Thanksgivingday ~2008~

Before....

AFTER! Yep that's my girls' in boys clothing.

So they could do this!

That's right! Clay Pigeon shooting. Who knew Thanksgiving wasn't Thanksgiving until there was good 'ole fashion hunting involved.

For the very first time since moving to Ohio we were invited to a friends Thanksgiving family dinner. My thinking has changed since I moved here 9 years ago. I used to believe that all of your family should be your friend and all of your friends should be treated like family. I completely disagree with that now, however. I have some family members that have become great friends to me and friends the Slabaugh's are a prime example of friends becoming family. And on this day I was Thankful for them. For the relationship God has allowed to grow in a healthy way after all these years and for the generosity they have extended to me and my family. There home is always open to us.

I have never put 2 braids in Em's hair for it is very fine, just like Grandma's. They turned out beautifully and stayed in place all day. They added to the old-fashion vibe.

No high chair and using her napkin. I love teaching my girls table manners. I get excited about all the day in and day out teaching when they make me proud:)

Beth's house is actually her parents old farm house. The very one Beth grew up living in. But this past year they switched houses with her parents and renovated the farm. They tore the house back to the original studs. It was fascinating to me. If you know of my absolute obsessive love of architecture you can be certain I thoroughly enjoyed their process! This picture is to show the space. She has set her rooms up in a way she could open or close a few sliding barn doors to inclued or exclude an extra space known as her family room on normal days. She was able to have 2 long extremely long tables and 1 kids table fit comfortably in one large area. We all sat together and could join in 1 conversation. It was crazy. But good fun.

Here are the kids. Above Caleb was at the head of the table giving instructions to the others. Look at my girls with Grant and Jack. They loved it!!!

One of the very best parts besides the fact that we used Beth's inherited china was that Beth and Ryan served all of us.

Thank you Slabaughs for making us feel right at home. (And Beths to Beth's sister Kristina & her family)

Beth has a tradition at her house where each person has to bring a paper sack w/3 items in it that represents what they are thankful for. I though I would list ours for fun:

Cam's:1)Her blanket, Her sippy cup, & of course her lip gloss.

Em's:1)Her bible, Her lip gloss, & of course her lip gloss.

Ab's:1)Mini seashell that Pauline gave her, Hot pink rubber bouncy ball, photo of Lillie Stoltzfus

Des's:1)My pocket bible, 2)My bedazzled mini notebook, for my "to do" list on the fly, 3)A wreath Ab made in school to represent how thankful I am that my kids are Thankful. Abbey had glued leaves of thankfulness on her wreath.

I have to list 2 of Beth's kids that cracked me up:

Caleb: "The Japanese" for inventing Origami,

Grant: Tapioca

Loved it!