thanksgiving weekend

this break that we've been waiting for- it finally came!
i started my thanksgiving holiday early. i skipped shakespeare tuesday night, and was home and in bed by around 9. it was the perfect beginning to a delicious weekend!


wednesday i spent the morning looking for a cheesecake pan. literally 3 hours of digging through boxes in the kitchen. it was horrible! but i had to find it so i could make a gluten free cheesecake for our dessert night at the vandewydeven's. i eventually did find it, and made a pretty good cheesecake with it. it was actually real good for a first try! my favorite church service is the thanksgiving eve one. i love the thankful pumpkins, i love the beautiful cornucopias, i love how predictable the service is, i love the little ones who tell you they're thankful for their kitty, or their sister. and i love love love that everyone comes home. sitting in the back of the sanctuary with 10 people i love and rarely get to see, getting looks from parents to quiet down...nothing can beat that!
our family also participates in a little pre-thanksgiving dessert feast after church. we usually host it, but because of the move, the vandewydevens had it this year. basically, it's just 5 or 6 families getting together with so many kids (except we're all college students and almost adults now) and a ton of dessert. like 4 pies, cheesecake, brownies, fruit cobbler, cookies, and other desserts i already forgot. we just sit and chat it up for hours. so, so good. miss.kristen and i chilled together most of the time. it was wonderful!


thanksgiving is always spent at my aunt's. this year lynette and i did something new though- we ran a 5k turkey trot in huntington beach thanksgiving morning. it was for a cause my cousin hannah is super passionate about- clean water! so good! our run alone gave 4 people clean water for 20 years!! my brother flew in around lunch time (i am beyond thankful he got to come back!) and we all met at my aunt's. just like we do every year. we sat and watched one of my younger cousin's football film, shared ridiculous roommate stories, and played games. we ate. and ate. i had dinner at 4, and again at 6:30. and we celebrated! hannah and em have birthdays right after thanksgiving, so our day always includes birthday cake and presents too. i had a thankful post already. but i am so blessed, and am so thankful for those blessings! each day, not just thanksgiving! 


yesterday was hannah's birthday. happy birthday to my sweetest, most soft-spoken, loving, full-of-faith, beautiful cousin! i love you hanni!
we celebrated her last night with traditional italian pizza. except i had soup. but i still celebrated. and it wouldn't be an outing with the lew part of my family if we didn't get dessert. so we stopped for donuts and ice cream on the way home. so delicious! thanks for having a birthday hanni!


today is my sister's birthday. i'm celebrating her all day! (currently celebrating from peet's, where i'm supposed to be doing homework..) we're having birthday lunch with her at my mom's (paninis and potatos, with brownies) and birthday dinner with my dad (lucille's!). i'm so thankful for my little sister! thanks for having a birthday emac!


tomorrow's going to be an uneventful day. well, that's what i'm predicting. which is why this post happened today. i don't think there will be anything blog-worthy tomorrow. just some church, sushi, and picking up my best friend from the airport! lots of homework and housecleaning too..
my prayer for you is that you had such a thankful thanksgiving, full of family, friends, and delicious food.


ps. i'll post november pictures during a homework break sometime this week! i have lots to share!