A bitter sweet day

Today is the last day of a long and lovely weekend--and it has been bittersweet for me. Sweet, because I got to go to church and feel confirmed in my faith; bitter (a little) because my husband and son weren't there (Andrew threw up twice before church--and again after I left). I'm also reluctant to let go of this weekend, which has been mild-weathered and full of food and family (family who are also friends).

I'm not really looking forward to reality again tomorrow, especially since we start our mad dash to the end of the semester and things won't calm down for several weeks.

But tomorrow we're also planning to decorate our Christmas tree for family home evening, and I do love Christmas. I love the camaraderie, I love the decorations and the music, I love planning gifts for people I love--and most of all, I love the time to talk to my children about Christ and about hope.

So, a bittersweet day.

But we have enjoyed our week. We stayed in town, because Dan's brother was visiting. Instead of doing a big dinner on Thursday, we waited to have our feast yesterday, when Dan's sister Sarah could also be present. On Thursday, we still got together with family--everyone brought appetizers and finger food, which was much less stressful than a big meal. We spent the morning making pomegranate jelly and then spent the afternoon hanging out with family.

On Friday, we drove down to SG and enjoyed some beautiful fall weather. We had a picnic, followed by a very short walk and bike-ride with the children. (And yes, a little shopping was done, but not anywhere near opening hours.)

Saturday, I finished up the last batch of jelly (3, if you were wondering), Dan put together a twin bed for Evelyn (now we have to figure out what to do with the toddler bed currently sitting in our living room), we raked the last of our leaves, and then enjoyed our delayed Thanksgiving feast, where we had turkey, ham, rolls, mashed potatoes, beans, sweet potato casserole (our contribution), stuffing (with mushrooms and artichoke hearts--this family doesn't do anything the easy way), stuffed jalepenos, and, of course, pie. Lots of pie. I made a chocolate hazelnut pie that started out smelling like Nutella (but didn't end up tasting like it). It was very rich and Dan made a very strange face when he first tasted it (but later said it improved upon acquaintance. I think that's because he knew I would be hurt if he just left me with the strange faces).

And that brings us to today. I hope all our readers had a lovely long weekend full of things that make them happy (whether that is food, sleep, family, friends, shopping, or whatever the case may be).