Thank You, Thanksgiving.

Linus Van Pelt: In the year 1621, the Pilgrims held their first Thanksgiving feast. They invited the great Indian chief Massasoit, who brought ninety of his brave Indians and a great abundance of food. Governor William Bradford and Captain Miles Standish were honored guests. Elder William Brewster, who was a minister, said a prayer that went something like this:

"We thank God for our homes and our food and our safety in a new land. We thank God for the opportunity to create a new world for freedom and justice."

 I love Peanuts cartoons. Besides just being fun and bringing back happy memories of childhood, they are full of little bits of wisdom.

I love Thanksgiving. I love the wonderful food. I love reflecting on my blessings. I love spending the day with my family and friends. I love the smell of pumpkin pie and turkey and sweet potatoes. I love setting a pretty table with our best china and fancy stemware.

 This year I put a brown paper runner down the center of the table and we put pencils at all the places so that people could write what they are thankful for down on the paper. That was kind of a fun little twist on our yearly tradition of sharing the things we are thankful for at our meal.

I spent all day yesterday and this morning in the kitchen making preparations and listening to my favorite Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD.

Our dear friends Kitty and Dan shared our Thanksgiving with us this year. We were so happy to have friends here with us since all our extended family live far away. They brought a delicious broccoli casserole and some yummy vegetables and dip to share with us.

 Our feast was truly worthy of the holiday. I roasted a turkey with all the trimmings and made three homemade pies--two pumpkin and a pecan. Our meal just wouldn't be complete without candied sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and my mom's homemade rolls.

What are your must-haves for your holiday meals?

Tonight I relaxed with my boys. We watched "Elf" and played with our new Little People Nativity set.

Some of the things people at our table were thankful for:

• Food. Mom's good food. And Dad's.
• Rugby
• Rats
• BYU football, basketball, rugby and cross country
• Funny things that Danny says
• Sweet Daniel and Bono Baby (Kitty's and Dan's cute little dog)
• Dear friends and family
• Thanksgiving
• Going to church
• Mom
• David, Seth, Joel, Nate and Danny. Kitty and Dan.
• Poetry
• Laughing

I am so thankful for my husband and children, my family, my friends, my home, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, my Savior, the blessing of being able to communicate with my family through email, telephone and video chat, books, music, the beautiful world we live in, the men and women who serve our country through personal sacrifice so that we may be safe and continue to enjoy our freedoms,  and so very many other things. My life is full of more blessings than I can count.

I am thankful for Thanksgiving and the opportunity to reflect on my blessings and give special thanks to my Father in Heaven.

Now bring on Christmas! :)