Thankfulness

It's a quiet Monday morning. As I work on the this post, I am alone for the moment. I have my pumpkin flavored coffee in my favorite snowman mug, my mosaic is designed, and I am enjoying the piece and quiet. We are waiting for the Big Storm to arrive sometime today, with a prediction of 18 inches of snow. I am skeptical that we will actually get that much snow.

We also have company who arrived last night from the Western Slope--the other side of the Rocky Mountains. Their grandchildren who live north of us are expecting their first baby, the first great grandchild, momentarily. Labor will be induced late Thursday if the baby boy does not arrive sooner, so our friends will be here for the week. It's always nice to have company in a normally quiet house.

I'll begin baking--I thought this morning--, but I am short some ingredients, which means a trip to the store first. Can you guess what I'll be making?

Jen and her husband will be hosting Thanksgiving brunch, so I'll take a pumpkin pie, a pecan pie, and cranberry relish.

I am also crocheting the little beanie hats that the grandchildren like so much. These are Nathan's. I made the one with the orange band and it seemed too small, so I used a larger hook on the second one and it seem to be sized better. Easy little hats. I'll make him a pair of mittens and fingerless gloves to with them. 

The house has worn its fall colors since the first of October, beginning with Halloween accents. I love the warmth of the fall colors, inspire of being a very pastel person, especially pink. Still I enjoy the fall colors both outside and inside.

I made the pompom turkeys a few years ago. They are silly little birds that make me smile. The candles, looking so realistic, are battery operated. They photography pretty 

realistically. 

We have so much to be thankful for with a full, rich life, surrounded by good friends, loving family, and good health. I spend some idle brain moments contemplating the reasons to celebrate Thanksgiving, which really is a relatively modern holiday. I think a lot about John Howland and his wife Elizabeth Tilley, my great grand parents, (13) who were brave enough to get on the rickety wooden ship to travel across a lot of water to start a new life. Howland was a 21 year old indentured servant to John Carver who served as governor of Plymouth colony from 1620-1621. The governor died tending his field of corn, probably as a result of a heat stroke and his wife soon after passed. His fortune went to John Howland as the eldest household member since they didn't have children to pass on their estate. 

John Howland is probably more well known for falling overboard on the Mayflower during a storm. No one knows why he was on deck during such a bad storm. He clung to the ship's halliard until he was rescued. 

You can read about John Howland in William Bradford's journal as he recorded daily life on the Mayflower voyage.

So I honor may family heritage as I celebrate Thanksgiving, realizing that I am a part of a very large family, for the Howlands have 11 million descendants, along with the couple's dozen children who combined have millions of descendants. Isn't that just simply incredible!

To you my dear friends, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving with lots good company, delicious foods, and abundant blessings.

Linking with Angie for Mosaic Monday. Join me there.