HAPPY THANKSGIVING

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven."

~ Johannes A. Gaertner

Thanksgiving Day is a very important day in the United States. There are many things that are especially related to the celebrations of the Thanksgiving Day. These include Thanksgiving turkey trivia, pilgrims, thanksgiving proclamation, thanksgiving as a national holiday and other things. Some of such facts are mentioned here which will not only help you enhance your knowledge about Thanksgiving Day but also make you enjoy this day with even more zeal.



*Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States.


 *The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.

 *The pilgrims arrived in North America in December 1620.

*The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America.


 *The pilgrims sailed on the ship, which was known by the name of 'Mayflower'.


 *They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day in the fall of 1621.


*They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

*The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.


*The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in the year 1621 and invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians also to the feast.


*The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited there.


 *The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

*Abraham Lincoln issued a 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving. Whereas earlier the presidents used to make an annual proclamation to specify the day when Thanksgiving was to be held.


 *President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in the year 1939. He did so to make the Christmas shopping season longer and thus stimulate the economy of the state.


 *Congress passed an official proclamation in 1941 and declared that now onwards Thanksgiving will be observed as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November every year.


*Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States. But it was Thomas Jefferson who opposed him. It is believed that Franklin then named the male turkey as 'tom' to spite Jefferson.


 *The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920's.


 *When the Pilgrims arrived in North America, the clothing of the Native Americans was made of animal skins (mainly deer skin).


 *On December 11, 1620 the first Pilgrims (or Puritans, as they were initially known) landed at Plymouth Rock.


 *By the fall of 1621 only half of the pilgrims, who had sailed on the Mayflower, survived. The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to give a thanksgiving feast.


I am blessed to be able to spend time this Thanksgiving with my family. I am so grateful we are all healthy and strong. What a blessing to live in this choice land and to have the restored gospel. We are so blessed and let us always give thanks! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

A candy Thanksgiving Turkey all the kids made!

Pictures of the Week

This is what Julia does when she finds the camera and plays with it without me knowing about it :)

Julia is so silly, smart, creative and funny. Today she got to give the scripture in primary. She was very confident and wasn't scared at all. She loved it :) I'm glad it was a good experience for her.

Conversation today with Julia after church:

Julia: Mom, thanks for helping me in primary with my scripture today.......but Sis. Noot (her primary teacher) didn't see it.

Me: Why not?

Julia: She was talking to the guys in black and then she came to my class and I got white gum. You know the guys who wear black.

Me: Guys in black, what is that?

Julia: You know the guys we see in the black....missionaries.

Me: Oh, she was talking to the missionaries

Julia: Yep.

Christian 11 months

Such a little man!

Wow! Christian is on the move. He loves to pull himself up on everything he can. He loves to walk along the furniture as well. We got him a chair to walk around in but he doesn't know quite how to use it. He can push himself backwards and then gets frustrated. He mostly likes to climb on it and push it around. He is learning to wave and clap but doesn't quite have it but its coming. He LOVES to be outside and loves to go on walks in the stroller. He gets so upset and starts to cry when you bring him inside or shut the door on him.

Go Cougars

He loves to stand up where ever he is

He still isn't sleeping through the night and that is frustrating. But he sleeps in for me until about 8:30am so its really nice not to have to get up at 6am. He takes really good naps but has to be in his own bed or car seat to even fall asleep. Church is hard because we have to go right about his nap time. I try and rock him to sleep but it only lasts for about 30-45 mins depending on what is going on.

He is doing better at eating and will at least try the things I put in front of him and depending on how hungry he is. He LOVES applesauce so at least he is getting some fruit. He still loves Cheerios in the morning and yogurt. He really likes crackers and bread. When he does try things he puts it in his mouth and chews for awhile and then if its not something he likes he just spits it back out.

Such a little flirt

Christian is such a happy boy. I love to go into his room in the morning and see him either standing up or sitting up and he has such a big smile on his face. He is starting to say mama and I love that. I will say 'where is mama?', and he will look right at me......so cute! He loves to look at the family pictures I have around the house. He just looks at them and smiles. I point out each person and he gets so happy. His favorite place to play is in the bathroom. I don't know what it is about the bathroom, he won't go into my room but loves the bathroom. So when he is up or we venture in the bathroom we have to keep the door shut and he gets so mad when you shut the door. Weird?! Christian likes to hear music too. Every time a cartoon or even the singing show 'The Sing Off' is on he will turn his head and watch and listen and eventually will bounce up and down.

Listening to the music on the TV

LIKES:
The Bathroom
Splashing in the tub
Applesauce
Being outside
Looking at family pictures

DISLIKES:
Sleeping through the night
Being forced to sleep by rocking
Being shut out of the bathroom or outside
Putting on clothes
Having his face and hands wiped off