This is the kids’ table.

Thanksgiving was incredible. Great people and great food–even if I cooked most of it! And lots of thanks to Mom and Beth for their great contributions! After dinner, Ed, a friend of ours who is a missionary in Cameroon, gave us a mini-piano concert. The house rang with classical music. It was such a treat. I closed my eyes and thought I was in heaven for a few moments… What is it about music that makes the soul soar?

The next day we enjoyed the leftovers–not once but twice! And we schlepped the Christmas decorations out of the storage room, box by box, cranked the Christmas music up, rolled our sleeves up, and hung the lights… And our home glows with the joy and magic of Christmas now.

The next day was Shabbat. We hung out at the house and enjoyed leftovers again! Not once, but twice! The weather has finally gotten chilly, and we are enjoying some fall color in our neighborhood. I snapped a few photos.

This is our backyard red oak that finally turned red, or should I say red, yellow, and still green a bit?

The Japanese maple is beautiful now.

Sunday we went to brunch at one of my husband’s favorite restaurants, St. Martin’s. It is a quaint, old-world French bistro, and they serve an amazing brunch. It was so much fun because our daughter joined us!

[If I saw him on the street and didn’t know him, I’d ask who he was…]

Then we went to a movie…

Then we put our feet up at Starbuck’s.

We came home and ate leftovers again. I know most people would be tired of all the leftovers and complain about it, but we love it. Hard to believe–but we still have leftovers…

And that is our story of four days of feasting… on the the fat of the land… the wealth of family… and the treasure of time spent together… the gift of rest… the sparkle of holiday… and the goodness of God. I truly feel full and grateful.