Dear Sweet Family,
Is it wrong to have pumpkin pie for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving??? I wonder if any of you were crazy mad shoppers all night. I know Dad and I crashed early in front of the wood stove and a candle way too early, talking about the joys of the day!
We want to thank each of you for coming to share Thanksgiving together yesterday. We know many of you forfeited exciting football games, working out, studying for finals, hanging out with special friends and leisure time to spend the afternoon and evening in our home. Thank you for your sacrifice!
In addition, we are so grateful for your generosity and helpfulness all yesterday!
· *Abe and Lexi—the pumpkin pies (one cold, one room temperature:) ) and the drinks (the only child to follow their mom’s directions :) ) were perfect (and both my favorite!) and the majority are still left for additional meals. Thank you for driving 4 ½ hours from gorgeous San Luis to join us, Abe. Thank you, Macie, for sitting through two long Thanksgiving dinners in one day--that was wayyyyy too long to be away from your kitties.
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*Paul, your ham was scrumptious! I would love to know your glaze and recipe, my ham has never tasted that flavorful! Thanks also, for letting us use your excellent camera for the Christmas photo. What would we ever do without you and your toys? And Rain, thank you for coming, and your homemade, fresh pumpkin pie which was SO light, fluffy, and perfectly spiced reminded me of a pumpkin truffle! How kind of you to share your special pie with us! Your four extraordinary children were a joy! Abby’s prayer blessing the dinner (and “all the animals”) will be treasured in our hearts forever.
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* Laura—thanks for leaving your new (and adorable) friends and beach apartment to drive nine hours AGAIN to share Thanksgiving with us. (Thank you for bringing Rachel safely home too!)
* Laura—thanks for leaving your new (and adorable) friends and beach apartment to drive nine hours AGAIN to share Thanksgiving with us. (Thank you for bringing Rachel safely home too!)
Your deluxe green bean casserole with fresh mushrooms and onions was splendid and then making another one for the “onion-haters” was extremely sweet and kind (especially knowing how exhausted you still were from driving.) Thank you for getting a “noiseless” room at the Marriott and then allowing everyone to come over to hang-out all night! And a final thank you for vacuuming out dad and my car along with your own—you are amazing!
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*Hannah and Parnel—to start, thank you for letting all the Nelson kids come over into your beautiful home to take 10,000 photos while you were waiting to anxiously leave for your first Thanksgiving party! Thank you for not saying a word, Parnel, but just quietly praying for us as you observed the whole scene! How kind you were to come over to a second dinner when I am sure you would have loved to just go home and crash for the night in a quiet home. The gingerbread cake was luscious, Hannah, and your cranberry salad was even better than Auntie Ruth made (how smart of you to add less sugar—no one even noticed!) How wonderful it was to pour all the walnuts I wanted on my salad—is there not one nut-lover left in our family???? Thank you for your two dear daughters who just shared stickers for hours and sat on dozens of laps!
*Hannah and Parnel—to start, thank you for letting all the Nelson kids come over into your beautiful home to take 10,000 photos while you were waiting to anxiously leave for your first Thanksgiving party! Thank you for not saying a word, Parnel, but just quietly praying for us as you observed the whole scene! How kind you were to come over to a second dinner when I am sure you would have loved to just go home and crash for the night in a quiet home. The gingerbread cake was luscious, Hannah, and your cranberry salad was even better than Auntie Ruth made (how smart of you to add less sugar—no one even noticed!) How wonderful it was to pour all the walnuts I wanted on my salad—is there not one nut-lover left in our family???? Thank you for your two dear daughters who just shared stickers for hours and sat on dozens of laps!
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*Joyanna—you looked so pretty in your red dress!!!! Thank you for coming over the day early with your huge, gigantic ice bag and even finding a place in the freezer for it!!! Your zany personality comes out in all you do and I loved the names you wrote on the cups—from Mrs. Cullin to Flyboy to Studmuffin to Chuck Norris to Fuji-Kale!! Thanks too for playing the piano at the Retirement Home this week and bringing such joy to all those lonely folks.
*Esther—we missed you at Thanksgiving, I can’t believe you had to work at the Marriott (or that you wanted to —pays to work with your boyfriend and receive overtime:)). Thank you for calling us after dinner and for letting the kids come over to hang out and go in the spa. It was still a fun day though spending quality time with Landon beforehand, wasn't it? Thank you for organizing the Christmas photograph this year! I am sure you will never do it again—I didn’t realize how many Nelson leaders there are now:).
*Sarah Sue—well, did we pull off a stress-free Thanksgiving? I know that was your prayer. I do know it was a lot less stress because of all of your cooking and cleaning! Thank you, thank you! I know you would have rather have been other places, so it was extremely sacrificial. I so appreciate you making the pumpkin cheese ball appetizer and the turkey rice krispies lollipops (which we still need to finish with the grand kids). Thank you for your constant availability and for scrubbing the floors about a dozen times these past two days! I loved your answer to the question around the table—what are the 3 things you are most thankful for? Your response? “Jesus, America, and my family!” ‘Makes a mom rejoice! :)
*Joyanna—you looked so pretty in your red dress!!!! Thank you for coming over the day early with your huge, gigantic ice bag and even finding a place in the freezer for it!!! Your zany personality comes out in all you do and I loved the names you wrote on the cups—from Mrs. Cullin to Flyboy to Studmuffin to Chuck Norris to Fuji-Kale!! Thanks too for playing the piano at the Retirement Home this week and bringing such joy to all those lonely folks.
*Esther—we missed you at Thanksgiving, I can’t believe you had to work at the Marriott (or that you wanted to —pays to work with your boyfriend and receive overtime:)). Thank you for calling us after dinner and for letting the kids come over to hang out and go in the spa. It was still a fun day though spending quality time with Landon beforehand, wasn't it? Thank you for organizing the Christmas photograph this year! I am sure you will never do it again—I didn’t realize how many Nelson leaders there are now:).
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| Sarah's Pumpkin Cheese Ball |
*Rachy-Roo—it is so nice to have you home, dear, I thought you may have stayed forever to live with the surfers! J Thank you so much for decorating the table for Thanksgiving! It was beautiful and so you! (Did you realize we forgot to light your beautiful gold glittered candles???) I know the peeling of 100 pounds of potatoes was stressful but thank you for your cheerful spirit! Thank you for helping clean up the endless pots and pans!
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* I *Izzy—the recipient of Laura’s “Who are you most thankful for?” question! Thank you for your quiet, uncomplaining attitude which was always looking for a task to complete or a child to hold!
* I *Izzy—the recipient of Laura’s “Who are you most thankful for?” question! Thank you for your quiet, uncomplaining attitude which was always looking for a task to complete or a child to hold!
Thank you for baking the infinite amount of rolls and not letting one burn!!!! You were so compassionate to help Rach with the peeling of potatoes. We appreciate all the rinsing and clearing you did after dinner, too, when all you wanted to do was go read Breaking Dawn, I bet!:)
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*And last, but very important—Skipper, thank you! Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I know we are so thankful for our family and what God is doing in all our lives. Thanks for mowing the lawn in the dark the night before Thanksgiving, taking dozens of trash bags out all week, putting up with the craziness of a house full of females, and for your constant provision! You did a great job organizing the Christmas gift drawing—thanks for handling that so well.
*And last, but very important—Skipper, thank you! Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I know we are so thankful for our family and what God is doing in all our lives. Thanks for mowing the lawn in the dark the night before Thanksgiving, taking dozens of trash bags out all week, putting up with the craziness of a house full of females, and for your constant provision! You did a great job organizing the Christmas gift drawing—thanks for handling that so well.
I’m a big Thanksgiving evaluator! (I never will forget my first Thanksgiving when I forgot to iron the tablecloth and didn’t know you had to take giblets and junk out of both ends of the turkey!) Let me know if you have any suggestions for next year to make it go smoother and be more meaningful. Dad suggested a simple meal so we could all be together more instead of in the kitchen (my bad) and Hannah had the excellent suggestion of putting all the adult names in a bowl and drawing four at random to do the dishes. Sounds good to me!!! Let me know if you have any other ideas!
We love each of your dearly, am so proud of you, and are blessed to be your parents!!! Guess what? It’s exactly one month before Christmas and we get to do this all again! We can't wait!!!!:)
Love,
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| The Nelson Nuthouse |
Mom. Just saw this, always a little behind I know. ;-) You are so wonderful to thank us when everyone should be thanking you. You pull off not only every Thanksgiving but every Sunday, every birthday, literally I think its 24, every Christmas, and the list goes on! I couldn't ask for a better role model or loving mommy! Thanks for loving us no matter what.
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