giving thanks

Since Macy is still so new to our family,
and to America,
we decided it would be best to just celebrate
Thanksgiving without extended family.
Macy still gets overwhelmed
around lots of people and because both sides
of our family are so loud expressively fun,
we opted for a quiet(er) holiday with just the 6 of us.

And because food continues to be a HUGE issue,
we thought it would be good to kick
off the holiday with a big Chinese dinner on
Wednesday night.
*Mike & Angela, THANK YOU for the gift card!!

As you can see,
the kids were eager to get their
pictures taken.
I'm not exactly sure what Brenden is doing. But I assure you,
the food was fabulous.

I asked Macy if she knew that Mama
was a supermodel.
She giggled.
Not sure why that was so funny.
But here I am showing her how to pose.

Brenden showed a little of his
supermodel moves too.
Or should I say, superhero?

Now you're getting the idea!
Good job.

And we all know that this
little diva knows how to work a camera.

******************************
Fast forward to Thursday....
Thanksgiving.

I made all the traditional Thanksgiving fixins'.

And if you don't mind,
please pause to admire my cherry pie.
And do note that it is made from
FRESH cherries.
Cherries that I spent an HOUR pitting!
I said, "NEVER AGAIN" until my sweet husband
told me how incredible fabulous it was.
Well honey, maybe for you I will make another
one some day.

Oh and yes, doesn't the bread look deee-licious!?

Finishing up our meal.

Don't Wally and Beaver look so
prim and proper?

Then we began the much anticipated Christmas decorating.

Brenden wanted to put the tree up in mid-October
but I held him off until today.

Almost everyone was in on the action...

Macy took her job of making sure the branches
were just right, very seriously.

And here is Nick helping.

And Miss Pose-a-lot with the finished tree.

Two years ago we celebrated Thanksgiving in the waiting
mode for our NSN Chinese baby girl....
Never in a million years would I have guessed that
24 short months later, we would have
two Chinese daughters!

Wow, what a blessing.

I sure am THANKFUL!!