so much to be thankful for: thanksgiving 2020

amongst all the drama going on, it's wonderful to be able to have a night thinking of our blessings, and offering thanks for all we have. tonight we did just that and had a lovely thanksgiving dinner with the pinker family.

starting of course with sport - cause that's how doug rolls hahaha

dinner was perfect

with lots of laughs and cuddles and kindness

and lots of love.

then we took turns writing what we were grateful for on autumn leaves

that would be hung on our gratitude tree

then we ate pumpkin pie...

argues with toddlers hahahah

laughed some more

and played about

until it was time to go home to bed in time for school tomorrow.

we know there are so many things for us to be grateful for - and today is a good reminder to count those blessings we enjoy each day. ❤

 

thank you cookies

if you didn't already know (and seriously, if you've ever checked out my blog and haven't noticed then you must be living under a rock...) my best friend is extremely clever with pretty much everything she does. i've not had to bake a birthday cake yet for either of my kids (and just for the record, it's not because i am incapable, it's because she is much more capable than me and offers to do them!) and after specialising in cupcakes for a while, she's now making custom cookies... which are amazing! totally shameless plug, she's baked on benrua on facebook and instagram, go check her out!

i really wanted to send something to the amazing midwives and doctors that looked after us at the hospital so i made an order through her for some cookies. aren't they gorgeous?! we dropped them at the hospital this morning along with some thank you cards, my first unaccompanied expedition with joseph and baby while madeline was at school and i survived! go me! hopefully they are appreciated, cause i already know they are going to be delicious!

jen macqueen, you've done it again. ♥

**just for the record, i may have survived, but it wasn't without a call to doug and massive hysteria and almost crying... i very carefully put the parking ticket in my pocket, paid for my parking on the way out and somehow lost my ticket between the machine and the car. i spent the next 5 minutes looking for it to no avail, and in the end had to call the hospital and ask what to do! a call to the hospital security via the help! button on the carpark exit, with a very teary voice saw me out of there within seconds as they opened the boom gate remotely for me. oh my word. so much drama.**

**and a little but more, a week passed and we finally found the ticket, under my seat, it must have flown off when i shut the door on the other side to go around. ugh. what a first outing that was. thankfully i am still alive...**

thanksgiving 2017

there are so many things in life to be thankful for... so people can question all they want why we are celebrating thanksgiving here in australia while it's hot outside and definitely not winter, but each year we have thanksgiving with the pinker family and love every minute.

after dinner, we go around the table and each person tells everyone else what they are thankful for. i was particularly thrilled this year for my very un-gushy husband to say he was thankful for me! i personally am grateful for friends that are family! i also said openly, that no matter how badly i miss my grandfather joseph, i am so grateful that through him passing away, we met the pinker family. i needed someone to play the piano for me when i sang at his funeral, someone suggested i call the stake organist, which was taui... and here we are, 10 years later!

doug and i loving thanksgiving dinner!

my pumpkin pie which i sadly didn't get to eat any of this year... i didn't want to punish everyone by making it gluten and dairy free

and taui's pav, there is a piece missing because he made me a df piece. what a gem. i was into that faster than he could cut the rest. 

and the traditional thanksgiving selfire. aren't we an attractive bunch?

happy thanksgiving everyone! i know i certainly have plenty to be thankful for ♥

giving thanks 2015

thanksiving 2015 started with me finding this perfect quote online. honestly, i could not have said it better if i had tried. it's really what life is about. give thanks and take nothing for granted,

so the thing i am most grateful for, is certainly my family, especially my husband and these monkeys that were "playing sleeping" in my bed while i got ready this morning. i love them both madly!

we were invited to thanksgiving dinner at our friends (the pinkers, who else) and our invitation requested formal dress, so we were careful to appear dressed to the nines for the most delicious traditional dinner, turkey and all of the sides! 

joseph and madeline enjoyed themselves as always, behaving like they own the place, because let's be honest they pretty much do... as they were doted on endlessly by their aunties and uncles (one of those families that one makes for oneself...)

it was an amazing night and we were truly filled, with thanks, love and food!

this girl. i love how girly she is. pants? what are they! and those pearls. oh my ♥

my contributions for the evening were cauliflower cheese and trifle (thanks mum and grandma for the recipes) and the pumpkin pie below... i even made my own crust this year and it worked beautifully... and it was easy phew!... i was thrilled! check out the recipe here.

so happy thanksgiving to you all! xx

thankful

don't i know it!

 

i couldn't tell you everything i am thankful for, even if we were here all week...

i am seriously so blessed. but, above all, i am thankful... to not have to look for things to be thankful for...

happy thanksgiving to my beautiful american friends!! x

so thankful

happy thanksgiving!!

i am thankful...

so thankful. for everything i have.

doug and i are truly so blessed and have been given so much.

we have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, a steady income, the most beautiful baby on the planet

- and so many possibilities...

i'm thankful

i'm thankful to have met my husband
at the very time i wasn't looking
i'm thankful for his persistance
and hanging around 'til i was ready...
and i am thankful that he can still make me
laugh harder than anyone else i know

he's a keeper - for sure
x