our Canadian Thanksgiving

Since today is Thanksgiving Monday in Canada, I thought I would share a little about our first Canadian Thanksgiving since moving to Germany. We celebrated 2 weeks ago when my brother was still here, and it was a sort of unofficial goodbye party for him. It was also, of course a celebration of both where I come from, and the home we've created here for ourselves in the last two years. I so enjoyed being able to bring a favorite holiday from my old home to my new one. 
One "Happy Turkey", 2 pumpkins from the garden, 10 hours of prep, 15 full & happy guests, 1 giant bonfire, plenty of laughs and a bit of time spent giving thanks made for an incredible evening. Our wonderful friends hosted us at their home in a small village just outside of Marburg. I am so thankful for them, and for this great community of people we've found to share life with. The lighting wasn't always great and a lot of these photos are not Pinterest-worthy. But that doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is that after two years here in Germany, I finally feel at home. And it's thanks in huge part to the people around that campfire. 

(Also: my husband is the best cook I know, and that's sure something to be thankful for.)  

our little "give thanks" jar. we later all shared something we were thankful for around the campfire.

prepping appetizers and salads. we really had it all you guys!

Fall deco and our menu.

putting the final touches on the vegetable dishes. We had mashed potatoes, cranberries, stuffing, green beens, brussel sprouts and roasted yams & beets. Yum!

    

I succeeded in making pumpkin pie without canned pumpkin! So much better, though a bit more work. I made an apple crisp as well, since I was afraid people wouldn't like it, but in the end it all got eaten up. 

So, now we know that Waldi and I can pull off dinner for 15 people!