Our thanksgiving holiday was really nice, despite not being able to be with most of the family. On the Saturday before thanksgiving, Daddy and some of us kids went chestnut picking with Grandma and Grandpa C. (at a safe distance, of course) The weather turned out to be beautiful by the time we got there, and continued to be for the whole outing, even though it was pouring rain at 5:30 AM. We brought home lots of chestnuts.

On Monday, everybody went to the park again for chestnut picking, this time with all eleven of us. Grandma and Grandpa joined us again, which was really nice. We had originally planned to only go on Monday by ourselves. We weren’t sure if Grandpa and Grandma would join us there, but then they invited us for Saturday, so we got a double dose of our little tradition.

This time, we brought the dogs along to the park, which they loved. They aren’t really used to seeing other people and lots of other dogs, so they were a little wild, but it was still fun.

After we got home from the park, the rest of the day was really busy, full of tidying and cooking and planning. Mama did a delicious job with the turkey, and made a really good gravy out of the neck.

Autumn was in full swing at the park. Grandma helped me gather some beautiful leaves to decorate the table at home for our big Thanksgiving dinner. I wish they could’ve been here too, I really missed having the whole family together.

I decorated the dinner table and the serving tables, with the help of Ricka and Emma. I think they turned out really nice. I can’t take credit for the beauty, because I used God’s artwork, not my own : )

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Dinner was turkey, mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, green beans, stuffing, gravy, and of course cranberry sauce. Oh yeah, and roasted chestnuts from the park. I know I don’t have to say it, but dinner was DELICIOUS.

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Mama also also put out extra side things like canned pears and a pickle plate. (Look at all the colors!!)

After dinner, we enjoyed chocolate pudding pie and cheesecake, with a homemade strawberry sauce. By the end of the meal, everyone was properly stuffed. Mama did a wonderful job.

Pixie actually ate a lot of food, it surprised me. She’s around a year and a month, so she’s eating pretty much all the food the rest of us kids do.

Some days, she eats almost nothing, then she turns around and gobbles-( ha! That was funny… ) up everything on her plate the next day. She’s also just learning how to use a fork, which is entertaining and cute. She’ll stab her fork at her food, lick the gravy off the (empty) end and then eat a fistful of food with her other hand. She’s getting there.

Anyways, sorry this is late, (yeah, I know, almost a month late) but Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I know that I have a lot to be thankful for. PS- the cabin trip post is taking longer than I expected, so I decided to post other posts while I’m working on it. It may or not make its way onto my blog before the new year…