So much to be thankful for

I have so much to be thankful for this year - my wonderful and hardworking husband who was very fortunate to be able to transition from one job to another so seamlessly, two beautiful children I adore, tons of family and friends near and far, the opportunity to live in a house that I have enjoyed turning into our new home and good health.

In addition to being thankful for all these things year round, on Thanksgiving Day I was also thankful for the chance to host my first holiday, which I thoroughly enjoyed doing. I was thankful that since the holiday is so food-centric and my cooking skills are somewhat lacking that I have a tried and true friend in Rose who essentially prepared 90% of the dishes while I watched, learned and attempted to help. I was thankful to have our friend Tara in our home with her parents and husband Cruz while she was on R&R from her tour in Afghanistan. I was thankful that Joe's parents, grandparents and sister and family were all willing to drive out to our part of the desert so we could celebrate the holiday in our new home. And I was especially thankful that (for the most part) nobody was sick.

A peek at one of the two adult tables:

Close-up of the place cards (it wasn't that fancy or formal of a dinner, I just wanted to make it look festive:

Turkeys for all the little turkeys:

And the little turkeys enjoying their meal:

An attempt to get all the Funny Noses together for a picture:

Our little family of Funny Noses:

The Funny Nose kids:

In the midst of getting everything done, there were a few things I forgot, like having everyone say what they were thankful for and the craisins for the salad but overall I would have to say that Thanksgiving was a huge success.