Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was our first Thanksgiving here in Kharkov, Ukraine. This holiday was greatly anticipated by all of us. The girls were all determined to have good food (and plenty of it!), so we searched many stores to find the needed ingredients. In the end... it all came together wonderfully and we had great food and a great day together.
Each of the girls took 1/3 of the cooking responsibility and cooked at home. Our ovens here are pretty small, so we had to divide carefully. Carrying hot food to our place ended up being quite the challenge... it took more than one trip for each family. Fortunately, we were the hosts, so we didn't have to transport anything. :) We set up two tables in our living room and borrowed chairs from a friend. It was a great fit and all worked out well. We ended up finding turkey breasts at a store here, so we ate those as well as a small chicken. The only tradition we missed out on was the sweet potatoes, but it wasn't missed too much with all the other food we had! We also cooked 6 desserts and a cheeseball for the day. Needless to say... we're still enjoying the leftovers! :)
Our whole team was together, plus Branden (see picture to the left), a Canadian we met on the plane ride over to Kharkov from Vienna. (Yes, Thanksgiving is a tradition even in Canada... they just celebrate theirs at a different time.) After eating, we all played a few games together and just enjoyed the day. In the evening we had our small group and our friend Valera came for that. It was a long day, but went by quickly!
We thought of many of you all throughout the day. We each missed being with our families, but thanks to email and Skype, we were able to communicate a little hello! We hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. We do thank God for blessing us so richly... it was wonderful to spend a day enjoying His blessings and thanking Him for all He has done and continues to do!