our Thanksgiving break

Thanksgiving provided a nice break for us!  

I was off work Wednesday through Friday and my dad came to visit.  

Our community group was cancelled and Matt's classes were out for the break,
so we could all be home each evening together, a treat.  

Moriah loved having Grandpa Robert here to read, play, and talk together.  

my sweet girl and I, sorry it's blurry!

We enjoyed his company and had good reason to make a full Thanksgiving meal to eat together.  

my little turkey working on a pumpkin pie with me!
we used fresh pumpkin from a kind church member
and found our recipe in The Joy of Cooking

our turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy

sweet potatoes (thanks to ALDI!), green bean casserole, and apple cranberry sauce 

deviled eggs and rolls!

this was a gift from family friends to my parents,
I remember it at our home when I was little,
so glad my mom gave it to me!

pumpkin pie and whipped cream

I was especially thankful for time to talk with my dad about the Lord, 

and for his generosity towards our family.  

We spent time outside at a park, went on an afternoon walk, enjoyed brunch at 

our local Danish Express, and lunch at ChickFilA another day.  

On his way out of town he helped me load up our Christmas decorations and drove them 

to our apartment so I could decorate while Moriah napped and Matt worked Friday.  

A calm and blessed week giving me great reason to be thankful!  

sharing pumpkin pie with Grandpa!

a bedtime story for Moriah

I also had extra time to finish up another good novel
by Kate Morton called The Secret Keeper.  

I'd requested it from our library after enjoying another one of her
books and was thrilled that it arrived when it did.  

I read and read, and contemplated immediately re-reading it due
to the great and unexpected twists throughout :)  

Add it to your library request list and carve out time for a captivating read.

Now I'm getting started in a new-to-me genre of books written about cooking,

while not being really cook books.

I'm currently reading An Everlasting Meal.  

Thus far I've learned a lot and found the author's style fun to read.