The ABCs of Thanksgiving (and Black Friday)

Apples in boxes, waiting to be canned  (more on this soon)
Boys being goofy
Cinnamon rolls ( A Thanksgiving breakfast tradition) and Coffee, and Cranberry salad
Daddy looking through sale flyers
Esther's ringlets
Fancy Forks
Grateful hearts, Greenbean casserole
Hats on place-mats (pilgrim hats)
Indian costumes ( Joel and Leah were dressed as American Indians)
Joel's tepee (made out of blankets and bows)
Kids dressed up
Markers in a container (Washable markers make great war paint for Indians)
Notebook pages of lists
Oranges and cranberries as decorations (see last post)
Pumpkin Pie, covered Pretzels, Pilgrim outfits (Sarah, Hannah, and Esther were dressed as Pilgrims)
Quiet (nothing quite like it)
Rolls, topped with butter
Sprinkles on covered pretzels, Smoked turkey
The Farming Game
Undistingishable Utterings (Read: Esther gibberish) 
Very early morning (this was Black Friday, after I stayed up all night)
White board drawings (Leah was trying her hand at this, the results were quite entertaining)
eXtra caramel dip
Yellow m&ms
Zebra cakes (the people across from us in line at Cabela's went and bought snacks, including Zebra cakes. I think this may have been the first time I had heard of such a thing.)

Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving, I was cramming to try to get everything done that needed to be accomplished that day. While I was working on making pies, Esther joined me in the kitchen. Together we finished the pies, and then make caramel apple dip.
It was such a joy to have her "working" with me, even though it made it take longer. How often to we slow down to make memories and take pictures? Surely not often enough.

I didn't get any pictures while we were making pies, but did while we were making apple dip. Even though she probably won't remember this, I'm sure that later she'll enjoy seeing what she was part of.

I tried to get as much work done as a I could before Thanksgiving, so that I would be able to relax and hang out with my family on Thanksgiving. The result was that I worn myself out the day before, but it was well worth it.

While I was chopping oranges and cranberries for the cranberry salad, I noticed how pretty the two were together  and decided to use them to decorate the top.

We didn't go anywhere for thanksgiving,m or have anyone over, but even so, we had a full table! (and that's only half the table!)

We had our big meal at lunch, and then had snacky stuff at supper.

I had fun with some of the food arrangements :).

The center of the 'Apple Flower" is an apple  that I cut the top off, hollowed out, and filled with the caramel apple dip that Esther helped me make. An edible dish :).

The day before Thanksgiving, I had fun idea to remember what I was thankful for this Thanksgiving: The ABC's of Thanksgiving (and Black Friday)
This is a whole 'nother post however, and I'll save it for tomorrow.