Nowak Thanksgiving 2016

Nowak family Thanksgiving is salty ham, rosemary turkey, Macy's parades balloons, newspapers stuffed with Black Friday advertisements, and a long walk around the neighborhood to work off the breakfast pie. Charlotte is the center of the Holiday these days, and she depleted the stock of sweet baby gherkins like she's had teeth forever.

I stayed mostly on plan this Thanksgiving, and LOVED this sweet potato casserole from Briana Thomas. My sister-in-law also made some stuffing with Ezekiel bread, and when the leftovers ran out, there was a celery and apple shaped hole in my heart. So good.

Two years ago at Nowak Thanksgiving, we announced that our first baby was a son, Christian Vir Nowak. I'm thankful we got to feel him wiggle, to love him, to carry him. I'm thankful now for the breathing, giggling daughter we have, with her full-faced smiles and her liberally imposed open-mouth kisses. Every milestone a treasure.

Matt and I are thankful for our families and for our family. God has been good to me, to us. Matt loves me even when I'm selfish. We laid in bed together on Thanksgiving night and named some things we were thankful for. The list was scattered; It was impossible to encompass everything in our lives in one fragmented list. I recently finished reading 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp, and though her writing style is a little bit flowery or wordy for me, her discovery of counting gifts is a treasure. Often we get caught up in what we don't have, discontentment piling up, and we forget to thank God for the beautiful life He has handed us. Count your blessings name them one by one.