End of November Faves

 

Here we are, at the last Friday of November!  Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day and I hope you all had a wonderful day of good food, family, fellowship, and fun. 

For today, I am sharing FIVE of my FAVE blessings from the past week. There are always many blessings in our days, whether it's the fact we took a breath upon waking up to reading a good book before bed. I like to join in with other bloggers who all link up at Susanne's site to share FIVE of those blessings that made us  whisper "Thank You, God". 

image courtesy of Et*y

image compliments of H*nna Anderss*n website

• BLACK FRIDAY SALES:  Last Sunday, I was alerted to an early black friday sale from a favorite children's clothing website where I used to buy my daughters' clothes. I had been looking for a Christmas gift for our worship leader's 18 month old son (the choir is surprising him and his wife with some new clothes for their little boy and for the new baby who is due on 12/26! and I'm in charge of collecting the clothing from choir members and arranging a huge gift basket for them).  I was so thankful when I saw this amazing 50% off sale plus an extra 20% AND free shipping!  I was also thrilled I found the hymn on parchment paper and done in calligraphy  style for our choir director that Dave and I wanted to give her for Christmas. Again, it was on major clearance. It's Hannah's favorite song from the ones we are performing for the Xmas Eve service and I'm so thankful I found it in this art form. Early black Friday sales are the best because now I can enjoy the day with hiking with family and doing other things vs shopping or online browsing. 

• SAFE TRAVELS: We arrived safely in Plymouth Co, MA on Monday afternoon, oldest daughter Courtney and boyfriend Tyler arrived safely on Wed evening, and our youngest daughter Claire, arrived safely on Thursday morning. Dave's CA sister and her partner arrived safely on Monday and our niece from Scotland arrived safely on Tuesday morning. I'm so very thankful we all arrived in MA safely and with no major delays. 

Dave hard at work with the squash
while our sister-in-law Kathy makes her famous deviled eggs

• MY HUSBAND:  I'm so very thankful for my hard-working husband. He made the turkey (and it was totally amazing...so moist...and flavorful thankful to all the onions/garlic he put inside the turkey), the vegan stuffing (made with Earth Balance butter, veggie broth and NOT stuffed into a dead animal (our youngest daughter is pure vegan), the mashed potatoes, and the squash.  I made the sweet potato casserole, the steamed green beans, the cranberry cookies and the chocolate maple bars.  I also made a spinach salad with dried cranberries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, mandarin oranges, and red onion. I made an orange honey dressing to go with it. We had fun in the kitchens, and all of the food came out great. I'm so thankful for hubby's kitchen skills. 

l-r: Kathy, our youngest girl Claire,
Dave's mom Betty (age 90)

• FAMILY: I'm so very thankful that my mother-in-law came to Thanksgiving Dinner.  Last year, the first holiday without her husband, was very hard on her so she skipped dinner. This year, she is doing so well, physically. She no longer needs her walker to walk indoors and at age almost 91, she is still living alone with just a helper coming in the late afternoons to do cleaning, laundry, etc. Although she has some "old age dementia" it hasn't progressed much this year and we are so very thankful for that. She was thrilled to see 3 of her 7 grandchildren. She was also absolutely thrilled to meet Courtney's boyfriend. 
  

Apple-Blackberry Pie

• APPLE-BLACKBERRY PIE:  Our niece Hanna, who flew over from Scotland on Tuesday, spent Wednesday afternoon, baking pies for our feast. Dave and I had made an apple pie on Tuesday morning so she made pumpkin, blueberry, apple-blackberry and one more apple. I don't care for pumpkin or blueberry (although I love pumpkin muffins and raw blueberries) and I make apple desserts all through September and October, so can skip apple pie for Thanksgiving, but her apple-blackberry pie is insanely delicious. I just love it and I savor every bite every Thanksgiving. She has been making it for the last several years and it is now a staple for the feast. I don't eat pie during the year  (unless it's a piece of apple pie I make for Sunday  dinner in Sept) but that one piece of Apple-Blackberry every November is just amazing.  I'm very thankful Hanna could do pies again this year and that my daughters got to spend some time with their cousin. 

These were things that really made me smile and be filled with gratitude. 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I'm off to hike this morning in my husband's hometown area and then we are gathering at my mother-in-law's to spend some time with her and have leftovers!

Have a wonderful weekend!