HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Ah yes, 'tis Thanksgiving. I hope you all have sufficiently stuffed yourselves and are at this very moment dozing blissfully deep in the triptophan-induced coma to which every man, woman, and child is entitled at this time each year.

Amanda has managed to take over the kitchen again. I was allowed to help make two things this year. LOL. She "let" me layer the ingredients for the scalloped corn, and she let me stuff a few of the devilled eggs. See, Amanda--ever since she was old enough to hold a spatula--has been in charge of the kitchen. It is her turf. And come Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, what have you, she is right there, apron-clad and wearing her game face. She'll typically recruit one or two sioux chefs to do the little trifling duties like chopping the onions and shredding the cheese so she can concentrate on the important stuff like assembling the strata or seasoning the bird.....although she inevitably winds up taking it all back and doing everything on her own anyway. ;-)
She is not, as a rule, a perfectionist. But in the kitchen, she is most definitely type A.

This year Amanda and Nana put together a fantastic dinner for fourteen. Stuffing, and broccoli rice casserole, and from-scratch cranberry sauce, and yeast rolls, and scalloped corn, and sweet potatoes, and two kinds of turkey, to name just a few items from the menu. Y'all ever fry your turkey? Euphoria, my friend.
Oh man, and the uber-creamy pumpkin pie Misti made?? Euphoria².

Actually, as it turns out, the girls managed to make enough food to feed about thirty. But we had fourteen sitting down for dinner. The ten of us, plus Nana, and Grandad and Misti, and Uncle Ryan.
Erinne was afforded every opportunity to show off....to grin big enough for her four teeth to show.....and to shake her head "no"....and to clap....and to wave....and to attempt to blow kisses and sign the word for "please".....and to say "Mmmm" when she was offered (solid!) food....and to say "da-da" and "na-na".....and to walk while an older sibling held her hands.....and to stand up for a full second-and-a-half before toppling to the floor. All the guests were, of course, duly impressed. As were her doting father and siblings. *grin*

All in all, 'twas a lovely dinner. :-)
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I realize that I am totally stating the obvious here, but I don't care.

This was our first Thanksgiving without Mom.
Today marks our first holiday season without Mom.
On the 14th, Davey turned 12 without Mom.
Yesterday, Dougie turned 10 without Mom.
Tomorrow, we'll go Christmas tree shopping without Mom.
We'll decorate the house without Mom.
We'll light the tree and tie all the bows without Mom. Even though that was always her job.
On December 6th, I'll turn 19 without Mom.
On the 3rd and the 10th, I'll sing in the Christmas choir without Mom.
Amanda and I will go shopping for Christmas presents without Mom.
We'll smell candles and look at pretty baskets without Mom.
While we're out, we'll stop at a coffee shop and drink espresso and eat Cranberry Bliss Bars without Mom.
At night, we'll all drive around and look at Christmas lights without Mom.
We'll open the Christmas presents without Mom.
We'll read Luke 2 without Mom.
We'll stay up late and watch the ever-lame but still-required New Years Rockin' Eve without Mom.
We'll drink ginger ale and wear dorky party hats and bang pots and pans on the front porch at midnight without Mom.
And we'll remember it was the night she started coughing...


And I don't guess I had any real purpose in saying all of that...but it's what I'm thinking about. So there.
Would you all please pray for us while we do it?
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On a lighter, completely random note, for any of you who were wondering what a red-headed chick from Pasadena actually looks like....here she is:



Hee. Amanda, Nana, and I went for a visit to Miss Pam's house last week. And we tried on wigs. And it was fun. As soon as I get my pictures back from Wolf, I'll write a blog entry on the rather interesting dinner we had. Hehehe....that was fun....
And I'll post more pictures of the wigging-out (Me as a blonde?).
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Have a happy holiday, everyone. Even in trial and heartache, we have much to be thankful for. Yaweh is good!!
Blessings on you all,

~:~Ashley Michele~:~