Thanksgiving in Australia

 I was determined we were still going to celebrate Thanksgiving here, even though it is not a holiday.  So the Sunday after Thanksgiving I got all the American families that I know here together to have a feast and give thanks.  It was really nice.  We pulled up to our friends, Shelece and Troy's house, who so graciously offered to host the large group and their kids had hung this awesome American flag at their house.  It warmed my heart when we pulled up and that was all we could see.  God Bless America.  I also love the half torn apart motor bike just under the flag.  We really could have just as well been in Alabama or somewhere.  :)

 Here's David Tomlinson, an American geologist in our ward.  He is showing off his fake ink.  The picture is too blurry, but it was of two guns crossed over.  I thought, what says America more than that?

 Here is the whole group of Ex-Pats, minus Troy, who was still working but on his way and Will is also missing because he is anti social.  The large group beckoning him to join the picture really scared him off.  Plus Grace had a whole bunch of toy cars in her room, so that looked much better than this group of people.  So I'm going to name them from left to right, Arlo, Grace, Ophelie, Shelece, Nykell, Cory, me, Ava, Lily, Dave and Liam.  Love these crazy Americans.

 In this pic, we're all supposed to be doing funny faces, but apparently it was just me and my girls and Liam, who did a funny face in the normal picture anyways.

 Here's everybody getting ready to feast.  It smelled so yummy and it finally put me in the holiday mood.

 No room for the girls at the big kid table.  They didn't eat much anyway.

 And here is the beautiful turkey that I actually cooked. I volunteered to do the turkey knowing Cory would do it and do a great job of it.  But I forgot that Cory doesn't come home on Sunday afternoons anymore, he was in Bishops meetings all the way til it was time to be there, so it was up to me.  I was so nervous, seeing as how I have never done my own turkey, and the oven here is really hard to manage.  Plus we didn't even have a roasting rack!  Haha, do you like my make shift one out of aluminum foil.  The turkey was delicious.  Can you believe that was the biggest one I could find at the store?  It was about 5 kilos, which is 10 pounds give or take.  And it cost, wait for it, $42!!!!  The guy ringing me up was quite impressed with what a big bird it was, but I was not.  I just nodded and said, yeah, it's the American way.  :)

 I almost made everyone go around the table and do the ABCs of gratitude, but we decided that we would just make everyone say at least one thing that they're grateful for.  It was really nice.  I love how Thanksgiving sets you up for an attitude of gratitude through out the Christmas season instead of a greedy, what can I get attitude.  I really do think it is quite an essential holiday.  I am thankful for all I do have and all that I have been blessed with this last year.  I am mostly grateful for Cory, his endless support and love for me and the kids and for all he puts up with from my crazy side.  :)  I am also so grateful for my three beautiful children and for the chance that I have to be able to have another perfectly healthy baby this next year.  Happy Thanksgiving.