That Thankful Time of Year

I love Thanksgiving so much. As someone much wiser than me (whom I can't remember at the moment) once said, "is it a coincidence that we celebrate a month of thanks right before we celebrate the Savior's birth?" I have so many fond memories of Thanksgiving as a child. One year I made a thanksgiving feast for all the horses. I filled sandwich bags with carrots, apples, and bread; It was glorious. 

We started the month off with our thankful tree. It's been fun having kids who are older and can come up with their own things. I had to take pictures of a few of my favorites. 

 Mariah

 Grandma and Grandpa. When I asked Chet which ones he said, "both". 

 Tanner had some real gems...

 That says priesthood and Mariah drew someone getting a blessing. 

 Me too Eliza...

 Hopefully you all see the humor in this...we don't intend to offend. 

 This was Mariah's and it really shocked me...never would have called that. 

 Chet's backwards J is awesome. 

 At the beginning of the month we found a beagle on the side of the road and brought him home until we could find the owner. The kids were already planning their lifetime with Boone when the owner came to get him. He was a sweet dog.

 We made leaf crowns...And we explored behind our property. Chet caught a snake and found a big stick that looked like a rifle.

Mariah and Chet kept fighting over who got to hold the snake. My kids are awesome.

We went to the capitol building in Des Moines and took a tour. We were randomly grouped with a bunch of missionaries which was fun. The architecture and art throughout the building was breathtaking. The kids got a little lesson on government and they even got to walk up a bunch of steps to the dome.  

 I brought my Ergo and Eliza refused to be in it and was very loud the whole tour. In her defense, it was during lunch and she gets real hangry.

 I loved this painting of the pioneers; it was just breathtaking.

There was a amazing library too. I was really excited until I learned that all the books were law books...it was a bit of a downer. 

But these spiral staircases all around the room made up for it. 

We were able to have the Hilton family and Baydon's sister's family come on Thanksgiving day. The kids went adventuring on the property (they had to show everyone the dog carcass hidden in the trees, we know how to host). There was lots of delicious food to be eaten but not many pictures taken. My turkey turned out great and the best thing was that I spent very little time prepping it. The secret, Champagne poured over the top before cooking. But since we Crossleys don't have a drop of that in our household we used ginger ale instead and it was delicious. 

 Chet fell asleep around 6 complaining of a stomach ache and I was worried we were all going to be sick until he told me later that he "ate 35 rolls". The boy exaggerates but I wouldn't put it past him. I also wouldn't put it past me to give everyone food poisoning...who wants to come for dinner?!

 All the kids minus two babies

 My pies...Tanner made a beautiful apple pie too. 

The next night we had the Harveys and Skinners over for pie and ice cream. Dale figured out our fireplace and Austin decided he needed to sit by it and read some books. 

We are so grateful for this holiday season and it is even more enjoyable shared with family and friends.