Well, today was America's Thanksgiving Day. It commemorates the first feast after the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower. They suffered a long and arduous trip across the ocean, only to arrive and have to deal with sickness and deaths. They worked hard for their food and during the harvest time, had a lot to be thankful for and threw a feast. The native Americans joined in and brought food to share as well. In our generation, we eat as well, and remember all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for, and spend time with family and friends -some of what we are thankful for. Hopefully. :)

We invited our Canadian friends, Dave and Kate Webb, as well as our pastor Graeme and his wife Allison, and their kids Aisha and Peter, from Australia. The Reimers joined in to add to the Americans that were present, and Reza, an Iranian, came for dinner as well. My Scottish friend, Eilidh, came by for tea earlier in the day since she had dinner plans already. So it was a nice international mix.

I started preparations early in the day by making rolls and pies from scratch, setting out the appetizers and preparing the turkey for cooking. Taylor made the hummus the night before. This isn't a traditional Thanksgiving dish, but we adapt to our culture here. After dinner we chatted and played cards, and then had warm peach and cherry pie with a scoop of ice-cream or whipped cream on top. Yummy.

Cody and Graeme were on the computer, looking at interesting satelite images of the world, big unknown fossils found in Iran, remote control planes, and other 'guy' stuff, and enjoyed the time spent using their minds to wonder and plan and invent. I love that about my husband and it is neat that he can do that with a like-minded person, Graeme.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving time, you Americans that celebrate it that is, and remember all the wonderful gifts and blessings God has given you - and be thankful!