd with lots of kids (read: lots of noise), lots of fun and lots of food!

I was in charge of the dressing this year. Which shouldn't sound like a daunting task since that's been my job the last two years. However, the last two years our Thanksgiving feast was in China which basically means that my dressing didn't really have to be THAT impressive since anything tastes good after eat so much soy sauce. But this year making the Thanksgiving staple for a bunch of fellow Americans who hadn't been eating dumplings several times a week for the last year...well...it was a little intimidating. So what did I do? I stuck with my trusty Ghetto Chinese Cornbread Dressing. Sure I had all the amenities of an American grocery store, but my instinct told me to stick with what was familiar. So in went the Ritz crackers and chicken bullion cubes (I just made my Aunt Susie faint) . And lo and behold...even Ghetto Chinese Cornbread Dressing can be a hit in America.

A little intimidated by the large crowd at first, Eden became fast friends with Brandon's boss when she figured out he was the one with the strawberries.

This week we put up our Christmas tree! And you'd think that having a giant green prickly thing in our living room would draw more attention from a curious toddler. Surprisingly, Eden is not that interested in it. She's interested in taking the candy canes off of it, but then again so is Brandon. We had fun putting it up though, listening to our fav Christmas cd, and discussing how we don't have that many ornaments. (thus...candy canes).

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. We're happy, healthy, and have an exciting new family member joining us soon. We're blessed in LOTS of ways and thankful for so many things!

But this year we're celebrating being thankful for something a little different. God has used the last few months at SEBTS to confirm his calling for us to return overseas for long term service. And even though submission to this sort of calling can bring heartache...the thought of missing family and friends and not seeing nieces and nephews grow up...it brings incredible joy and peace to be able to just say yes to what we know God wants for our family. We're so overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for this peace that comes with knowing we're headed to where He wants us. There's so much more to say on this subject, which includes plans for returning to Texas for the next few years before headed back overseas. More to come on this later.

We pray your Thanksgiving holiday was fun and turkey-filled! But most of all we pray your Thanksgiving was full of the peace that passes all understanding!