Over the River and through the Woods....

We have much to be thankful for this year. I was just reading this morning in Deuteronomy 2 about how "He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing." We've only been in Germany for five months - nothing compared to the Israelites. And Germany is far from a wilderness. That being said, there are many times that we feel like we are in a wilderness. Only in our apartment do we not feel like outsiders. These verses were an encouragement to me that God has been and will continue to be with us every step of the way. And that includes holidays.

It didn't feel like Thanksgiving week last week. It didn't feel like Thanksgiving day last Thursday. That is until everyone arrived for the meal. We were blessed to have four other families join us for a Thanksgiving meal in the late afternoon. Some of the families we have gotten to know just a bit through our church, and some of the families we met that afternoon. Each family offered to bring a part of the meal, one that is a family favorite from home.

The week of Thanksgiving, I had a few of the boys help me with making name cards for the table. We mixed paints for brown and orange and had a little assembly line going to make them all. Then the day before Thanksgiving, I sent Josiah and Noah out after school with a bag and asked them to fill it with anything that looked like Fall to them. I used what they brought home to make the centerpieces for the tables.

The overflow table for the younger kids. This
is our living room coffee table.

We used one of the school desks to add more
places for all of the adults and toddlers.

Josiah and Noah found plenty of fallish looking items.

The Brown family has been in Germany over two years already while Ken is working on his PhD. They just had their fourth child a few weeks ago. Andrea figured out how to make green bean casserole from scratch last year for Thanksgiving so offered to bring that dish along with a couple of pies. It was the best green bean casserole I've ever tasted! (Apart from my mom's, of course.) So I'm looking forward to that recipe. Andrea's fresh pumpkin pie was incredible and served as a very tasty breakfast Friday morning after the kids went to school. Diane, Andrea's mom, was in Germany helping with baby Hannah for a few weeks so we were able to get to know her that evening as well. She was a great help to me in the kitchen as I made the turkeys, potatoes and gravy. I didn't have a meat thermometer and wasn't about to buy one for a single event so she helped me determine the right time to pull them out of the oven. Them - yes. Germany doesn't sell much of anything in large sizes or quantities so I ended up buying two turkeys to feed us.

~ Andrea with baby Hannah ~

~ Miss Diane making the gravy ~

Susan Bobb was able to come with her son, Ben. Her husband, Jamie Clark, had to attend a work function that evening in the south of Germany so ended up not being able to make it. He did enjoy the leftovers though. I got connected with Susan prior to moving to Germany via a mutual facebook friend from our Penn State days. Susan has been very helpful in answering any and all questions that we've had...including a recent call asking where the ER is located! Joel broke his shoulder playing soccer and needed to be seen the Monday night before Thanksgiving. That is one of those things that we probably should have figured out before we really needed to find it! Just thankful it wasn't ambulance worthy. Susan made the best chocolate chunk walnut cookies e.v.e.r....along with yummy sweet potatoes and a few other things. Notice what I enjoyed most??

~ Susan and Ben ~

Justin and Jenna just moved here recently from the Princeton area where he recently completed his Master's. They have one cute little son, Isaac. We basically met them Thanksgiving Day though I had briefly spoken with Jenna about Thanksgiving one time in late October. They are in a state of determining how long they will be here and what is next - he is on a Fulbright this year but is hoping to possibly do PhD work in the Munich area. Jenna made the stuffing, or dressing since it wasn't really stuffed. And it was incredible! It had cranberries and sausage in it making it so very tasty. I already got that recipe from her. :)

~ Ken and Andrea on the left are talking with Justin and Jenna ~

Nicola and her daughter, Cecilia, joined us for the evening as well. Nicola is British and is married to a man from Brazil. So why Thanksgiving with us? While growing up in Brazil, Gabriel's family got to know some American missionaries and ended up celebrating Thanksgiving with them. Gabriel became a Christian partly through the ministry of this American couple so he holds their traditions dear and enjoys taking part in Thanksgiving celebrations as a result. The afternoon of Thanksgiving, Gabriel ended up having to take a train to a job interview and missed the evening with us. We sent enough leftovers though so hopefully he still was able to enjoy the meal. Nicola brought bread that was so light and fluffy - I heard that it comes from a Turkish market in the city center. I will need to find that market soon as it was very good. And the boys are still enjoying all of the various drinks that Nicola brought to share.

Nicola and Cecilia are in the bottom left of this photo.

The kids' table - Ben on the couch, Micah Brown and Noah at
the front of the photo and Samantha and Josiah off to the left.

Knowing that we would have a lot of young kids and not many toys, Tracy and I asked Josiah and Noah to help entertain all of the kiddos. Joel was out of commission for helping and Micah has taken this role so many times previously that we thought the younger two are getting old enough for this, too. By the end of the night, Noah asked to go to bed. He was plum worn out!

Josiah and Noah used their bedroom as a place to entertain. It
is conveniently located right off of the kitchen so was close to
the rest of us. Andrea brought their computer for the kids to watch
 a movie at one point. This was a helpful tool for Joj and Noah!

One of Susan's Thanksgiving traditions each year is to make a gingerbread house at the end of the festivities, a kick-off of sorts for the upcoming Christmas holidays. She brought everything with her to make one with the kids, and I can safely say that it was a highlight for all of them.

~ the initial assembling of the house ~

~ patiently waiting for all the "cement" to dry ~

~ Noah Brown and Cecilia ~
These two were precious to watch - someone would give them
a piece of candy to put onto the house but inevitably it would
end up in their mouths.

Susan very patiently helped each of the kids add to the design.

~ a photo to show how much all of the kids were into this activity ~

~ The Masterpiece ~

Though we would have preferred spending Thanksgiving with our cousins in Pennsylvania, which is where we usually are for this holiday, we did enjoy the evening with these new friends. It's interesting how quickly a strong connection is formed with other Americans when living in a foreign country. We all shared stories of our adjustment to Germany and laughed over things that we have done that aren't normally noteworthy, such as the pronunciation of German names. This Thanksgiving, we were thankful to celebrate with new friends and enjoy wonderful food together.