{Insert witty Thanksgiving title here}

Earlier this week, when I was contemplating what I might write in my Thanksgiving post, I thought I would be writing about our cute little family dinner complete with whatever traditional dishes I could manage to make in China with my toaster oven and limited access to imported foods. I did not think I would be writing about cleaning up vomit and Indian take out. (Well, that's partially untrue. In the back of my mind I had thought about ordering out for Thanksgiving instead of cooking. Ideally, I had hoped to cook a semi-traditional meal but it ended up being just a lot of work for only the three of us.) Anyway, Wednesday was very nice, we had an impromptu Thanksgiving gathering with Joel's colleagues and we all had a really nice time. But then Wednesday night hit and Joel and I spent our sleep time cleaning up throw up from the various places that Will chucked throughout the night. On top of that, Joel had to work Thanksgiving because we don't get American holidays off. And so, instead of preparing Thanksgiving dishes, I was again cleaning up vomit. We ended up ordering delivery from Ganges, our very favorite Indian restaurant, and took a few minutes before putting Will to bed to decorate our "tree" that we bought last year from a Japanese store. That was probably the best part of my whole day.

 Despite the sick child and limited sleep the night before, it was a nice chance for me to reflect on the things that I am thankful for. At the very top of my list is my family and the fact that in just under a month, we'll get to go to the States for a short visit during Chinese New Year. I'm also grateful for the chance I have to work with the children in Primary at church. I think I tear up just about every Sunday when they sing their songs or give their talks or even just their comments sometimes get to me. I'm not a crier, really I'm not, but these kids and their sweet spirits just touch my heart every week. And despite my semi-frequent complaints, I am grateful to be in China. It's sometimes hard and it's not always fun, but I have learned so much and met so many wonderful people. Being here has changed me for the better and I'm glad for the opportunity to be here.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!