Thankful Thursdays

Have you ever noticed how Thanksgiving gets overshadowed by Christmas? I mean, Halloween doesn't even fully wrap up before you start seeing Christmas trees and advertisements for the "hot new toy" of the season. It makes me so sad because I LOVE Thanksgiving!

So I thought I would bust out the Thanksgiving spirit and post what I'm grateful in each Thursday!

What's greater than a day that is dedicated to spending quality time with family, being thankful for what we have and of course eating a lot!

I love the food!

My friend Ashley made a blog post about her favorite Thanksgiving foods and it inspired me!

I am SO thankful for the good food on Thanksgiving. From the turkey all the way down to the pecan pie!

Even more than the food, I'm so thankful for the people who prepare the meals for me! Well not for me but for our family. :)

My sisters and I have always had two thanksgiving dinners and now this year it looks like we are adding another meal! We will do two on Thursday and probably one on Friday. Last year was the first year I really got to cook. I made broccoli cheese casserole and sweet potato casserole, corn pudding and then I made pecan pie, pumpkin pie and Bakerella's Turkey Cake Balls. (In my tiny oven! This year, I'm so grateful for my new oven! haha!) After doing all of that, I was TIRED! I could not believe that for years my grandmother has stood in her kitchen and made those casseroles, plus hashbrown casserole, the turkey and dressing, rolls and pecan and pumpkin pie. Oh and jello and ambrosia salad! Yikes!! Then I have my dad and his sister who prepare an entire meal on their own!

I am thankful for a place to gather and eat our thanksgiving meal! A few years ago, my grandmother's kitchen was being remodeled and we had no place to prepare the food and really no dining room to eat it in, so we all ate at Cracker Barrel. After that, I have been so grateful for the Thanksgivings at their house! It's so much easier to eat around the table where we can relax together after.

Finally, I am so thankful for the family we get to share these wonderful meals with! Every other year we go with Derek and his family and it's so nice! We don't always get to see each other and I just love spending time together! Of course, I am grateful for every year we get to spend with my family too. I know that there might be years where we can't spend the holidays together and it makes me cherish the moments we have even more. I'm so grateful that my children get to experience family on that level.

Of course, most of all I am thankful for Derek who is such a wonderful husband and father and the two beautiful children we have. He is such a hard worker and puts 100% into our family. Anna-Kate and Thomas are such a special gift. They are absolutely amazing!

Each week, I plan on sharing what I'm thankful for! I will try not to be so mushy though! haha! I just feel so richly blessed!

What are you thankful for?