Fun Before Thanksgiving

It's Sunday afternoon and I have finally checked off enough items from my to-do list to feel like I can spend a little time catching up on our blog. As you may notice, I'm trying some new collages (using a website called "picnik"... thanks to a tip from my very resourceful and talented friend, Heather Nickell!) Bear with me as I figure out what works (and what doesn't!)

So, getting back to our trip to Wisconsin... this post is about the first few days we were there, before Thanksgiving day. On Tuesday afternoon, my sister Laura, her husband Aron, and their two boys Gabriel and Micah arrived from Kansas. It was quite an exciting arrival because 10 minutes before they drove up, they received a call from their adoption agency that they had been matched with a child! God-willing, they will travel to China sometime next summer to bring home their new daughter, Gracia! We're all so excited to be able to welcome a precious new child to the family! Also on Tuesday, my brother Stephen, his wife Rachel, and their 2-year-old son, Keegan came to spend a couple of nights at my parents house with everyone.

My brother Steve with Norah and Keegan and my sister, Laura reading a book to Norah

On Wednesday we all had fun swimming at the YMCA at a nearby town.

Daniel and Gabriel had a lot of fun playing football with Scott and my dad.

My dear husband was so excited to try the deep-pit method of cooking our Thanksgiving turkey. Scott always enjoys helping our friends, the Bakkers do this in CA. So on Tuesday, he and my dad dug a pit in the ground and started burning firewood on Wednesday so they could get lots of hot coals. Things were looking good and they got the turkey ready to go. Much to Scott's disappointment, when they took the turkey out after cooking overnight, it was a little underdone. I don't think they took into account the frozen ground in Wisconsin (which isn't a factor here in CA!) The turkey still tasted delicious after finishing it off in the oven!