Thanksgiving for the Gilmores was a time for sharing with friends and strangers and giving thanks around the table for God's provision and even abundance in our lives. We started with our annual Wednesday night cooking extravaganza. Each year Meilani takes more ownership on the process. This year she was jumping with delight at the chance to cook with Mama, Nama, Nana and Daddy. 
She got her hands right into the stuffing and even into the raw turkey. She was not afraid of the mushy, goopy stuff. Nama led the brigade on making (whole wheat!) stuffing and preparing the (two!) birds. Meilani named our turkey Sally.
Nana Maria is the pie queen. Meilani helped roll out the crust for homemade pumpkin and blueberry pies. They also made whole wheat crescent rolls from scratch. These are perfect for dipping in our Butternut Squash Soup. We all fight of the last crescent roll.
Even 9-month-old Giada got her hands in the dough.
As usual, Daddy was the master chopper for that finicky butternut squash. It's so worth it for the soup that we eat for our first course. Here's our complete menu.
Thanksgiving morning we ran in the Turkey Trot 5k at Woodward Park in Fresno. It's become a tradition for our family. Dad and I ran together. Ericlee ran ahead at his fast pace. Nana, Meilani and Giada cheered us all on. Then we all came home for a brunch and a fabulous afternoon nap and a little football. At feast time, Papa Doug helped watch Giada while we got everything on the table.
This year Ericlee's parents and my parents joined us around the table. Paul and Michelle spent the holiday in Portland with Michelle's family. We missed them!
After dinner, we continued our tradition of making paper turkeys and passing them around the table to write little notes of thankgiving and encouragement to each person. This was a tradition we had when I was a kid. This year Meilani was really into it - decorating her turkey and dictating notes for each person. She even make a turkey for Giada to pass around.
Our greatest joy this Thanksgiving was sharing some of our leftovers with the homeless the day after Thanksgiving. While most people were out shopping, Ericlee piled us into the car with care packages and we delivered turkey dinners to some of the homeless on Fresno's streets. We were blessed to hear some of their stories and see their joy in sharing the meal. We hope to continue this tradition in the future. As we reflect on how much God has blessed us this year even through adversity our desire is to share more with others.
1 comment:
A holiday that is completely about food and family-- of course you revel in it!
Leftovers to the homeless-- cool idea. Our Women's Bible Study is focusing on the homeless as our mission this year. We all signed up to make and serve food at 2local shelters. I've never done anything like this before.
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