Thanksgiving

 

Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and really enjoy all the gifts that god has blessed us with this year. This year at Thanksgiving we had so much to be thankful for, although it was also a tough time because Bill was not feeling the best. We just wanted to get together as a family and be there for each other, praying together, laughing together, and making good memories. Throughout the weekend, I really felt more connected to the Vennes family. Bill was always the one that really enjoyed preparing the thanksgiving feast for all of us, and I always enjoy watching him prepare everything perfectly! This year, he was not feeling the best, so Margi pulled through and decided to give making the Thanksgiving feast a try, and she did an absolute wonderful job!!! Bill was very proud of her, and we all were too! I praise god for the gift of family, and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family to spend the holiday with. Noah and I have not been home for a thanksgiving with family together, so this was a very special Thanksgiving and I was thankful for every second of our time with Bill,  and the family. Here are some pictures to show what our Thanksgiving weekend looked like. And, yes, we had some white stuff to greet us on Thanksgiving- something I wasn't exactly sure I was thankful for, but it did look nice. :) And the kids and Bailey enjoyed playing in it :)

 

 

 

 

Sisters- together forever!

Making snow angels!

and snowballs!

 A Thanksgiving tradition that I have not yet been a part of with the Vennes side is putting up the Christmas Tree on Thanksgiving. I was thankful to be a part of the tradition this year because I have always loved puting the tree up with my own family, and it was so neat to watch the Vennes family put there's up. the girls started putting it up, slowly but surely...

 They have an aritificial tree, and it reminded me of the tree my parents have too! Each section of branches has a letter, and you have to organize all the letters in piles before you start assembling them on the tree...needless to say it is confusing, and although the girls gave it a good start...

Ben ended up finishing up putting the branches on with Jaiden! :) They were a good team and Uncle B saved the day again this year! :)

Margi did such a good job cooking the Thanksgiving meal! I had to take a picture of her AWESOME and very juicy Turkey!! Good job Margi! Bill still did the turkey carving this year, and we had such a great meal together. Homemade mashed potoatoes, grandpa Bills famous stuffing (that we can never have enough of!), grandpa bill's grog, and Noah's homemade cranberries! All of it was delicious and we were so thankful for Margi's great cooking skills! :)

 

Jaiden even made homemade whipping cream for the pies! :)

Uncle Noah and Gracie just hanging out

Once they spotted the Paparazz they got all camera shy!

Friday after Thanksgiving it was time to decorate the tree. It was fun to see all the ornaments that the Vennes family put on their tree, and get the explanations of each ornament from Karen and Bill. This is something I love about Christmas, so I enjoyed being a part of it with the Vennes family this year and hearing all the ornament stories. Gracie really go into putting the ornaments on the tree, so I had fun capturing her finding the perfect spot! :)

Jaiden picking the perfect spot- Bill thought so too! :)

 Each year Karen and Bill get the girls an ornament, this year's ornaments:

Gracie got a cute lion.

Jaiden got a beautiful glass ornament.

picking from the ornament box

Gracie carefully placing them on the tree

Final one. Tree looks perfect! :)

Family traditions are so much fun! Watching the Vennes Family traditions with Thanksgiving and putting up the tree was so much fun for me ! I felt like I got to learn a little bit more about my family through this weekend! Thank you god for a my health, my wonderful family, great nieces, time with Bill,my wonderful husband Noah, and the time that we are all able to spend together.