Cranberry Relish

the set-up 

 the ingredients

 Schaeffer and Great Grandma Jean on the grinder

I'm not sure when the tradition began, but every year, the week of Thanksgiving we spend one afternoon at Great Grandma Jean's making cranberry relish. We get out the old hand-crack, the one that was a wedding shower gift for grandma over 65 years ago, hook it on to a stool from Great Great Grandma Ott's house, and let the relish commence.

It's so much more about the time spent together than cranberry relish--although it's tasty too. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without this treasured tradition!

28 days until Thanksgiving--say what?

So, if you've been around these parts for any amount of time, you know this has been a crazy year. While we have not endured a hurricane, tsunami, or tornado (fingers crossed!), the last six months have included: putting our home on the market, selling our home, moving twice, having grave's disease/finally giving the ol' Thyroid the heave-ho, the death of a grandparent and enduring major surgery with my dad. It has been grueling at times, but also provided us with an even greater confidence that in the storms of life we can stand strong with our great God.

With that said, a few days ago I was sitting in my dad's hospital room and happened to overhear a commercial excitedly exclaim that we're less than 2 months to Christmas day. Wow. If we're two months from Christmas, that must mean we're fast approaching Thanksgiving.

With the hustle & bustle, it is so easy to loose the focus of what Thanks-giving is all about. Being thankful. I am going to attempt to put together this board (thanks to the step-by-step instructions from here ). I look forward to being intentional with giving thanks through the month of November and beyond.

What about you and your family? How do you stay thankful in the midst of the rush and fuss of the holiday season?