Our Thanksgiving Tree

This is our Thanksgiving tree. This kid and mama made poster has come out two weeks before Thanksgiving, for the last five years. For two weeks leading up to this wonderful holiday we prepare our hearts for gratefulness by putting leaves on the tree that tell of our blessings. There are no limitations. It can be a very serious thanks or a silly one. After Thanksgiving, when I take it down to store it for the next year, most of the leaves come off. But one thanks leaf from each person is left up permanently as a sort of history. These leftover leaves tell the story of stages of life, of what was accomplished, of what was precious to a 2 year old. Some are left from family members who shared our meal. I look forward to reading them each year. To remember the good and the silly and the God gifts. Here are a few of the things we have been thankful over the years:

• Sicily is thankful for ladybugs (she had been a ladybug for Halloween)
  
• Chris is thankful for a good God
• Analiese is thankful for Chris and Sicily
• Megan is thankful for red leaves (our beautifully striking front yard trees of our new house)
  
• Steven is thankful for good neighbors (the first year we moved to Matthews)
  
• Jon is thankful for turkeys and turkey hunters
  
• Annie is thankful for laughter
• Megan is thankful for my beautiful healthy family (written the year Analiese had two surgeries)
  
• Steven is thankful that the whole family has friends (written during the 2nd year of law school, after a rough first year, when we were all starting to feel at home and making friends that we'll treasure always)
  
• Analiese is thankful for her pink blanket (still has it)
  
• Sicily is thankful for bananas (she eats one daily)
  
• Chris is thankful for Analiese and Sicily