Category Archives: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2025

Hello December! Before we go full speed ahead we’ll catch up with our long Thanksgiving weekend festivities!

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we had a quiet start to the day as we waited for Andrew and Katie to arrive. Our Thanksgiving meal was slated for 5pm at our Colville kids’ home. Our only responsibility was making sweet potatoes with marshmallows toasted on top. Katie and Andrew arrived safely mid afternoon. We drove together to Bayles Mountain for our Thanksgiving meal.

What fun to get photos from both sides of the mountain and see that both of our sons decided to try to spatchcock a turkey this year. On this side of the mountains besides the spatchcock, Dan and Jamie cooked a traditional turkey with stuffing. Spatchcock was a huge success. Another favorite this year was Jamie’s homemade cranberry sauce with added raspberry, so delicious!

Addy and JJ both enjoyed having Andrew and Katie to help them with some projects while we waited for our meal.

Friday morning dawned beautifully as we waited to hear that Josh and Laura were on the road to our home.

We got the ‘on the road selfie’ and we counted down the hours for their arrival.

JJ was  pleased to see they brought the vintage G.I. Joe sleeping bag from the 80’s!

Very few photos were taken on Friday. Gramps made his tomato rice soup for us to enjoy and we added BLT’s to the menu.

After dinner we enjoyed some rounds of Skyjo.

Saturday morning found us eating together again!

Greg was on cooking duty again for his Swedish Pancakes and we all love to gather to eat them!

The agenda for Saturday included shopping ‘small business’ for the girls and for the guys chopping wood and preparing for Saturday meals including a birthday celebration for Auntie Lolo!

More about Saturday will come in a separate post.

Our Westside kids made it home safely on Sunday and we are thankful always for traveling mercies!

December is coming in hot with something on the calendar for each day this week! Whew!  I’m going to have to be intentional about pausing in the midst of this busy schedule to enjoy this Advent season.

 

Blue Room Upgrade

We are in the midst of our Thanksgiving family time here in Colville. This post was prepared ahead of time to publish until I gather the current family photos from activities we are enjoying in real time.

A ‘before’ photo of the queen size bed and accessories in the ‘Blue Room’. We sold this bed complete to my cousin who lives here in Colville.

We have two guest bedrooms in our Country Bungalow. We call this room the ‘Blue Room’. The other guest room we call the ‘Play Room’ because that is where any toys and books are stored for our Grands.

The Blue room was ready for an upgrade with a new king bed set-up. It was fun to pick wall art and linens for a new look. Most of the wall art came from Hobby Lobby on a week when they were all 50% off. It wasn’t as much fun for Greg to assemble the platform for the mattress. It also was a complete clown-show for Greg and me when we took off the wrapping on the mattress that came in a box, rolled up tight. It pretty much explodes into it’s flat king size shape. We were tossed about until we gained control of it and slid it on to it’s platform! Whew!

Andrew and Katie arrived here on Thanksgiving and got to enjoy the ‘new look’.

Here’s a recent photo of Katie with her latest hair coloring. By now we have taken many family photos while celebrating the Thanksgiving extended weekend together. I’ll be sharing those soon.

And in other news we had our first wee snowfall of the season.

We hired a couple of young men from our church to come and clear our planters for winter. Little did we know when we scheduled that we’d have snow to deal with. Thankfully it was just an inch of snow that melted quickly. The guys persevered with freezing fingers and did a great job for us. I’m so thankful to have this task behind us in time for Winter.

A Thanksgiving Hodgepodge

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating this great day here in the United States! Gobble Gobble!

Thanksgiving week Hodgepodge has been dished out by Joyce From This Side of the Pond! Thank you!

1. Do you feel like you have a ‘full plate’ at the moment? In what way? 

 Yes, yes I do have a full plate at the moment. The calendar is as full as can be with Thanksgiving festivities, both spare bedrooms full for a few days. Monday after Thanksgiving ladies ministry meeting plus decorating our church for Christmas. Tuesday escape to Idaho for an overnight to celebrate our 51st wedding anniversary (December 6th is the actual day). Ladies Christmas party on Friday the 5th. I’ll fit in some Christmas decorating, too.

2. How did you learn to cook? If you have children did you teach or encourage them to cook? Do you like to follow a recipe or is your cooking style more ‘let’s wing it’.  

Mostly I learned the basics in my Home Economics classes. I didn’t cook with my mother growing up. My learning was hands on after I got married and it became my responsibility. My kids have the skills on their own initiative. Our sons are both good cooks. Our daughter can tackle any recipe. We modeled openness to invite people over to share a meal and our kids picked up on that. I follow recipes for baking but wing it a lot for spur of the moment meals.

3. Last time you bit off more than you could chew? Elaborate. 

Winterizing our property, namely the planters, this is more than I can chew. I’m hoping to bring in some help to complete this task. It’s more than my back can handle.

4. When did you last say ‘the more the merrier’ and mean it? 

Anytime my kids or family or friends want to travel to spend time with us I feel like the more the merrier.

5. Write an acrostic using the word T-H-A-N-K-S. 

Thank you, LORD God

Hope of Heaven

Acceptance you give me in Jesus

Nothing to doubt

King Jesus my Savior

Salvation assured

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Last Saturday we attended JJ’s promotion at Taekwondo. He did very well and received his Tiger Badge.

He answered all the questions the Grand Master asked of him.  One of  the Tiny Tiger Creeds is “Tiny Tigers will obey their parents”. The Grand Master asked JJ why he should obey his parents and JJ answered, “because it is written in the Bible, Sir!” Well said, JJ!

Later on this day our Colville kids enjoyed their yearly tradition of a Christmas lights boat cruise on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Thank you to all who stop by here. I’m thankful for visitors to my blog and fellow bloggers!

Everyday Images ~ November

It’s time to link up again with Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee for some photo prompts.

 

November Prompts – Everyday Images #75

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layers

We enjoy the layers of mountains here in Colville and beyond.

remember

This is a fun time to remember when all three of these guys laughed till they cried.

texture

Lots of textures in this photo op at our Mother’s Day event at church.

at home (monthly)

At home in November with our Thanksgiving and Fall decor.

prepare

Preparing to toast slices of baguette to go with a salad.

Time to start thinking of all the traditional dishes we are going to prepare for our Thanksgiving meal.

cozy

A flashback to our daughter Katie sitting cozy with her Dzeda (Grandfather) many years ago.

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We were in Spokane yesterday for most of the day so I’m a little behind in visiting. We made 8 stops and managed to find everything on our lists! Woohoo.

Hope your Thursday is spectacular!

Thanksgiving Leftovers…

…are the best!

On Friday of our long Thanksgiving weekend we enjoyed Swedish Pancakes and little smokies while we waited for Josh and Laura to arrive from the west side of the Cascades. We enjoyed some Bible Challenge questions read by Dan and Addy before and after Josh and Laura arrived, too. They arrived before dinner and it was good for the 10 of us to be together. The guys hauled the Christmas tree in and set it up which was a special treat for me.

After dinner and a game of Uno the grands were given instructions on playing solitaire.

Saturday morning the girls went shopping along Main Street in Colville before we all gathered on Bayles Mountain for Charcuterie for lunch. The rest of the afternoon was filled with crafts, a walk, making dinner and decorating for the special birthday we would celebrate.

Our Grands love their Auntie Lolo and they made a special sign to let her know. Hers was the special early December birthday we were celebrating on this Saturday evening. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of Ribs, Smashed Potatoes and a Broccoli salad before it was time for a special lemon birthday cake that Dan made for LoLo!

Presents were opened with our special thoughts for Auntie LoLo included in the cards. I forgot to get photos of all her special gifts.

We watched the Sounders v LA Galaxy game and unfortunately it ended in LA’s favor. Boohoo. We all retired to our own and our guest beds for the night.

On Sunday Katie and Andrew left early for home spotting a herd of elk crossing the road.

The rest of us gathered at the early service at church before Josh and Laura hit the road to travel home. We enjoyed the first of many worshipful Christmas Carols for the Advent season and a sermon to set our minds on God. Everyone made it home safely and we thank the LORD for that mercy.

Josh and Laura left us a gift of Daily Advent readings for December by Alistair Begg, Let Earth Receive Her King. I’ll share this small portion for December 1st:

“Christ’s divinity has no starting point in time. He always was. He was God before time began. He is God at this very moment. And He will continue to be God forever.”

Happy December everyone! This will be a very busy week here at our country bungalow with decorating and gatherings and travel. Time will tell how blogging will go. How are things in your corner?

Black Friday

JJ took our group selfie with a little help from his mom.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together with most of our family and Jamie’s family.

Andrew and Katie drove over the mountains and through the woods on Thanksgiving day and Josh and Laura are doing the same today.

I’m adding some great Thanksgiving quotes from Spurgeon’s Thanksgiving Gems.

“Our thanksgiving is measured by the depth of our awareness of what we’ve been delivered from, and of the glorious blessings which we shall soon partake of.”

“We are debtors to God’s saving grace, and the very least we can do is to give Him endless thanks.”

“He who has been forgiven much–loves much and thanks much. True gratitude springs from a deep sense of what God has done for us in Christ.”

So grateful for God’s love, mercy and saving grace.  Thankful for all of our loved ones!

Are any of you shopping today? I’m waiting till tomorrow to shop small local businesses. Have a great weekend!

Pour It On Hodgepodge

Joyce from This Side of the Pond is dishing up some new Wednesday Hodgepodge questions just in time for Thanksgiving.

1. Talking turkey…are you cooking the turkey this year? Does ham belong on a Thanksgiving day menu?

I will not be the one who is cooking the turkey this year, our Colville kids will do the honors. Ham is not typically on our Thanksgiving day menu but this year there will be one. My side of the family grew up Kosher so I don’t crave any pork products. But now that I said that a BLT sounds real good right now! 🙂

When it comes to gravy do you pour it over your whole plate, skip it altogether, or land somewhere in between?

I pour the gravy on the turkey, potatoes and stuffing.

Cranberries-homemade or jelled right out of the can?

I’ve gone to the trouble of making homemade and the response to eating it hasn’t been great so it comes out of the can.

Do you look forward more to the main course, the savory sides, or the desserts?

On Thanksgiving, it’s the main course that I look most forward to.

I know there are at least a couple of bloggers who participate here who live outside the US and won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving. If that’s you feel free to adapt this question to your December (or any) holiday meal.

2. Holiday movies…tell us your favorite and what it is about the film that makes you love it. Is it the film itself or a memory it stirs?

Miracle on 34th Street is a Christmas movie that I enjoy. The original Die Hard is another favorite…what a contrast to Miracle on 34th Street!!

3. A favorite way to give back and help others? 

Giving unexpected gifts to those in need without them knowing who it’s from.

4. Name a place or setting you encountered this month that made you feel grateful.

Our church worship services make me feel grateful to be able to worship God with the melting pot of people in our congregation. 

5. Knowing what you know today, if you could redo yesterday what would you do differently?

Yesterday as in Tuesday the 26th of November I wouldn’t do anything differently. If you go back to my teen yesterdays there are a lot of things I would do differently. Naming just one: I wouldn’t date most of the guys I dated.

6. Spill your own random thought here.

Looking back at our Grands at their first Thanksgivings in 2017 and 2019…

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you Hodgepodgers in the USA. Happy end of November to everyone around the world!

Asparagus Casserole

This is a variation on the all time favorite Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole. I was at the store and noticed a good deal on asparagus and decided to try the dish with asparagus instead of green beans. Here’s the recipe I tried and it was thoroughly enjoyed.

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 Tablespoons of butter
  • 1/2 cup diced onions
  • 2 cups asparagus pieces (I used fresh aspargus)
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 (10-3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 (2.8 oz.) can French-Fried onion rings
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Melt the butter in a large skillet.
  3. Saute the onions in the butter.
  4. Boil the asparagus in the chicken broth for up to 10 minutes and drain.
  5. Add the asparagus, mushroom soup, and onion rings to the onion mixture.
  6. Stir well.
  7. Pour into greased casserole baking dish (approx. 8×8 square).
  8. Bake for 20 minutes.
  9. Carefully top the casserole with the grated cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until casserole is hot and cheese is melted.

I didn’t add any extra seasoning because the broth, mushroom soup, and the cheese added enough salt for our taste. You could and probably should double this recipe and use a 9×13 baking dish because it vanished quickly.

Thanksgiving Long Weekend 2023

We had nine at our Thanksgiving table this year before three more family members made the drive on Friday. My sister and her husband traveled from Texas to be with us locals from Colville. I’m happy to announce that we were pleased with cooking the turkey in the convection oven. It took half the time and the results were good. We’ll make a couple tweaks next year…if we remember.

On Friday, later in the afternoon, this carload of three arrived from their six hour drive and we were eleven for a pulled pork dinner. Our daughter’s hubby unfortunately was under the weather and stayed home.

On Saturday our group split up and spent the morning and afternoon with separate adventures.

The older folk ventured across the line into Canada for some fun in Rossland and Trail, B.C. We had good interactions with the Border Agents again.

The sun was out for another glorious squinty day! Rossland is at a higher elevation and known as a skiing destination. The shaded sidewalks were icy. We tried to walk on the sunny side of the street.

We enjoyed the artwork around town and made some purchases before we traveled a bit further to enjoy lunch in Trail.

Persian food is a favorite in our family and we were happy with the quality of food at Kootenay Kabab in Trail.

Our carload made it back across the border to our Country Bungalow in time to watch the second half of the Cross state rivalry between the University of Washington and the Washington State Cougars, known as the Apple Cup. Having three University of Washington alumni in our family we are Husky fans. We are outnumbered on the side of the state that we live in now. Our Huskies waited until the last second of the game to win! With that win they are undefeated this season.

While we were in Canada our kids enjoyed time in Colville on our local kids’ property.

We all gathered together again for dinner and fun on Saturday evening.

Addy enjoyed time with her aunties and great auntie and JJ enjoyed his Uncle JOSH-SHU-WA. This weekend for JJ, Uncle Joshie was Uncle Josh shu wa.

Ember enjoyed the visiting hands that stroked her head. The large Thanksgiving banner was a great project for everyone to contribute their coloring skills to. Mexican Train was the game of the weekend.

We are thankful to be able to spend extended time together any time of the year but it is always a special time at Thanksgiving. So grateful for all who traveled a long way to get here! We don’t take that for granted.

As you can imagine the last several days have been very busy and I’ve had little time on the computer and for visiting. Hopefully I’ll catch up soon before the next grand adventure the end of this week!

Thank you to all for your visits and your comments. I appreciate every one of you!