Happy Birthday, Henry & Thanksgiving - November 26, 2020

Henry's 8th birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, so we started this special day with a birthday candle in breakfast sausage and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday." Henry's original due date was on Thanksgiving (thankfully, he waited until the Monday after since we hosted all the Roes for the holiday that year!). So it was fun to celebrate on Thanksgiving this year and reminisce about his arrival to join our family. 

This was the first time since we've been married that we haven't spent the Thanksgiving holiday together with the Roes. It felt a bit melancholy as we prepared for the day, but when we decided to invite our friends, the Nakanishi family, to join us for an "American" Thanksgiving, we had a renewed sense of gratitude.  
 

It was a simple meal - just the basic Thanksgiving traditional foods - turkey (Roe style), mashed potatoes (Moldenhauer recipe) and gravy, homemade stuffing (Roe recipe), green beans, corn and sourdough bread. And Jacob's fabulous pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. 

Nobody went hungry!

After we ate, the kids and dads enjoyed playing pool while the moms chatted.

And then a new tradition - a Nerf war! Our friends hadn't been acquainted with Nerf guns before, so we were happy to introduce them.

Micah and Raisa vs.

Kai and Henry

Even the dads got in on the action (while the Lions played in the background, of course).

The Nerf war gave us a lots of laughs and Henry said it was the best part of his Thanksgiving birthday!