Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was not at all typical for us.  Living in a hotel far away from everyone we knew with barely any of our worldly possessions has really helped us to focus on what is important in life.  I still have so much to be thankful for.  I can't help but feel gratitude for my healthy family.  We have everything we need and more.

We spent Thanksgiving morning moving...no, not moving into a house but across the hall into a different hotel room.  This alone was a huge blessing for us because even though this room isn't bigger it has two separate bedrooms.  It is so nice to not have all seven of us sleeping in the same room.  Last night was the first night and it was a little strange to only have Bob and Calista in the same room as me.  Then I started thinking of how strange it was that I slept in the same room with my kids for so long that it felt strange not to.  haha.  The best thing is that now Calista can take a nap in our room and we can shut the door so everyone doesn't keep waking her up.

Once we were settled, it was surprising how much stuff we really did have in the hotel we started baking.

Isn't that the smallest kitchen?  The oven isn't even full size.  But I was able to bake a ham and a couple pies.  We went to a friend in the wards house for Thanksgiving dinner.  Everyone is so friendly that it really helped us not feel as sad being away from family.

We have already started setting up for Christmas. 

I know this gingerbread guy is a little gory, but he came broken and I'm happy that the kids decided to make it work instead of crying.

Someone even gave us a tree.

The stores are all decorated.

We did not do any Black Friday shopping this year.  There is one store on base that does it and I heard people camp out at 3am.  I can only imagine everyone at the same store shopping at the same time.