Thanksgiving (part 2)

Now to continue our lovely Thanksgiving day post!

As I stated before the food was delicious! I think we all had a hard time fitting all of the food we wanted on our plates. But we didn't let that discourage us! We just went back for seconds a few times to make sure we had tried everything. Here Adrianna is just getting started with filling her plate up with our yummy feast.

A sweet picture of Mel and Becca before they pigged out on dinner.

Dad is wondering when it is his turn to go through the line, while Mom seems shocked about something.

The Kitchen and Living Room were decorated so neatly with little paper turkeys which the McDonald kids had made. They each had something that the kids were thankful for written on them.

One angle of the adults table. Here the McDonald's, the Michael's, and dad and mom are enjoying a good conversation.

The kiddo table. They all look really happy here. The food must have tasted good!

A different angle on the adults table. Peter got to graduate this year from a kid to a young adult-ish. ;) Jess and I also had our first whole glass of wine at a Thanksgiving feast. Maybe that explains why... oh never mind. *grin*

Peter and Mel love to dry together. They also love to get pictures while drying.

The day before Thanksgiving Melissa had cut her finger pretty nasty while slicing sweet potatos. And I felt so bad for her not having the use of her finger I went and cut mine on a broken edge of a plate. It was totally not planned to have it on the same finger though. ;)

The little girls enjoying a game of Scattergories.

Becca, Jess, and I love to get pictures together!

Here we are eating some yummy different pies!

To end our wonderful day Tiff suggested that we call the Hector's and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving as well as a Happy Anniversary! We were all more than happy to! So we called the Hector's and ended up being passed around to almost everyone in their family talking, laughing, and comparing our day. It was a nice way to end the time we had.

A Note: For Tiff as this was her last Thanksgiving with us... :( (You other people don't have to read if you don't want to.)

What joy one has when they find a like-minded, loving, happy, and true friend. It brings tears to my eyes to think of all the ways Tiffany McDonald has changed my life. Tiff is an amazing older sister to her wonderful family. But she doesn't stop there! She has lovingly adopted my family as her "family" as well. And we are all so thankful for that!

I can still remember my family's first years at our church Providence. We were having a big switch over in our family. Learning how to eat healthy as well as live the life God intended for us. I remember my parents telling me to be more like the McDonald girls who were always in the kitchen and yet always ready to help with a little one. I know that the McDonald family is not perfect! (Who would want them to be?) But they still had the heart that my parents wanted in me. So for these past three years, I have been watching Tiffany and her sisters. I have been changing the way I do things with my family so that I could be a little more like them. Now that I have had the pleasure of knowing Tiffany these past years, I have only grown to love her more and more as an older sister. But never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that God would knit my life and heart so closely to hers! For one thing I never expected to be so honored as to be asked to be in her wedding! That was a total shockingly happy experience for me!! I am so unbelievable happy for Tiff and Ben! My heart sings with joy just at the thought of them being a happy couple and I cannot wait for the day to come! But than I get to thinking about how far away California is and I kinda start to be a little happy that May is such a long ways off. Kinda selfish of me I know. But who can be happy to not have the joy of seeing their sister every Sunday? Then again.... California for visit sounds really nice too! You can truly believe me when I say I have mixed feelings. *grin* I just went in a total circle.

Anyway Tiff, I am so happy for you!! But know that you will be missed beyond belief! I love you my dear sister!! Thank you so much for putting up with such a goofy girl like me. ;)

God bless!

~Meli

Our Thanksgiving feast! (part 1)

Wow, how quickly time goes by. It does not feel like a whole year has passed since last Thanksgiving. Our family is Thankful for so much this year! We are most thankful for the love of our Father in Heaven! Without Him in our life, we would have nothing. We are also thankful for family and friends.

This past Thanksgiving was spent at the McDonald's lovely home with the Michael's joining us. We had such a grand time with our friends and we had a good time fixing yummy food for this event. The McDonald's provided most of the delicious meal but we helped out with a few odds and ends. Here are some pictures of us preparing the food.

Elaina licking out a measuring cup that was full of honey. The look on her face proves she really enjoyed herself.

There were many dishes to wash and Adrianna was so thankful for it to be her day to wash. ;)

Elaina ripping up bread for the stuffing.

Elaina and Rebecca helping mix the Stuffing.

Peter so gallantly refills our trash bag that had to be dumped quite a few times.

Adrianna wanted me to get a picture of her cutting the potatos so that people would know she didn't only do the dishes that day.

Elaina and Rebecca pealing and washing the potatos.

Dare I say it? This was the first homemade pie crust I have ever made! *hides in embarrassment* And I will say it turned out rather nicely considering it was a first.

Working all day long to get the food ready for the next days feast!

At the McDonald's home Melissa was really happy to see us! You can tell though, that she had her banana flipped the wrong way. ;)

Two sweet girls pausing for a picture. Behind them was some really good sparkling Cranberry juice.

The table settings. The plates were really cute and the placecards were really sweet! They had your name on them and a bible verse to go with it.

William got a little embarrassed which made him a little upset. But not for too long with Peter to the rescue!

Pastor's 2009 Thanksgiving Turkey carving lesson. As you can tell we were all really excited to watch how to cut the turkey.

Pastor did a fine job cutting, even though he did hurts himself a little because it was so hot. We were thankful he cut our food for us.

And this ends our Thanksgiving post part 1. Stick around for part 2.

Mini Hymn Sing at Pekin Manor.

This past Monday was the Mini Hymn Sing at Pekin Manor. Which means that a bunch of people from our church go to a Nursing Home to sing. Unfortunately we have no pictures of us actually singing. I guess we were to occupied with... well, singing. :) Normally after we are finished we go to the Ryken's house for ice cream and fellowship. But this Monday was different, with the Ryken's out of town Mr. Price very sweetly offered to pay for everyone to enjoy some McDonald's ice cream. :) While waiting for our ice cream we got some pictures...

The adult table.

Here I am obviously telling everyone something really important.

While waiting for the ice cream the boys entertain themselves with some boyish looking games.

Rebecca must have found something really funny while Emma looks intrigued.

Our beautiful mother keeping an eye on all the kiddos.

Jess and I always try to get a picture together. <3

Looks like daddy is singing "Deep and Wide" for everyone. And obviously it has caught all of their attention.

Jess had this crazy idea to try and get our reflections in the McDonald's Golden arches. See if you can spot us.

A nice picture of Jess, Abby, and I.

Zach and Caleb pause the game for quick picture together.

Peter cannot wait for his ice cream to come. He almost looks sad... :(

And thus ends our trip to Pekin. We had a lovely time and cannot wait for next months visit.

God bless,

~Meli

Next up is our Thanksgiving post. :)

This has been a slow but very enjoyable week. We have only had a few things going on that are worth posting. First up we have two sweet girls with a rather fat beagle.

Adrianna loves Gertie.

Rebecca loves Gertie as well.

We also celebrated someones 13th birthday! Happy Birthday Victoria! I cannot believe how fast kids grow up. It feels like just yesterday when we first saw this chubby three year old. And now look at her, a teenager!!!

We children have been blessed to be in the Bloomington Homeschool Choir for some time now. It was over 7 years ago when we first started singing for Mr. Lusk. On top of learning how to perfect singing in a choir, we also have had the opportunity to sing in front of some very large crowds. Here the choir is singing for the Worldview Conference in Peoria.

Being too old for the choir now I had to sit with my parents in the back row. Here is a picture of us. (The smug look on my face is not purposeful, there was just no other picture with mom and dad in it.) :)

And that's it for this week!

God bless!
~Meli

The November Hymn Sing

I have figured something about myself, no matter how many times I sing a Hymn or Psalm I still love to sing them with a smile on my face. Maybe it is the fellowship or friends, maybe it is the idea that we are all worshiping God together, or maybe it is the food before hand. :) Either way I really enjoy our church's Hymn Sing's and am so glad when one rolls around. Here are some pictures from our latest Hymn Sing:

When you walk into church this is what you are normally greeted with; a bunch of people standing on the stairs talking.



Running over a song that Tiff would like sung at her wedding.



Jessica, Natalie, and I.



The two people who mean so much to me!! Love y'all!



Natalie and I have become fast friends. At church if you see me you will most likely see Natalie. :)



Everyone finding seats before singing while Rebecca smiles sweetly for the camera.



After the Hymn Sing the fun still continued. We had part of the Blick family over so that they did not have to drive back to their house before church that next morning.

Aaron taught us a new game kinda like 'Slap Jack' only... different. Here Rebecca, Adrianna, and Aaron are the only ones left in the game.

One of the rules in the game is smacking your head if a Queen is laid. Here Aaron is showing Rebecca that he smacked his head first.

Uno Spin is a fun game especially if lots of people are playing. But it can get a little rough when some people are out to get others.

Pausing for a picture together while giving a tour of the house. (sorry it's a little blurry!)

The dads having finished their tour settled in the Living room.

Dad and Mom enjoying the company of Mr. and Mrs. Blick.

We tried to get a game of Life going but it was soon time for bed and we didn't get to finish.

The next morning we had a nice breakfast together before heading off to church.

Elaina going through the buffet line.

And that ends our fantastic weekend. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

God Bless!

~Meli