Advent

Thanksgiving was early this year. So we have an extra week between Thanksgiving and the start of Advent. This actually gave me time to think about an Advent calendar. Pinterest had lots of ideas. Maggie and I picked out one that we could all enjoy: Christmas stories!

Maggie & I went through all our books to see how many Christmas storybooks we have: and we officially have 19. We will have to dig up a few more to be able to get all the way to Christmas.  We spent last night wrapping the ones we have and Maggie did a great job wrapping! I'm really hoping we can make this an annual tradition.

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The Symbol of the Dailey Family Christmas

As is our tradition, we put up the Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving.

 
Both girls enjoyed putting ornaments on the tree (and Jessie continues to enjoy taking them off!)

Turkey Day

As I'm still working on my 1000 Gifts list, I'm calling yesterday Turkey Day, which is the main player of the day. I made much too much food, as usual. Some friends came over to help us eat it all & Rusty enjoyed the scraps!  In honor of Turkey Day, I thought I'd make a special list of the gifts I received yesterday.  Thank you, God!
Turkey covered in bacon
Green beans wrapped in bacon (new recipe)
Homemade cranberry sauce
Mashed potatoes
Gravy that turned out!
Wine
Mark, Kristi, Eli & Barb sharing the day with us
Jessie playing with Eli
Jessie & Eli getting excited over Rusty
Rocky carving the turkey
Pumpkin cheesecake dessert (thanks Kristi!)
Kristi & her mom helping with clean up
Rocky & Mark watching football
Maggie enjoying sparkling cranberry juice in her tea cup
Blue skies
Maggie telling me Grand Canyon facts
Jessie teaching Eli to be a daredevil
Time with just Rocky
The smell of the turkey cooking
The smell of the carcass being turned into broth
A table set in anticipation
Wine
Leftovers for supper
Leftovers to send home with the Osterlunds
Pumpkin cheesecake with cranberry sauce
Maggie being thankful for her school (she's thankful for everything else, but mostly her school)
Jessie attempting to say "Happy Anksgiving!" And "Doble-doble"

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Gifts This Thanksgiving Week

336. An amazing, giant flock of birds, soaring, searching. No bird flies out of sync. A large black cloud of birds, calling to each other until it is time to move on.
337. A beautiful fall afternoon, nice enough to be outside.
338. The first cold of the season, a good reminder of how healthy I really am.
339. Taking Maggie with me to vote.
340. Teaching Maggie way it is do important to vote, especially as a woman.
341. Voting; my right, my duty.
342. Obama winning, watching the results in real time
343. Watching more women head to the national stage as leaders.
344. A chance, a duty, to pray for those who are so broken hearted over the election.
345. A day at home, just Maggie & me.
346. Watching Harry Potter movies with Maggie
347. Time with Rusty
348. The light scratch, tickle of Rocky's beard
349. A lighthearted bet with Rocky
350. Maple bacon cupcakes
351. Playing in the snow
352. Playing fetch with Rusty
353. A good morning Tweet from Diane
354. A fun evening with Girl Scouts
355. Maggie trying something new: peppermint tea in a beautiful tea set
356. Making beautiful hats
357. Lessons in taking turns
358. A reminder to take a pause at work before reacting
359. Watching birds Flying V-formation
360. Jessie, just being Jessie, climbing into the sink to play
361. Rocky taking Maggie to her choir practice
362. Phone call with Mom
363. Making Christmas plans
364. Putting together our Thanksgiving shopping list
365. Seeing the crossroad and wondering which direction God wants us to go
366. Co-workers who care about me
367. Co-workers I care about
368. Philippians 2:3-5  don't be selfish, don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.  Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
369. Time with my sisters in Christ in a short Bible study
370. A quiet way to tell my co-workers I am thankful for them
371. Sitting in the car after arriving at my destination to listen to the rest of a song
372. 2 boxes for Operation Christmas Child from Maggie's Girl Scout troop
373. The early morning sun, shining golden on the fields ready for winter
374. The flocks upon flocks of Canadian geese migrating over our house, calling to each other. Hearing them long after I can no long see them
375. Seeing the hawk watch the geese, high on his perch
376. Girls night out!
377. Pastor Tim's corny jokes
378. Thanksgiving hymns
379. Matthew 6:25-33 "don't worry"
380. Maggie and Jessie watching "Arthur Christmas" and saying along "a child's been missed!"
381. Jessie singing "'inder-Ella!"

Hot Chocolate

And what goes best with a cold, snowy day? Hot Chocolate, of course! I found this recipe for Nesquik copy cat and I like it a lot better!  It is so easy, and may become some Christmas gifts, shhhh!

Chocolate Milk mix:
1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa
2/3 cup white sugar
Pinch of salt

Mix together & store in air tight container. Mix 1-2 tablespoons with hot or cold milk and enjoy! If making cold, use a small amount of hot tap water with mix before adding milk -- this will help dissolve the mix and make it nice & smooth!

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SNOW!!!

We had a lot of fun playing in the snow this morning.