Happy Thanksgiving!

I know, it's two days after Thanksgiving. But I'm just waking up from my food coma, so this is the earliest I've gotten around to posting!

We had a wonderful Kodiak Thanksgiving, even being so far away from our family! Even though we've spent other holidays away, it was tough being THIS far away. Luckily, our wonderful friends Beth and Zach, who really have become like family to us here, came over and joined us in an enormous feast for four. It was such a huge blessing to share the day with them, too, because they are a VERY thankful pair this year. Their little girl, Donavyn, was born at the end of September, and they just got word this past week that their little boy, Gabriel, will be coming home to Kodiak from Guatemala after a VERY long wait! There were many thankful tears shed around the table!

Besides Beth and Zach (and Little Miss D), we were also joined by our friend Melissa and her three kids, Eli, Caleb and Peach (or, Naomi), for dessert. Unfortunately, her husband Aaron had duty on Thanksgiving (he's a firefighter on the CG base, though not CG), so we didn't get to see him, but after their turkey dinner at the firehouse, they stopped by for pie and a quick Wii game. They also decided to use Jason as a human tree... check him out!

Jason and I are just so thankful for the opportunities we've been given, including the chance to live here in Kodiak. It's tough being so far away from our families, but it's truly an amazing experience to be able to live here and to have the jobs we have. We're very blessed!!!

So enough of the mushy-ness... onto the pictures! I think Mom would have been very proud of my killer antipasto. I skipped the lettuce this year and made it a true antipasto... I have to say that my Taste of Home Entertaining (there's a plug for you, Beth!) made it look just fabulous. And, I didn't go overboard (sorry, Mom), so we were still hungry for dinner!

And, it's a good thing we left room for dinner!!! Holy canoli, did we have some food! After it's ceremonial last flight, Jason fried us up a turkey again this year, which, once again, went over to rave reviews! It cooked a little faster than we thought it was, but was still hot and juicy by the time we finished everything else up. We went all out, with the usual traditional stuff, including southern dressin', courtesy of Beth's family, and 7-layer salad and a cherry jello salad concoction (that was delish), courtesy of Zach's family. It was neat to mix things up a bit! So, here are the bird's last flight, and a shot of the table. Seriously, that was food for only four people. I think we're crazy. I also think we'll be eating Thanksgiving dinner for the next week, at least! But it was all veeeerrrry yummy!

Finally, just one last picture of the whole group of us, right before everyone went their separate ways. This is Beth (in the glasses), Zach (the non-Jason guy), Melissa (on the floor in front of Beth), Donavyn (in Beth's arms), Caleb (blond), Eli (with the brown hair), Peach (aka, Naomi, but we call her peach), Jason and I. We'll have to figure out a way to photoshop Aaron into the picture so it's more complete! But, really, what's not to be happy about when you have a house full of people for Thanksgiving, just a few months after you move 5000 miles across the country!

That's it for now, blog fans! We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Next up, pictures of Christmas decorations!!!

Miss and love you all!
Becca (and Jason)