Thanksgiving 2010

 

This was a year of firsts for me.

It was my first Thanksgiving with James

And it was my first Thanksgiving away from the Staples family.

Although they were deeply missed

I am very lucky to have such wonderful in-laws

And I am happy to report

No tears.

All smiles.

(at least for me - not so much for Mama Staples)

 

We got into Virginia Tuesday evening.

We had a delicious dinner at Coastal Flats at Tysons Corner.

Favorite mall ever.

Wednesday was filled with relaxing.

The Barker Bowl of course.

(more on that to come)

And what else...

Harry Potter!

Thoughts anyone?

Personally...

I loved it!

And then of course.

Thursday.

The big day.

The Barkers always have Thanksgiving with the Inoueys.

Super good family friends.

I just adore Jay and Karen.

We also had another sweet family join us from their ward.

The Hiatts.

Such sweet people - with a little one on the way.

 

Since my Mother-in-law is basically Relief Society woman of the year

She made us all homemade aprons to cook in.

Even though she did most of the cooking

she liked to make us feel like we helped out.

But in all reality.

She is super woman.

Of course the table was decorated to perfection! 

And here we are.

Stuffed to the brink.

To say the least we ate and ate and ate.

Which is just what you should do on Thanksgiving.

Right?

This year we have SO much to be grateful for.

This week we were especially grateful to Jim and Ann.

Thanks for making our Thanksgiving so wonderful.

We are more than spoiled with the two of you.

And of course.

Katie, Vonn, Allison, and Lizzie.

Games, PJ's, iPad wars, and bad navigation.

Certainly wouldn't be the same without you guys!

Both James and I are working on being grateful for the simple things in life.

I am incredibly blessed to have James as my husband.

He is such a wonderful example to me.

This week we were especially grateful to have a few prayers answered concerning some questions about jobs and our future.

We were reminded once again that our Heavenly Father has a hand in everything in our lives.

We have certainly felt our prayers being answered since we have been married.

What a blessing it is to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.

And what a blessing it is to have each other this Holiday season.

We've got a lot coming at us here in the next few weeks.

Here's to a great finish to the best year of our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Let the Christmas Joy begin!