Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

My brother in law, James said, "This is my first Thanksgiving ever." And what a fun one it was!! We started out making the pies once my mother in law had the Turkey all ready for the BBQ. It was quite fun to make this pie, with a little drama mixed in. I got the recipe off the food network--it was a Carmel Apple Pie. It looked SOOOO yummy! And after a little mishap with making the carmel mixture it turned out SO YUM!!! Sam even had some and went back for seconds!



Isn't my mother in law SO cute?!?!? She had never made an apple pie so she wasn't sure how to check it was done. She makes me smile!




The turkey was quite fun and easy to do, as well. We put it on the BBQ and basted it every half hour or so (which was quite fun for Rosie and I) and it turned out looking and smelling SO wonderful!!









I was quite proud of my mother in law's turkey! It looked like something out of a magazine!!








My brother in law's carved the turkey...well James was trying, but then Tom took over :)





Rosie and I decorated the table with fun name cards, flowers and of course...pumpkins! My mother in law laughed when I came home with so many pumpkins purely for decorating, but I told her at least we will eat these all this week. She might die if she saw how we decorate with them and only eat the seeds in America...shhhh I won't tell her :)











And we even had a spot for Gracie who was down at school still :(



Sam looking ever so happy to have a house full of people :) He was such a trooper and was so happy to watch me fully enjoy the day and make new memories. I loved when I caught him smiling at me (almost having fun...hehehehe)



Sam even caught a picture of Nana and I by the dessert table.



My family fully embraced me and my craziness...notice the quotes on the glasses? The glasses were mainly so I could put quotes on them like I saw in a magazine, but my brother in law James thought we should have a little champagne since we did that :)



I even made my family play Thanksgiving trivia at the table :) Even Sam played along...kind of :)

Some classic Thanksgiving pictures....



As you can tell they were enjoying their food very much! James told me it was an A+ Thanksgiving...his favorite was the turkey wing and the apple pie...which made me smile...those were my grandad's favorite's too.



The pies were a hit and Nana said this was the best hot meal she had in ages! I felt quit happy and even a bit proud (and I will admit was even feeling a bit confident in this new family of mine...) I decided to say, "Nana see it went okay everyone liked it, I didn't need to have that thick of skin." Well of course I spoke just a few seconds too soon. Since we were eating the desserts...which she loved and had 2 helpings of she said, "I did love it and I see why all American's are so fat." All I could do was laugh. But then felt a bit quick witted when I said, "well you enjoyed your yummy meal because of us fat Americans." She giggled and my mother in law was quick to remind her that NZ was the 3rd fattest nation in the world...with England (her home country) being first. We all had a good laugh. What's Thanksgiving without a little funny grandparent humor.







It was a great day full of new memories and new traditions, mixed in with old memories and traditions for me. While I missed my family and friends a lot I loved that my new family fully embraced me and jumped right in without skipping a beat. The only thing was...they didn't overeat. Thanksgiving novices...rookie mistake. Next year maybe they will enjoy that part of American Thanksgiving :) And now we have a fun new holiday that we can share together. It will always have to be the Saturday before Thanksgiving, but it will be our special day! I told Sam that I was SO thankful that he married me and brought me into this family. What a fun thing to see two families, two cultures and two lives merge together so beautifully.

Sam and I feel so thankful for all that we have. We have loving, supportive families, friends who are faithful and amazing, and experiences over a year that feel like a lifetime already. While there have been some hard moments here the last month, one very cool blessing that has come out of it is the confidence and security I have in Sam and our marriage. I would love the heartache and drama to be done with it, and I can say with a firm assurity I NEVER want to walk through this again, BUT I am glad that it has been a part of our story (I kind of hate admitting it but it's true) What it has produced is a deeper friendship, commitment and love for Sam and I. An assurance and confidence that Sam is exactly who God knew would be a great compliment to me and a love and respect for each other that runs so deep. While the last year has been a bit crazy and our arrival in NZ had mixed emotions, I am so confident and so thankful that God choose to express his love for me through giving Sam to me.

Happy Thanksgiving from Sam and I!!!