Our mini-Thanksgiving

Once we got back home, we spent a few days simply relaxing. I did receive a beautiful bouquet from work on Saturday. It was so reassuring to know that they were still thinking of me, and that I was not going to be fired after taking almost 5 weeks off from work.
Otherwise, on Friday and Saturday, Joern and I watched lots of DVDs and talked a lot about the past couple of weeks.
By Sunday though, we were both ready to start to get back to life. We decided that celebrating Thanksgiving would be a good idea. Instead of the major Thanksgiving/Christmas party that we've thrown for 5 years now, this Thanksgiving was simple. Just Joern and myself. We celebrated the things we were thankful for. Celebrating the holiday this way was really wonderful for the soul. Dinner included: delicious turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, and my friend Carol's corn pudding.




Besides our wonderful dinner, we also followed another Roesner family tradition. We lit the first candle of our advent wreath. Growing up, I remember my aunt always had a beautiful advent wreath, but it was never something at my house. When I moved to Germany, which is Christmas country, immediately noticed advent wreaths everywhere! I finally got Joern to break-down and buy a wreath last year. I see this will now be a lasting tradition in our home no matter where we live.

Of course, don't ask me why the candle is so askew. I fixed it after the picture.

All things considered, our day on Sunday was a perfect way to re-enter our real lives to get us through till Christmas. Of course, I am hoping that next Thanksgiving marks a return to our gigantic holiday get-together, with all the hoopla involved. But for this year, simplicity has become key.