We're Thankful for Much!

Our paper turkeys with the colored "thankful feathers" are up on the wall again, just as they've been every year since 1995. I'd say we've come a long way. In 1995, Quincey and Emma were our only kids and the feathers say "food" and "toys." One feather says "Pinochle," so that was definitely the year the Browns came over from Redlands to spend the holiday with us in Chandler, AZ. Each year the feathers become more and more crowded with writing as our family grows and matures. And all the turkeys displayed together show quite a family history. This year, everyone wrote really small. A few kids even requested more than one feather--which made our turkey quite bushy.

We've just had a year of unexpected changes and long separations. But by Thanksgiving we were all together again at last, and settled snug and warm in our new old house in Scobey, Monatana. (Jess left Moscow for Scobey in mid-August, and Quincey left Moscow for BYU-Provo a few weeks later.) Quincey was NOT going to be with us for Thanksgiving, but she and Jess and Hugh surprised us all, and it was a blessing to have her here for our first Scobey Thanksgiving. (I'll tell that story later.)

So our bushy turkey of 2010 is crowded with feathers filled with long lists in tiny script. The lists include the warm reception we've received from the people of Scobey; the busy little dental practice that Jess bought (it's in a LOG CABIN--he feels RIGHT AT HOME); and all those friends and neighbors and visiting family members who helped us back in Moscow with everything it takes to move a big family with loads of stuff. And that's just a START.

Ivy, I must mention, really has gotten into the spirit of things. Her list grows daily. "I am thankful for pie," she'll say. "Will you write that on my feather?"