Giving Thanks!

First things first.  Emily lost her first tooth the night before Thanksgiving!  It's been ready since Halloween but the trauma involved in pulling it proved to be too much so we waited, and waited, and waited, until it basically fell out. 

 A very excited little girl headed off to bed awaiting her very first visit from the tooth fairy!

Of course she didn't disappoint!  Emily awoke to a beautiful new lipstick purse, a hello kitty lipstick, a rainbow heart necklace (with a matching bracelet) and maybe even a five dollar bill, oh yeah, and a letter from the tooth fairy herself.  But that's it.  Any more would just be ridiculous right? Good thing we only have 19 teeth to go :)

Now on to our Thanksgiving feast!  I started cooking the day before and managed to get EVERYTHING made except the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy.  I had a simple plan, quadruple everything and hope it was enough!    

I have never prepared food in such quantities before but it turned out just right.

The girls did the decorating

And the appetizers

Our guests showed up at 1:00.  We had friends from Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Lebanon, Maldives, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, and Thailand. 

By the time they arrived we were in great shape food wise so it was fun to mingle and get to know them for a bit.  They were so happy to have been invited to our home and holiday celebration.  For many of them this school has been their first trip to America. 

The woman in the dress had just flown in with her daughter from Singapore the day before and was excited to experience Black Friday in America!

"Family" shot around the turkey!

Before we ate we shared a unique blessing.  David had asked someone from each religion to come prepared with a prayer.  Olivia started us off with the Lord's Prayer in Hawaiian and we followed it with a Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim prayer.  Each was said in their language and translated for us.  We explained to them the origin of Thanksgiving and pointed out that the first feast was to celebrate the merging of cultures. 

I can honestly say it was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever spent.  Rujito from Indonesia brought me a gift from his country and a note that said "I wish our friendship will last forever."  I hope so too.  I felt honored to host them in our home and hope it is a day they never forget, I know it will always be a treasured memory for us.

As for the food, the only thing I ran out of was gravy and pumpkin pie.  They wanted traditional the whole way!  Everything else was just about right.  By now you are asking yourselves "how did she do it?"  Well, just this once I will share my secret...

The plan!  I forgot to erase this before everyone arrived and it proved to be a source of fascination!  Our neighbors came by for dessert and I even got a "BZ!"  In Navy talk that is "Bravo Zulu" or job well done.  There is no higher praise :)