Getting a Car and Having Thanksgiving

So a couple weeks into November, as I was biking Philip around in the ever-increasing cold, I realized that I did not think we could go any longer without a car. So into the world of foreign vehicles we delved. As Bill started looking at various vehicles, he would lament that he just didn't know enough about the models over here to know what would be best. We wanted to keep it under a thousand pounds, which in itself was very limiting. He did go around to many dealerships, toying with the idea of spending more than that and looking at quite a lot of different types. After a Saturday of visiting many nearby dealerships, he came home and was checking out ebay some more. And suddenly he came across our car - for a mere 700 pounds! No one had bid on it and the auction was ending soon. We couldn't believe it was so cheap and thought that there must be a catch, but after consulting with Mr. Kruppa, decided to go for it. The next day, we drove over and were very pleasantly surprised by the good condition of our vehicle - a 1991 Mercedes station wagon. The interior is in good condition and it has been running just fine with most things in the vehicle working! And just in time too, as I have no desire to be biking around in this cold weather!!

It has 104,000 miles and two seats that face backwards in the back to seat up to 7 passengers. It has been great having it! Fortunately it came with four months of road tax and MOT (like registration and inspection) so we don't have to worry about that right away.

Thanksgiving:

We were asked by a few people if we would still observe Thanksgiving being here in the UK, and my answer is yes definitely! There are some American holidays that we probably won't go to much trouble for - like Labor Day and stuff like that, but there are some that I feel very attached to. July 4th would be one of those, although we would certainly keep that celebration low key. Thanksgiving is another holiday that I feel attached to; I have many many memories of this holiday shared with my family and others. But not only that, it is a particularly great time to observe and give extra thanks to God for His blessings. I like having each family member at the dinner table stating some of the things they are thankful for. Turkey, stuffing, and gravy is also on my top two list of favorite holiday meals (with tenderloin and yorkshire pudding being the other).

Because Bill had to work and the kids had school, we decided to do a mini Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, and we invited the Picketts over for Saturday for a bigger Thanksgiving feast. We ended up having our Pastor and his wife Rosalind over on Thursday night to help us eat our little turkey. This also gave me much needed practice cooking the stuff in unfamiliar territory. All in all, our two Thanksgiving dinners were awesome, and the monster turkey I cooked on Saturday gave us two more days of pure turkey eating!

One thing that is completely unavailable here in the UK is canned pumpkin. So no pumpkin pie! But Ruth Ann Pickett came to our rescue and made one for Saturday with her last can of stashed pumpkin from the US. I also could not find corn syrup, a staple for chocolate pecan pie. I pretty much gave up on dessert, but I was able to find all the stuff I wanted for the meal.

Some of the things that I am thankful for: a great husband, healthy kids, the Lord's provision and guidance in every step of our lives, our Pastor and the church we have found over here, and all the comforts and freedoms that I currently have.