The Event ~ The Gathering Place

I love it when my kids come home and we are all gathered in the kitchen or around the dining room table.  I love it that they love to come home.  I love it when home is a gathering place, a pleasant place to come too. 

Home was a gathering place again for Thanksgiving 2012.  21 family gathered on Wednesday evening to celebrate Great Grandma Stricker's 85th birthday ~ and we also included celebration for Jon's 10th birthday.   Present for the celebration was Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Tom, Tim, Janel, Jakob, Josh, Jon, Mathilda, Ben, Jo, Amelia, Cash, Annie, Julie C, Kathy, Paul, Bobby, Alexandra, Tim and I.

We all gathered again on Thanksgiving Day for not the traditional feast.  No turkey today.  Instead, Chef Tim cooked stuffed pork loin with peach and currant sauces.  It was so-o-o-o good!  And then we had the traditional trimmings, including the usual ribbon jello, Grandmas lettuce & pea salad, bread dressing, lefsa, pumkin pie, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and lots more.

In the afternoon we enjoyed some "minute to win it" games, thanks to Janel's creativity.  We all got into the act of trying to get cookies from our foreheads to our mouths, stacking cups, seeing how many marbles a wet napkin would hold, trying to get the most marshmellows picked up with a straw, and unwrapping a gift with big fat gloves on.  Julia was the winner of the prize box of m&m's inside the last of three boxes to be unwrapped.

The kids even got in the traditional football game on the front lawn.  The weather was so perfect for some outdoor fun and entertainment.

Throughout the rest of the weekend, I even managed to get everyone around the breakfast table at the same time - twice - two days in a row.  That is quite an accomplishment for me, as I'm never quite organized enough to get breakfast on the table for everyone at one time.  It felt good ~ gathering at the

gathering table for breakfast.

 

Then it was branding time.  We love it for the grandkids to have an opportunity to particpate in our small little branding event.  And it's always good to get the grown-up kids involved too.  Annie did the ear tagging once again, Cash the wrestling with Jakob's help after Tim A lost a wrestling bout with one of the steers, and Julia took care of the vaccination.  The boys each had a place at the head and the hips holding them down while Tim did the branding. 

Grandpa and Amelia kept a watchful eye on the whole event!



The evidence at the end of a fun branding event!

Thanksgiving 2012 was a memorable fun event at the gathering place ~ home - sweet - home!  Always a good place to be.  And so much to be thankful for, not only at Thanksgiving time, but everyday, all year long, every year.  God is good!