Ex Pat Thanksgiving

My friend Rebecca invited us to join a bunch of other ex-pats at Toby's Carvery for an ex-pat Thanksgiving. I had been planning to cook and put on a big Thanksgiving dinner and invite friends over again like I did last year, but I was exhausted and this seemed like an offer I simply could NOT refuse. Sally lived in NY for a year or so and so she asked if they could join and we were happy to have them. I met some other ex-pats and I saw some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. Toby's is a very traditional British Carvery with all you can eat vegetables and yorkshire puddings, which meant we could have turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. I did make some pumpkin and pecan pies and after dinner had Sally and Lauren and Hugh and Mary over for Thanksgiving dessert.  

My friend Rebecca who I met on FB through a mutual friend in the US. The world really is a very small place. A great big thanks to Rebecca for inviting us for a great Thanksgiving dinner and evening out with a bunch of other Yanks! This year I find myself grateful for this journey I have been able to take in the UK, it has been a VERY difficult one, but I have recognised a strength I never knew I had and am really grateful for it.

My 34th Birthday

As the song goes "another year older and deeper in debt...." Hooray for another year on this planet. I seriously love life, not because I have everything I want, but because I have enough and I have what I need and that brings me joy. It is funny as I reflect back on my 34 years to see how I have evolved. I use to LOVE getting dressed up and going out, but now I can hardly wait to throw on one my favourite tie dye t-shirts and sweat pants. Who knew?! Since it was MY Birthday, after Church I decided that I was going to celebrate it in MY kind of swagger......comfort. So the tie dye went on and I enjoyed in my casual comfort. My Birthday is on our AMerican Thanksgiving every 7 years so I have been spoiled with good food, good family, and good gifts for a vast majority of my life. John did his best to try to celebrate it with good food and a cake from the kids, bless him for trying to fill the gaps. 

Surprise! Aparna and family rang the bell to sing Happy Birthday to me and brought me a delicious little chocolate cake to share. This made me feel so loved :) Aparna is my sista from another continent.

William eyed my cake up and wanted to have a go at my candle.

Serenading me

My lovely lovely friend.

Ads had to have wished me a Happy Birthday one hundred times. This girl was SO excited that I was going to have a special day. She is simply the sweetest.

Sure it wasn't the big turkey dinner with pies and family togetherness that I am used to, BUT I am finding that joy comes in different styles of celebrating big or small. This year the celebrating was the Hubs and the kiddo's, loads of snuggles and a new pair of running shoes, which made for one AWESOME day.

Family Fall 2012

Growing up we had a beautiful portrait of our family in our home. The only problem was as I got older I hated seeing this picture which now looked "dorky" to me. I swore at that time that when I was a mom I would always have an updated family photo. With digital camera's as inexpensive as they are and great photo printing websites with competitive prices it is really quite easy to get a nice big picture of your family for a little cost. Today I was on a mission to grab the tripod and get our new picture done replacing last years as quickly as possible. I think kids love seeing current pictures of their family, I personally think it makes them feel secure seeing everyone together, but that is just how I feel. Today I took over 100 photo's to get only a couple good ones. I should not have worn high heeled shoes as I was pushing the button and then running as the timer started to tick down and take the picture. We got a few that I liked and a few okay ones, but I was working with William and a timer. Now I have a whole year before I have to battle the kids to get a "nice" family picture again.

Diwali 2012

Aparna invited us to celebrate one of their days of Diwali celebration with them. Diwali is the festival of light and is one of the most important of festivals in the Hindi culture. 

William and Adi

Ads in her Marathi New Year saree from last year.

Aparna had invited Lauren and Sally to join the celebration as well so I brought Adessa's special Birthday dress that Aparna's mom made for her so that Lauren would have something festive to wear. It was funny just how nervous Ads was that something would happen to her special Birthday dress and it would get ruined OR that Lauren would want to keep it. Ads doesn't really care much about "things" so it shows me just how special this dress made by Aparna's mom is to Ads. We got the dress back just fine :)  

This is my FAVOURITE picture of Mau.

One of these things is not like the others.... Even if William had some traditional clothing to have worn I am willing to bet my life that he would not have.

The whole lot of us.

Along with many other things, Aparna is an unbelievable cook. It is always fun to eat and try new things at Apana's house. The kids opened their minds and mouths and feasted away.

Mother and daughter

It is quite obvious that the kids are having a great time.

Aparna's beautiful food creations.

Lauren and Aparna

Ads and Adi say that they are cousin/friends. The two of them are best buddies and play so nicely together as you can see in this picture. Ads always feels loved in Aparna's home and Aparna treats her like a little princess. If Ads were to ever run away from home I am pretty sure I would know where she went.

After we ate and Aparna told us about their traditions and festival we went outside to light off fireworks.

The kids had a great time playing with the sparklers and we almost caught Sally's car on fire letting off fireworks. Ooops. Sally moved her car which definitely put my heart at ease as the firework show carried on.

For today's part of celebrations Aparna performed a ceremony with Prashant where she blessed him and in return he gave her a gift. 

Aparna performing the blessing.

Aparna accepting her gift, which was a lovely new Guess handbag.

Aparna and Prashant are a gorgeous couple inside and out. I have a lot of admiration for the devoted way they live their lives to their family and their faith. I have found that our family's have a lot in common with one another as we are devoted to our family and our faith and we have loved learning more about their celebrations and watching the way they honour each other in their marriage and family. Thank you my friends for sharing your beautiful culture with us.....and Aparna's awesome cooking ;) ;)