a day of giving thanks

 My mom was a pro at setting a beautiful table for the holidays-- a fact we remembered as we began to set the table and realized no one filled the turkey shaped candy dish with Reese's Pieces, no one pulled out cute Thanksgiving decorations to grab from around the house, no one thought of the Thanksgiving table at all. As I thinking how disappointed Mom would be that we didn't do anything fun for her table, I was getting a dish from the cupboard for Dad and found turkey napkins in their original wrapper.

the boring table we set with what we could find.

I seriously had to blink away the tears when I saw them because my immediate thought was, "She's still looking out for us."

Dinner was good... everyone chipped in to do something... Alan and Will mashed the spuds.

 Erin and Tara kept up on the dishes since a gazillion seemed to be piled up at all times. They were also the sous chefs for Dad for all the side dishes.

 Dad took care of the turkey and scheduling all the side dishes' oven times. Instead of stuffing he made some Austrian dish that 's basically balls of stuffing that get boiled. (for the record, while I absolutely detest homemade stuffing, I did try his dish and while the taste was really good, I couldn't muster past the texture)

 Brisa, the adorable little niece, tried all the black olives for us and kept the Pilgrim People played with!

 After dinner was done, pie eaten, and Christmas lights up, the sunset was amazing!

Grandpa and Brisa, checking out the iPad together. She's only 20 months but knows how to turn on, unlock, scroll, and find everything she wants on that little device. Crazyness!

We got through Thanksgiving and even enjoyed it a bit, I believe. More than once, someone commented, "This is really weird." And it was. No doubt about that. I am very, very thankful that my family is close and that we like each other and enjoy being together-- even if the person who seemed to glue us all together is gone.

This year I am especially grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches us that families are forever and that the resurrection is available to everyone. Knowing that my mom still exists in the universe and that we will all be together again is the most comforting ideology ever.