Thanksgiving: Ben, Friends and Food

Thanksgiving abroad can be depressing if you don't actively create your own celebration; even better if you add friends. Last year we didn't really know anyone (especially from the U.S.) to celebrate Thanksgiving with. I was also really pregnant and we were saving for the baby. A turkey is pretty expensive here, so we just had a simple dinner at home. This year, however, was better!  Friends from my bible study group got together and had Thanksgiving. The five families who were there all had a few kids each, and they had a blast together running around outside in the (rare-to-find) garden play space. We enjoyed chicken, stuffing, salad, broccoli and cheese, quiche, and many desserts along with great conversation.


Thanksgiving also fell on Ben's birthday this year. I find that appropriate! Not because he's a turkey, but because we are thankful for him. ;) We celebrated a day early with apple bread and sweet potato pie. I also made him cinnamon rolls the next day to take to the Thanksgiving feast, and made sure he got one. Ben likes plain vanilla ice cream most of the time.

At the store we had to dig through flavors like sweet corn, taro/yam, cheese, durian, jackfruit and ruammitter, before finally, at the bottom, we found plain vanilla! Vanilla ice cream with apple bread is amazing.


I'm thankful to not be pregnant this Thanksgiving but rather to have all of my children where I can hug them. I'm thankful for my husband who takes us on so many adventures. I'm thankful for you, because if you're reading this, you're probably family who cares.

Thanksgiving 2014

Today, Talia and Elias were excited to get their name in pancakes for breakfast as something special for Thanksgiving. Since Thankgoving isn't officially observed in the U.A.E., yesterday was a school/work day and special breakfasts weren't easy to squeeze in.

(Not pictured: Benjamin with his- morning pictures aren't his thing. ;) )

Turkey is only offered seasonally here, and they're large for what our family can eat and only available at the mall that's not easy for me to get to (physically and mentally. ;) ) So, for supper we had roasted chicken, stuffing, broccoli casserole and a peach crisp. 

The kids and I had fun making paper turkeys to decorate the table. Hearing the things they were thankful for was a highlight of the day!

This Thanksgiving was dedicated to Benjamin: the guy we are all thankful for. He loves his children and puts in time with them training, educating, talking and playing. He puts his family's needs first and is always consciously providing for us now and keeping the big picture of the future in mind. There's so many things that go into being a good father. I'm thankful our children have him.

Happy Thankgiving!

Thanksgiving in Abu Dhabi 2013

Since moving to Ruwais and not having as much contact with other Americans, celebrating American holidays has been a little different. Neither Ben nor I am very big on tradition, but I would at least like for our children to know what the traditional holidays from their culture are about. Especially Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. It doesn't have so much commercialization or controversial roots and has more focus on family and appreciating our blessings. So, for Thanksgiving this year, (now that Talia's writing well and Elias can color... sort of,) we made a Thanksgiving tree to think about things we are thankful for.

Our colors ended up more bright and, um, non-traditional for a fall tree this way, but it was fun to hear what Talia was thankful for and what she thought Elias was thankful for... (eggs, bananas, colors, oxygen, and all of our family's names all made it on the tree.)

I was excited when we were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with some other families in Abu Dhabi city! With most of the main dishes taken care of, I searched my favorite recipe website for inspiration for vegetables and sides that I could make without canned things that are both hard to find and not something I prefer to use anyways. I ended up making green bean casserole with homemade fried onion topping, dinner rolls, tres leches cake, and a vegetable pot pie. My favorite (from these recipes,) and my husband's, was definitely the vegetable pot pie with the homemade pie crust... (and he really likes meat.) However, the tres leches cake was also another awesome recipe I will go back to.

We had a really nice time with friends who have become like family abroad. It was definitely a time surrounded by things and people we are thankful for.