Thanksgiving Tradition

This year, we celebrated our third annual thanksgiving tradition with the girls. We had our "Eating the Plates" pilgrim dinner, and once again, had such a great time learning about the pilgrims, eating like they did (which was NOT turkey and stuffing!), and following their rules and manners.

As I said last year, it is HARD work to be a Pilgrim momma! I told Mark that now I know why Pilgrims were not attractive women. They were working too hard trying to cook all this food!! In fact, as we looked at three years worth of pictures of this tradition, I have a ponytail in, and barely any makeup on my face by the time we get around to picture taking every year.

It's quite a process! But, as the girls get older, I have some great helpers who enjoy the cooking part as much as the eating part!

This year, Kendyll made the Indian Pudding all by herself, as well as shucked the corn, mixed ingredients for the other dishes, set the table, and wrote the menus and rules.

Of course, I wasn't trying to be a slave driver. She actually decided to do our traditional dinner for her semester project for school. So, she spent alot of time working on both the meal, and her final display! It looked great!! And, I was so proud of her for really planning the entire board from start to finish. I did help her with the cutting-board and gluing on the papers, but she did the rest completely by herself. GREAT job, my big pilgrim girl!

This year's pilgrim meal was the same as past years: Succotash Stew, Corn Soup, Indian Pudding, Baked Butternut Squash, Pumpkin Bread, Bannock Cakes with maple syrup, and Swizzle (cider) to drink.

And, the girls ACTUALLY liked it this year! That was a first! Carlie had three helpings of succotash stew. The only food not feeling any love at all was the butternut squash. :)

The rules were the same as well: 1) No forks allowed (eating with fingers was common for pilgrims) 2) You must eat all that you are given (love that rule!) 3) You may wear your hat except when you are toasting 4) Children must stand to eat (it was rude for them to sit in the presence of adults) 5) Wash your hands before you stick them in the pot. 6) Do not scratch your lice at the table. (There were many funny rules, and those are just a few...)

Some other funny things about the pilgrims...

They were very content with very little. They felt that to have too many "things" was to be excessive, and they preferred to live simply.

Because they had little, they shared what they had. For example, during dinner, they all shared one cup, and passed it around the table. (Carlie LOVES this part of dinner, and usually guzzles more than her share of cider. :)

They also ate on stale bread, to save on the effort of washing dishes and because they usually didn't have enough plates. Once again, the children were expected to share with each other.

The Pilgrims worked HARD every day, with the women spending many, many hours in the kitchen preparing the meals. The men sometimes only stopped and stood by the fire to eat quickly before returning to their hard work outside.

There are definitely some GREAT lessons to learn from the Pilgrims about hard work, contentment, and selflessness. We spent some time talking about these character traits with our girls, and reminding ourselves about the importance of those things as parents and adults in this world! I enjoyed hearing the girls understand and appreciate how much more difficult their lives were than ours. (Maybe I can use that the next time they complain about cleaning their room or something awful like that. :)

Of course, the other part of this tradition, is the annual celebration of "Daddy Eats Beans" day. Mark detests beans, but he eats them every year on this day only, (since he has to finish what is on his plate!), and the girls go crazy with excitement as they watch him moan and groan.

Even Abby Kate got into it this year and has been chanting for weeks and weeks "Daddy eat beans! Daddy eat beans!" Oh, the giddiness of these girls.

And, here is Kendyll showing her completed project to Gammy and Grandma at Grandparent's Day last week. There were so many great projects, as always, and we are always fascinated to see what different children come up with!

Kendyll's program was especially good this year to me, and Mark and I both talked later about how many times we cried listening to these sweet kids reciting scripture and poetry. It is definitely my favorite day of the year at Providence. :)

The second graders recited Psalm 111 this year, and I have asked Kendyll to repeat it to me many times, especially when we're driving in the car and I just want to hear scripture (especially coming out of her sweet mouth!). There was a day a few weeks ago, when I was sad. In fact, I was fighting back tears on the way to school that morning. All of a sudden, I hear Kendyll speaking these words, and they were so good for my heart:

Psalm 111

Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart

in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

The Lord's works are great,

studied by all who delight in them.

All that He does is splendid and majestic;

His righteousness endures forever.

He has caused His wonderful works to be remembered.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate.

He has provided food for those who fear Him;

He remembers His covenant forever.

He has shown His people the power of His works

by giving them the inheritance of the nations.

The works of His hands are truth and justice;

all His instructions are trustworthy.

They are established forever and ever,

enacted in truth and uprightness.

He has sent redemption to His people.

He has ordained His covenant forever.

His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

all who follow His instructions have good insight.

His praise endures forever.

The Thanksgiving holiday is one I love. And, many of you who have been reading my blog a while, already know my feelings about how easily Thanksgiving gets lost in the shuffle between Halloween and Christmas. (Go here to read more of my rant...)

This year, I look forward to being with family throughout Thanksgiving week. Yes, this was a hard year, but we are able to acknowledge---with ease---all the beautiful blessings our family has received even on the most difficult of days. We give thanks for so many things, including each and every one of you who are reading these words. Where would we be without you? Thank you for your support, love, prayers, and encouragement...and for continuing even now to lift us up to the Great Comforter. And, thank you, God, for your amazing, steadfast love and comfort. It surpasses my understanding every single day. Thank you for our Chase, and also for our three sweet, amazing girls and their hearts for You. We are so incredibly blessed.

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him."