Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving and the 4th of July are the only American holidays that we continue to celebrate and recognize even on foreign soil without exception. Even if some of the traditional items are impossible to find, like cranberries, canned pumpkin and pecans, we have made our adjustments for the occasion. For some that means bringing the canned goods from the States and hanging on to them for this annual celebration. For me that means cooking down a pumpkin earlier in the season to make my pumpkin puree for pies and breads. We were super excited this year to see orange yams for the first time at a couple of select stores, as usually we have to use what the Italians call "American potatoes" which are white sweet potatoes. All in all, we did well this year and truly succeeded in stuffing ourselves with some amazing food!

Our colleagues came over to our house for an afternoon feast on Thanksgiving day. It was a good time of fellowship. We are so thankful for our team and the faithfulness they continue to exhibit even in a difficult field of ministry and the love for the Italians that we share together. It is a privilege for us to be turning the soil with these precious servants of God.

Here are a few snapshots of our day:

Jim carving the turkey, before then cleaning the bones off of the whole carcass. A first for us to witness!

Field Council = 3 families, 2 singles

The kids

The food

We kept Emma home from school that day which she was most thankful for. She helped me set the tables, hang up decorations and then dress up like an Indian. She saw a picture of an Indian girl with braids and headdress and wanted the same. However, after closer examination she noticed that the girl's hair was straight and not curly. So guess, what she wanted? Here are some face shots of her with straight hair. She went to bed with straight hair and woke up with a mop of curls in the morning.

Luca came down with a fever on Tuesday night and was still fevered on Thanksgiving day. He ate his feast of yeast rolls and jell-o.

I think we need to start our braces fund now for our kids ;0)