Thanksgiving (#2) with Family

On Saturday afternoon we had 4 generations of family in our home. We crammed the turkey into our little counter-top oven (see picture below) and enjoyed everyone saying what they were thankful for. Among the highlights were the mind-boggling account of how we all ended up in Kuala Lumpur. There is certainly much to praise God for this year.

While Tracy made sweet potato casserole, cooked the turkey, prepared the stuffing, and put together a cranberry salad, we enjoyed Grandma Woodward and Grandma Ramona bringing fruit salad, rolls, and an apple pie. Grandma Ramona made her amazing mashed potatoes and we had Susan Fawver's chocolate pecan pie recipe to help our table. A bit of ice cream for dessert and all was certainly very yummy.

Thanks to Tracy's purchase of a larger table, we were able to all fit around our IKEA table once the two leaves were added in. Rania even brought "La-La" to the table -- her word for Elmo, the singing version which makes lots of "lah-la-lah-la" sounds.

In the morning, we went to school where they were holding a vaccination and immunization clinic. You can see Rania's band-aid covering her one shot; she was very brave and didn't cry. In a failed attempt to prepare Gabi for what was coming, we told her she would get shots to keep her healthy. Hence, the next hour was spent with lots of crying and angst in preparation, though the ice cream cones after the shots somehow made most of the crying go away.

Reeve and Gabi went to Grandma's for swimming and naps while Tracy got much of the Thanksgiving feast together. Reeve again made it across the pool on his own, and Gabi even made it 2/3rds of the way -- 5 whole breaths on her own! Nice to be able to swim outside on Thanksgiving day, though it is always sad to be away from friends and other family.