A Thanksgiving Story

                          

 Thanksgiving is an important holiday in the Houston house. It is a wonderful time of thanking God for all that He has done. And because we get to have a day of feasting! 

 We had one dinner guest and then had more friends stop by later for fellowship, games, and dessert. We had a wonderful time that night, but it wasn't one of those Thanksgiving days that goes without a hitch.

 First off, I wasn't really expecting a big Thanksgiving due to the fact that my mom always goes a couple of weeks late with her pregnancies, which would land around Thanksgiving day.  I was very sad about this as I love having lots of people over. We did end up making plans however, so we knew that dinner would be up to Anna and I, due to the fact that my mom was in no state to prepare the meal. This wasn't too much of a stress as I had made Thanksgiving dinner last year and enjoyed it very much!

 Well surprise, surprise the little Houston decided to arrive Thanksgiving week. It started Monday afternoon with a regular check up at the Obstetrician's office and a non-stress-test. The doctor became concerned with the baby's heart rate decelerating, so they decided to monitor my mom and baby over night. They began to discuss whether my mom would need a c-section or if they could proceed with a natural birth. This, of course, caused concern for all of us back home. Anna and I were both supposed to be present at the birth but they decided that, in case anything went wrong, we should remain at home with all of the others.  
 Well, Tirzah Hope Houston was born at 6:22a.m. and she is a perfect little beauty!

Sleeping Beauty!

 Needless to say that the excitement of mom going to an appointment only three days before Thanksgiving, made us forget some very important things on our "To Do List". Keep in mind that we have only three days until Thanksgiving. 

 We shared the wonderful news when everyone else had woken up, and then we started the preparations to visit our new little sister. After we made our visit, Dad took all of us to Red Robin for a celebration dinner with some very close friends. After dinner we headed to our friend's house for a couple hours. As soon as we arrived home, everyone quickly got ready for bed as we were all quite exhausted from the day's excitement! 

As we pillowed our heads a small glimmer of remembrance entered my head. I knew that there was something that I was forgetting for Thanksgiving! Was it the turkey? But I succumbed to the sleep that I needed so badly.  

 Wednesday we spent trying to prepare the house for the upcoming holiday. That night we had Bible study and I went to the hospital to help Mom while Dad left to teach. As I sat there gazing into the face of this precious little girl and listening to my mom recount the story of the birth, I was hit like a bolt of lightning. Yes I had forgotten THE TURKEY!        

The infamous midnight turkey!

                                             

Oh don't get me wrong! We had a beautiful 25 pounder sitting right in the freezer. But that was the problem. It was still in the freezer!
 Seeing how exhausted my mom was after having a c-section caused me to bring my feelings of horror, distress, etc. into check. 

 This was no easy task as you can probably imagine. If you are struggling with imagining yourself in my place, let me help you out a bit. How would you feel if you realized the day before Thanksgiving that you had forgotten to take your twenty-five pound turkey out of the freezer?!!! Starting to understand?

 I frantically began trying to figure out a way to thaw this huge turkey by the next day. As these thoughts were rushing through my head, my mom told me that she figured it would be good to get it put in the roasting pan around 9 a.m. so that the turkey would be nice and ready for our 5p.m. dinner.
 I did venture to ask my mom exactly how long she usually thawed her turkey. I became very sick when she confirmed my fears with the answer, "Oh, usually about three days." I sort of figured that would be the answer but was foolishly hoping for a shorter answer.
 As my stomach continued to tie up into a bigger knot I frantically sent a text to one of my dear friends asking her what I would do. She tried to calm me down a little. Telling me that we would figure it all out. It didn't really help.  

 When my friend arrived to pick me up from the hospital, we began a Thanksgiving Eve search for a fresh 25lb turkey. This was very stressful but I knew it was in God's hands and I was willing to stay up till all hours to find one. Praise the Lord we found one! 

 The next day, after I had safely deposited the turkey into the roasting pan, I was able to laugh about it! I even shared our crazy midnight hunt that night with our guests and was shocked to find out that I was not the only one to have experienced this horror. That made me feel a little better.
 At the end of the day we had enjoyed food, made new friends, enjoyed fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and hey, we even had some funny stories to tell. I am just thankful that even though my Mom and newest sister weren't able to join us that day they were both alive and healthy, my sister and best friend Anna, was still with us and is now cancer free.

 It has been a wonderful year full of God's bountiful blessings! I thank Him for all that He has wrought in our lives this year! May we always be thankful for His wondrous blessings throughout life! 

"Thank you Lord for saving my soul. Thank you Lord for making me whole. Thank you Lord for giving to me, thy great salvation so rich and free!"

Before...

After!

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

German Chocolate Pie

Michael cut an excellent cheese tray!

I love this pair!

Michael looking very intense or is it tired from the midnight turkey hunt?

Dr. T. W.

Our dear neighbor.

Enjoying food and fellowship!

One of the beautiful place cards that a friend made for me!

Food, food, and...

More food!