Happy Thanksgiving 2013! By: Siobhan

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
 I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures from your friends at Alma Mater :) 
Early in the Thanksgiving week we went to a friend's house and did some Christmas baking and some fun Thanksgiving crafts.

 Everyone had a lot of fun making these turkeys inspired from the COAH Thankful Turkey Kids Craft . You can get the template here.

 J and Tert made theirs and insisted on putting teeth on them...

 :D

 Then we made pilgrim hats and Indian headdresses. 

 Our contribution to Thanksgiving this year was the pies. The Andrews hosted. :)

 Family craziness :)

 Filia loved the appetizers :)

 Cutting the turkey...

 Yum!

 Filia loved Phoebe

No more food!

 Uncle Tom and Filia had a pillow fight :)

Here are the pies we made. I have links to all the recipes except for the regular pumpkin and regular apple pies. If you'd like a recipe  click on the name below the picture.

 ~Pies~

 Rich Chocolate Truffle Pie

 ~Pumpkin Pie~

Pumpkin Maple

 ~Apple Pie~

Apple Cinnamon Crunch Pie with Vanilla Creme Sauce

Pumpkin Bavarian Creme Tart 

 After Christmas we swapped name cards for our Christmas Gift Exchange

 

I decided to write a paper about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving for my 6 paragraph report for writing. Mom asked me to include it here. 

Persevering through Pestilence

Siobhan Piercey

                   [4] Feeling the emptiness press in on him from all sides, the Pilgrim lifted the scope to his eye.  [5] Unless he was mistaken, he could faintly make out a dark mass that seemed to be moving toward them. [3] Anxiously he peered again, thrusting the metallic instrument to his furtive eye.   [6] It was land!  [1] This new land would hold many hardships for the resolute Pilgrims.  Fleeing from religious persecution, the Pilgrims sailed to America, survived a harsh winter and celebrated Thanksgiving.  [2] In years to come, the Pilgrims would establish a colony that would grow into the country that is now known as the United States of America.
           [2] In the early 1600’s, England had many religious differences, both internal and external.  Two main groups had differences with the Church of England; these two groups were the Puritans and the Separatists (or Saints.)  [1] Puritans wanted to purify the church, while Separatists wanted to separate themselves from the church altogether.  [6] Both classes would become Pilgrims.  [3] Hastily a group of them fled from Scrooby, England, to Holland—a place which would surely offer religious freedom.  [5] Although they escaped religious persecution, their children began to conform to the Dutch style and fall into temptation.  [4] Examining their present situation, the Pilgrims found that it was time to move again, and this time they would travel to America.  The Puritans and Separatists laid down their divisions, disagreements and disappointments and set out for their new home.
           [2] In the year 1620, two ships—the Speedwell and the Mayflower—set out for Virginia, full of eager people ready to start their lives in America.  [3] Unexpectedly, the Speedwell started leaking and many people had to return to England.  Because there were so many of them in such a tiny amount of space, each adult had only a seven by two and a half foot space to call his own.  [1] Nobody was allowed to travel onto the deck for fresh air, and the food began to speedily run out.  [4] Considering the circumstances, it is incredible that only one man died of the hundred and two that set out!  [6] How did they survive?  The Pilgrims, who had done careful planning beforehand, used things like lemons and onions to prevent scurvy.  [5] Although the group had grown weaker, paler and smaller than when they initially set out, the Pilgrims were determined to press on toward America .
                   [3] Unfortunately, the Pilgrims hadn't reached the end of their troubles; they were setting out for Virginia, but they ended up in Massachusetts!  [4] Realizing they must settle there, they decided to make laws as they were not now under the laws of Virginia; these rules formed the Mayflower Compact.  [1] William Bradford—who would later become the Pilgrims’ governor—wrote: “This poor people’s present condition…no friends to welcome them, nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather-beaten bodies, no houses [to reside in]…Whichever way they turned their eyes…they could have little solace…the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hue.  If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean…What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace?”  [5] As it was December, they couldn’t plant any crops and during that cruel winter half of them died of starvation, illness and exposure.  [6] They shipped furs for a living.  [2] In a time of dire need, Squanto, a native, came to their aid by patiently teaching them how to plant corn and catch fish.  The Pilgrims persevered through problem after problem and were finally beginning to see the fruit of their labors. 
        [2] After many hardships and setbacks the Pilgrims began to regroup as they started making a profit from their fur business and crops.  [1] They had peace with the Indians, food for themselves and their children, and houses to live in.  [4] During October 1621, they commemorated days of Thanksgiving.   [6] Ninety Indians joined them.  The Indians, who would otherwise have gradually depleted the Pilgrims’ stores, brought five deer as their contribution to the feast.  [3] Gratefully they celebrated for three glorious days—eating, singing and thanking God for the bounty he had bestowed upon them.  [5] Although the Pilgrims were not the first to celebrate Thanksgiving, our culture has come to give them credit for establishing this nationwide holiday.          The Pilgrims left their religious differences behind them when they sailed to a new land, where they pushed through a hard winter and harvested a bountiful crop.  [5] While the Pilgrims exemplified many noble qualities, their most amazing traits were dogged determination and their unwavering faith in God.  [4] Facing their troubles calmly, they pressed on without looking back.  [3] Incredibly, they didn't give up when their ships leaked or when their provisions failed.  [2] Upon their arrival in America, William Bradford—the writer of their history—states “They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils therefore, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth.”  [6] What an example of faith!  [1] They didn't complain of lack of food and comfort; instead they got down on their knees, thanking God for his mercy in helping them persevere.

~Happy Thanksgiving!~