Thanksgiving 2016

Our Thanksgiving was simple and beautiful. We gathered together at our home, along with my sister and her family and some dear friends. There was a LOT of yummy food (we even had an actual turkey this year!), lots of laughter, lots of games played and lots of memories made! We have so much to be thankful for!

And because of 8th grade testing at our kids' school, the whole school had off on Thanksgiving day. It has worked out like this the past few years, so we are thankful our kids haven't had to miss any school to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Here are a few pictures from our day:

Vienna's bunnies eating their Thanksgiving dinner ;)

Love these ladies so much!

All the adults played "dice" while the kids were busy playing outside.

Everyone saying what they are thankful for!

November in Pictures

Afternoon walks are good for the soul ❤️️

Just have to brag on my husband: egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast - on biscuits made from scratch, might I add! Joel spoils us all with a yummy hot breakfast and fancy coffee (just for me) every morning!

At a sweet friend's Quran reading ceremony for her baby. I love getting invited to these special cultural events.

My heart was so full after such a beautiful evening with great friends. The men grilling chicken, a sweet snuggly baby, dinner eaten together on the floor from shared dishes, kids playing outside and not wanting to come in when it's time. These were some of our first friends in Turkey and they helped us figure out life here in so many ways. They didn't give up on us as we struggled to learn their language and were DIFFICULT (to say the least) to communicate with, they invite us home to their village where every time we go we are treated like part of the family, they have taught us how to make amazing Turkish food, they have helped us through sick kids and new schools and just about everything in between, they have ALWAYS been there in a minute when something goes wrong and they have shared so much invaluable insight into their culture with us. We have learned so much from them and we are forever grateful for their friendship!

So thankful for such great friends for my kids!

On November 10th we celebrated Isaiah's 5TH birthday!! I think my favorite thing about his birthday was seeing his older siblings surprise him with all his favorite things. They each got him a gift, some handmade, some bought with their very own money, all things they knew their little brother loves. It was so touching to see how well they know their brother and how much time and effort they put into making this day special for him. I LOVE seeing the way my kids love each other. Sure, they fight like crazy, but they are also fiercely protective of one another and are there for each other no matter what. I love being a mom to the 5 kids the Lord has blessed me with and I wouldn't change it for the world! 

And Isaiah, what a joy you are to our family! You have grown up so much in the last year and we LOVE watching who you are becoming and learning who God has created YOU to be. You are going to be a world changer, little one! We love you so much, Isaiah Jace!!

What a beautiful Saturday morning! We went for a walk, collected pine cones and harvested some pine nuts. 🌲

11.5 years married and it just keeps getting better and better!

Love where we live!

An evening made perfect with a backyard campfire and some wood working in Joel's finished shed! I'm so thankful that Joel finally has some more space to create and do what he loves!

Early morning. In the Word. With my coffee and the warmth of the fire. Perfection!

Every Tuesday morning I go to the market with this guy. It's kinda our thing. And the bonus is that he's so cute he gets us free food!

We put up our tree WAAAAY early this year (I think about a week before Thanksgiving - shhhhh)! We had some pretty excited kids :)

Ending the night with some hot chocolate and popcorn!

Fall Fun Night

At the end of October we hosted a Fall Fun Night in our backyard. It was such a blast. Life has felt a bit heavy lately with all that has happened in Turkey the last few months and we just wanted to gather everyone together and do something fun as a community. We sure did enjoy celebrating all things fall! I absolutely love this time of year with cooler weather and conversations around a campfire!
 

Simple beauty.

Oh you know, just being all Pinteresty! I CAN do hard things!!

Vienna and Isaiah playing apple tic-tac-toe

Brooks doing the bean bag toss.

Joel getting the campfire going!

So much food, so many kids, so much fun!

Pumpkin carving time!

While everyone else was busy carving pumpkins, these two were busy taking a bite out of every single apple.

The finished products!

Apple bobbing time!

Joel beat me. Wah!

Is there anything better than gathering around a campfire on a chilly night?

Movie time for the kids!

So thankful for this sweet friend!

And for my sister, don't know what I'd do without her!