Thanksgiving Day we had a family birthday party for Becca. She made panda and lion cupcakes and we had her favorite meal for dinner: stir-fry pumpkin (so we actually ate pumpkin on Thanksgiving Day.

One of Becca’s gifts was five dolls I played with when I was her age. She was thrilled to get them.  (Saturday she made them all passports.) Becca didn’t want Isaiah to feel left out, so she made him a book. He was thrilled with it and listened intently as I read the story to them. He then wanted to read it to me several times. Becca’s last birthday treat was staying up as late as she wanted (she stayed up until we went to bed).

The Friday after Thanksgiving we gathered with our EMU team members to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a full traditional meal, including turkey, dressing, potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc.

After we ate, we gathered for a Thanksgiving service including Scripture, singing, short homilies by each head of household, and thanksgiving to God from each person. It was a joy to be able to celebrate God’s goodness with our family in Cambodia.

Saturday we had some friends over for lunch. We met Mary on my first visit to Cambodia when we were all stuck in Shanghai together. Mary was on her way to visit her daughter’s (Elizabeth Trotter) family.  The Trotter’s blog was a great help in preparing us to transition to Cambodia. Elizabeth visited with me our first week in our home. It was good to see Mary again and to fellowship with their family. (Mary brought us an Advent book that I’m very excited about. Wasn’t sure how to get it here in time for this Advent season – thank you Mary!!)