Thanksgiving take 2!

This year marked our second thanksgiving outside of our own country and culture. Amazingly enough, it was vastly different than last year! I really appreciate how God continues to answer prayers that I hadn't even realized I had! This year my prayer was to feel more and more like this is our home and to be able to maintain our own traditions while learning about those practiced here. God is good and we are so very thankful for His work in our lives and provision of our known and unknown needs!

Although we greatly missed our families back in the States, we had a wonderful time with our new family that we have right here. Thursday we started out our day with yummy cinnamon rolls and some quality time with Zeke. Then later in the morning we headed to Cheryl's where us ladies cooked up the final sidedishes to compliment our Thanksgiving meal, although Cheryl had already done the vast majority of the work! We enjoyed a huge meal with all the trimmings with our entire team, plus a couple of straglers who came with another friend. It was so delcious and really made us feel like we were right at home! For the afternoon we relaxed, watched movies and played games. For the evening we all enjoyed turkey sandwhiches and more good conversations. I couldn't believe how quickly the day went and as an added bonus for the day Zeke even took a nap in a bed that wasn't his own!


The next day we actually did it all over again! This time we invited some friends from this culture to join us. We chose a family that we have been growing closer to over these past few months. We also chose them because we know them to be more adventurous than most and that they wouldn't pick at the food the way that some might. The meal all came together with only one minor problem...I completely forgot the pumpkin pie that was in the oven and burned it to a crisp! Fortunately the apple pie sufficed for us! One surprise for us was the hit side dish...cranberry sauce! The entire thing was eaten and the plate practically licked clean! There aren't any cranberries available here, so that was the first time this family had ever tasted them. Also, the mom of the family absolutely loved the devilled eggs I made, so that was a new favorite for them as well! After dinner we asked the family to help us in our tradition of decorating our Christmas tree. The adults got more into it than the kids, but it was fun for us to be able to share some of our traditions with our new friends.

Altogether it was a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving this year. My only wish was that it wouldn't go by so quickly and then take so long to get around to it in another year! Directly following our holiday was a huge holiday here that commemorates God's provision of a sacrifice to Abraham. We were able to visit many of our friends during this time and continue to deepen those relationships. This week we are a bit tired out from last week, but continue to look foward to every opportunity that presents itself to us. Hope you all made the most of your family time and had a wonderful holiday.