Thanksgiving 2016 - Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Thanksgiving 2016 | Life at Spring Meadows

Thanksgiving | Life at Spring Meadows

The season is changing fast. It seems it was yesterday I placed the beautiful pumpkins and hay bales at the driveway entrance and began plans for our Thanksgiving celebration. Now here we are at the beginning of the Christmas season (which I love)! Pumpkin soup is on the menu for the next few days as I make use of the many pumpkins scattered around the yard and on the porches!

Our theme for Thanksgiving this year, Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart, is the faith story of our family. We have so much for which we are thankful and blessed beyond measure. This year we did not count the empty chairs around the table but instead gave thanks for those who are with us and not in a place far away.

After a wonderful family Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, we traveled to Virginia to enjoy Thanksgiving with another part of our family. The food was delicious at both meals, the road trip was fun and relaxing, and the scenery was incredible, but most of all, being with our family is the thing I enjoyed the most.

The feast at both family Thanksgiving meals included traditional Southern fare. The cornbread dressing my daughter makes is fabulous. Both her grandmothers would be proud! My husband usually smokes our ham and turkey, but I baked the ham instead. It turned out more like jerky thanks to distractions and my forgetfulness. The ham at the second family meal turned out much better!

The Cranberry Relish we serve with cornbread dressing is one of my son’s favorites. I forgot to make it ahead of time, so no cranberry relish this year at Thanksgiving! I will be grinding those cranberries and oranges next week and it will be on the Christmas table for sure!

It was a blessing this year to have someone at our table celebrating her first Thanksgiving! Have I mentioned that we have a wedding planned in the spring? Yes, you will hear more about that as the plans progress!

The inspiration for the tablescape came from a visit to an antique store in Leeds, Alabama, a small city close by that offers several antique stores. In early Spring, while shopping for old windows for our new workshop, I found a set of dishes in excellent condition at Bama Antiques and Flea Market. Another store I discovered in Leeds and will share more about them in an article later is The Depot Architectural Antiques. It has become one of my favorite places to shop! They offer a selection of old doors and windows from homes as far back as the 1890s. If you are not familiar with Leeds, you might miss the shop which is located in the old section of town. It is worth visiting for your Pinterest-inspired projects! Check them out on Facebook at The Depot Architectural Antiques. You will see beautiful things they have created with old furniture, doors, and more!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had, and now, Christmas is here! I hear bells ringing. I believe Santa is getting his sleigh ready, bags packed, and he will be visiting some excited kids in just a few short weeks! Have you been good this year? Santa is checking his list, and he knows!

Thanksgiving | Life at Spring Meadows
Thanksgiving | Life at Spring Meadows
Thanksgiving | Life at Spring Meadows
Thanksgiving | Dishes from an antique store provided the inspiration for the tablescape.
Thanksgiving | Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart.
Thanksgiving | Pumpkins, gourds, fall leaves, and candles set the mood for our Thanksgiving holiday.
Thanksgiving |The beautiful colors of fall!
Thanksgiving | Life at Spring Meadows
Thanksgiving | Table setting included napkins from a local antique store.
Thanksgiving | Fireplace Mantel in Dining Room
Thanksgiving | Dining Room Mantel
Thanksgiving | The scarecrow has been around for a while!
Thanksgiving | This scarecrow is similar to Elf on a Shelf! You never know where you will find him!
Thanksgiving | Breakfast Room Tablescape
Thanksgiving | Kitchen Mantel
Thanksgiving | Fall is about harvest! Our scarecrows are happy!
Thanksgiving | A collection of "whatnots" on the dining room buffet
Thanksgiving | Happy faces to greet you!
Thanksgiving | The donkey collectible holds cloves that smell wonderful!
Thanksgiving | There is a turkey in the bathroom!
Thanksgiving | Back Porch with old ice cream freezer with sunflowers
Thanksgiving | Mini Pecan Pies are so good!
Thanksgiving | Lemon Pie! Yum!
Thanksgiving | Traveling to Virginia