Happy, Happy, HAPPY Thanksgiving everyone!!!! A little belated in America and even more so in Canada, but I hope you had (or have) the most wonderful time counting all your blessings with friends and family nearby, whenever that time comes for you! And I hope you REJOICE as we get to celebrate the wonder of the Christmas season ahead and prepare for a happy New Year!!!
Dearest Emily and Anna,
We came home to DECORATE! Mikela set up the Nativity on the fireplace and Dad put the lights on the tree. We are decorating the Christmas tree now and drinking hot chocolate and made a fire to enjoy during the decorating and I just had to get on here and include you in it! 🙂
We had a BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, WARM THANKSGIVING together!!!!! I was even moved to tears as we sat, so many, around the Thanksgiving table and let each one share what they were most grateful for this season. So, so, soooo Grateful.
Dear Sister Hoffman,
I LOVE thanksgiving!!! What a blessed time of year! Such a great opportunity to pause and reflect on the many blessings we have received in our lives.It was so great to have Isaac home with us for a couple of days- his first thanksgiving in 3 years! It was also great to have mom and dad Hoffman with us. Her knee is recovering very well and they are flying back to utah this Wednesday.
We also had our cousins Joni and Kasey and Benita with us. Started to day off with our traditional 35th annual ward turkey bowl. That left us all pretty sore for a few days, but no injuries. We had a great time!
Then the amazing thanksgiving feast! The Overdorfs and LoriKay joined us for dessert. Sister Overdorf surprised the babies with a little stuffed animal puppy for each of them that she had hiding in her coat pocket. It was so dear- they ran around and showed everyone, saying perfectly… “Yook what Overdorf gave!!! Her had it in her pocket!”
Those babies are just a mile a minute- so adorable!!
We did our traditional around the table, “I’m thankful for”….
We missed you both so bad, but realized you were actually with us. We felt your spirit with us and knew that we are together…
We know and care for a family in the sunbury ward whose house burned down several months ago. They are all ok, but they lost everything. We made them some of the those fuzzy quilts with Grandma- so fun!
I took isaac back to the airport early Saturday morning. So glad he will be back in just 3 short weeks! So grateful for that! He is such an awesome son. He’s doing great at BYU. Now he just has to find his awesome wife!
I remember how much I loved Thanksgiving and Christmas in the mission field. The first year I was in Bakersfield. We had some very rich members that invited us to several thanksgiving meals that were amazing.
The next year I was in a new area in canoga park. We were in a small Spanish branch- they don’t really celebrate thanksgiving, so my companion and I ate macaroni and cheese in our apartment on thanksgiving. We didn’t even care. We were so happy and engaged in the work.
For Christmas we had a ton of fun as missionaries giving secret Santa gifts to needy investigator or less active member families. I also had a beautiful white Christmas my first year in the mission field. I had the opportunity of baptizing Dora Gomez on my birthday. She was this awesome lady from Guatemala that lived in the tiniest little house with her son. They didn’t even have an bathroom in their house– they shared a “bath house” with about ten tiny houses. She was so humble and loved the gospel. It was the best kind of white Christmas ever.
I love you both so much! I am so proud of the way you are serving our savior Jesus Christ and blessing the lives of so many. It is the greatest work in the world! I pray that our family can open our mouths and share the good news with EVERYONE!!!
Pray for you daily and Love you so much!
Daddy
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A few more moments I’m thankful for this past weekend:
Francesca says
I love reading your family adventures! Sounds like a great time!
We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Italy but as a family we try to have a “thank you moment” every night before going to bed to remember all the good things we had during the day! We have so much to be grateful for!!!
Francesca
CaMarie Hoffman says
Francesca, That is SO INSPIRING! A WONDERFUL thing to do! Thank you for sharing! I think we will incorporate this habit of a ‘thank you moment’ every night before family prayers – just to get us all thinking to thank! What a wonderful way to live! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! C
Toni Arbogast says
Thanks for sharing such a great post! So thankful to know your family! As we are empty nesters and celebrate our grands – we love watching your kiddos every Sunday! Thanks for sharing!
Danielle Pate says
I’m glad you had a great Thanksgiving. My favorite part of mine was when my daughter told me I cook better than my mom. 🙂
CaMarie Hoffman says
Danielle, that is a BIG achievement! The day you cook better than your mom! lol! Wonderful for you and your daughter! Merry Christmas!!