Eastgiving? Thankster?

Agape Flights, which is the organization we get our mail through, generously supplies missionaries in the Caribbean with a Thanksgiving meal each year.  Each family who wants one gets a frozen turkey along with a box of non perishable Thanksgiving foods.  When they sent out the email in the early fall, we had said that yes, we would like to receive our meal.  That was before we knew we would be back in the states for three unexpected months.  So ever since the middle of November, we have had a turkey in our freezer and a box of Thanksgiving food in our pantry.  Shortly after we came back in, I found myself in the middle of first trimester woes and had no desire whatsoever to prepare a meal like that one.  And then a couple weeks ago we ordered a 40 pound box of chicken legs to add to our already getting crowded freezer.

The time had come.

 I knew that in order for all the chicken legs to fit, the turkey had to come out.  So we had Thanksgiving dinner for our Easter celebration!  I had never made a turkey before so I was a little nervous.  But thanks to the oven bag they provided and the handy little pop up thermometer in the turkey, it went pretty well.  Always learning what I would do different the next time but I was well satisfied with how it turned out!  And yes, I know this picture is post carving.  Sorry.

We had the whole spread.  Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce... it was so good!!  Topped off with pumpkin pie of course.

We invited the Herrmann kids to join us while their parents had a little date night:)

The next day we did resurrection eggs and flannel stories also with the Herrmanns before coming home and coloring eggs with the kids.

The kids have been really eager to help with dishes lately.  We have not been super eager to let them.  But they love it and so sometimes we say yes.  And really, might as well teach 'em young, right?  There will come a day when we have to force them to do dishes:)

A few days ago I decided I was tired of doing the same pony tail everyday so I did a throwback to the french braid I used to wear every day.

And the Summer, who for once actually had gotten her hair done early on in the day, really wanted a french braid to match.  So I begrudgingly agreed said sure!  Her hair is NOT easy to work with.  But she loved it and just as I know there will come a day when she doesn't want to do dishes, there will also come a day when she doesn't want to try to be just like me:)  So I guess we'll go with it for now.

We are thinking of you all and praying for you while you are all stuck at home all the time.  It's been fun seeing all your different posts about what you're doing to pass time and stay sane!  The COVID-19 virus doesn't seem to be spreading at an alarming rate down here, but it is spreading.  I am not really involved with the hospital at all, but from all I hear, they are about as prepared as they can be and praying that they don't have to put all those preparations to good use.

Hang in there, everyone.

Oh and also?  Thanksgiving meals always give me the chance to recreate the most amazing sandwich that we first had in Maine.  And it makes me happy:)

My Tribute To Grandma

I keep trying to think of all the things I want to say about Grandma, but the words and thoughts are not flowing.  But I guess I don't need to say too much.  Just acknowledge the sweet, prim, and proper grandma that she was.  Oh, and with a side of Spunk!  Sometimes the things that came out of her mouth were hilarious!!  She loved us all dearly and treated us in a way that we never questioned that.  She struggled a lot with memory thanks to brain aneurysm she had in her 50's.  But toward the end God gave her the clarity to really share her excitement about heaven.  The last real conversation I had with her was over Face Time and though her voice and body were weak she talked clearly and openly about what was to come.

I don't have too many pictures of her.  There's a few good ones out there but grandma's typical reaction to seeing a camera was putting her hand up or turning her head away:)  She was more than happy to learn there would be no visitation with people filing through and looking at her!

But I do have this one that I love, even though it's blurry.  Grandma loved babies.  This was Sawyer's first Christmas and she held him and talked to him, oblivious to what else was going on around her:)

There will always be things that remind me of grandma.  Snickers Bars and the original Chapstick in a black tube being two big ones.  You could always count on her having those two things, though the Snickers were usually hidden somewhere.  I'm not sure there was ever a Christmas where at least one grandkid didn't gift her some of those:)

She will be greatly missed, that is for sure.  But more than anything, we are all so happy for her to be able to go on home.