A steaming plate of all the yumminess. My dad made some really good dressing that had artichokes, spinach and brie. I could only have a bite – I hate being allergic to cheese.

Eden’s hair was so cute and curly, this picture really doesn’t do her justice. It’s so hard to take photos of moving children.

This was not my smartest moment. I let the kids drink their apple cider out of real glass glasses. It was probably the highlight of their day until they had pie.

Speaking of pie, here is my mile high apple pie, which was only half a mile high because I used 7 apples instead of the 14 the recipes called for. Can you imagine double the apples in this pie?

And although this has nothing to do with anything, here’s my new hair color.

before

The turkey is roasting away, filling the house with an intoxicating aroma. The stock for the gravy is simmering on the stove, and the bread is starting to rise. I wanted to take a minute away from my preparation to say how thankful I am for life today. God has truly blessed me with many wonderful things, including people who love me.

I am so thankful today for my friends, on the internet and in real life (and so thankful that some of my internet friends are my real life friends too!) You have all impacted my life in ways I cannot say. I have cherished every minute of my “internet life”, every friendship I have formed, every lesson I have learned. I think I have become a better person because of it, and for that I am abundantly, forever thankful.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving.

Today I am going to get most of my baking done. I’m going to make Marthas Mile High Apple Pie. And I think I’m also going to make some cranberry-cornmeal cookies. I’ll also get the refrigerator rolls started.

Today I also have to clean and prep the turkey. This is my absolute LEAST favorite part of Thanksgiving cooking. Next time I cook a turkey, I vow to buy an already thawed one. Eewww, it just grosses me out to deal with raw poultry. But I think the thought of pumpkin pie and apple pie will keep me going. Mmmmmm…..

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Except for the fact that I was sick and convinced that I was pregnant (I’m not). But that’s another story.

On the 3rd, we went with some friends to Mack, Colorado which is about 15 miles away from us and home to the famous Country Jam, USA. (I’m ashamed to be giving Country Jam even that much publicity, I loathe country music.) There, with about 10,000 other vehicles, we watched a great firework display.

It was pretty cool, we didn’t really know what to expect, having never, EVER been to Country Jam. So, we arrived to acres and acres of cars parked in a big grass field. Everyone brought their grills and fireworks and lawn chairs and some of them, like the people behind us, brought their whole liquor cabinet. (yikes!)

The firework show was fairly impressive, the kids enjoyed it SO much. Eden and her friend Alannah had so much fun oooing and aahhing over the display.

Honor was so excited over it too, every time a blossom would explode in the sky he’d shout, “MOM!” Just in case I didn’t see it.

There were so many cars there in Mack (what a name for a town huh?) that it took TWO HOURS to get out of there. We didn’t even bother to get in our cars, we just watched the vehicles in front of us inch along and the drivers yell at each other. Seriously, the truck in front of us moved two car lengths in one hour. We finally got out of there and were home by 1am.

For the 4th we went over to my friend Brooke’s house to eat tons of food and light off fireworks. You can’t tell by this picture, but the kids loved the sparklers.

There are no pictures of Honor holding a sparkler because it took both of us to keep mr. destruct-o-con from catching something on fire. I know that comes as a great shock…

On the way home, late last night, having stayed up WAY past her bed time for two nights in a row, Eden tiredly told us how things were.

“I don’t like the fireworks that go on the ground. I like the fireworks that go in the sky. The fireworks that go on the ground are a little bit scary.”