truth #22: Tabitha says: Gordagordagorda

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We have so many things to be thankful for. Here is a short list of things I am newly thankful for this year:

-Family (especially after seeing the lives of the orphans)

-Supporters (Couldn't do the things that I am without you!)
-Electricity (not having it several hours each day makes one thankful)

-Running Water (again our water has an electric pump.. connect the dots...)
-Internet (to talk with my family, friends and keep up with the world news)

-That God is always good (not said lightly)
-Daily food
-Cold weather
-Good friends

-Letters in the mail

-Nights were you can see the stars (never here..)

-Silence (learned to appreciate this one cause of the little dog next door with the big voice)

We had a night of celebration Friday the 26th of November in my house. Let me just preface this by saying I never truely understood all that went into a Thanksgiving until this year, my mom and my aunts are my heros! Seth, Sharon and I began cooking at 1pm for the 20 guests we were expecting at 7pm. Did I mention that we still are under power cuts and it goes out everyday from 4 to 6pm... just another little glitch in the preparations. Thankfully we have a gas stove!! Also there is not such thing as cranberry sauce, we looked in almost all the stores! However just for your future knowledge, blackberry jam is very similar. You also cannot find velveeta cheese, the kind that Seth needed for his mac and cheese. So we made it, yes that is right we made velveeta cheese. It turned out well but not quite the same.

First came the turkey. Yes Sharon and I voted unamously for Seth to get the turkey struggle, he didn't even get a chance to say no! It turned out great and two hours early!! What can I say none of us have ever cooked a turkey.

Then I made my family's famous dressing and for those of you not from the south it is similar to stuffing but not made inside the turkey. Sharon helped me with the tasting.

Sweet potates - recipe courtsey of my Aunt Etta. These are a little different as the sweet potatoes here are purple instead of orange. Funny isn't it?

We also had mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, steamed green beans, gravy made from turkey drippings (yay Sharon!!), my mom's famous rolls (already becoming famous in Ecaudor), and salad.

We all stood around the very long table (no kids table this time!) and prayed, then explained the tradition of Thanksgiving and the foods. It was a great time of fellowship and getting to know each other better.

Shura and our friend Isabel brough pie: Pumpkin and apple. As you can see Seth is really enjoying his pumpkin pie!

Then last but not least the HUGE clean up! Thanks everyone for helping!!!