We have so much for which to be thankful.  In fact, I won’t even try to list things here because the list would be incredibly long – yet still incomplete.  God has been so good to us and we appreciate His close watch over us.  Thanksgiving comes but once a year, but our gratitude is felt every moment of every day.

Janel and Ryan flew up from San Francisco on Wednesday evening.  Wednesday night was pie-baking (& cranberry sauce) night.  Janel and David baked the pies this year with Randy playing a consulting and training role.  Janel is now officially better at pie shells than Randy.  We had two pumpkin, one pecan and one coconut cream pie, all of which were amazing!

Thanksgiving day was quiet for most of the morning.  Janel helped Randy with the turkey and the stuffing (again – amazing), while Ryan helped out by setting up Randy’s new printer (the old one died while printing Christmas letters).  Daniel and David were in and out – alternating between playing and helping get the house ready for company.  For dinner, Randy’s parents and Joany, Lauren and Alyssa were here.  The 11 of us made a dent in the 25-pound turkey, but were unable to devour the whole thing.  After dinner, Julie, Cindy, Jackie (friend), MacKenzie, Mason and Borja (exchange student) arrived for more fun and frivolity.  Sarah Skyped in to the room for a while.  We turned off the football games and turned on the Wii, had card games running, and a little general mayhem.  It was fantastic!  A bit later Chris and Carrie came over for a little while.  We were blessed by everyone who showed up – thank you to all.

The video below is a brief compilation of games and horseplay – Daniel and Borja get a bit competitive playing Fifa soccer on the Wii (Borja’s player earns a red card) – card games and general visiting.  Also, Sarah joined via Skype. Click the picture above to see more.