thanksgiving

I recently watched a sketch of two neighbors - Canada and the United States - saying hello at the fence. The Canadian neighbor was wishing his American neighbor a Happy Thanksgiving, to which the American responded "Isn't that a bit early?" The Canadian explained how we celebrate in October, and that no, none of our other holidays are early; we celebrate the rest at the same time. The American hints at an invitation, and when the Canadian obliges, he adds that no, they wouldn't be having Sweet Potatoes with mini marshmallows as "that's just weird".

A huge amount of bloggers, and Instagram accounts I follow for inspiration, including Magazine publications like Martha Stewart Living, are American. So a lot of Fall focus is first on Halloween and then Thanksgiving, which can also tend to have a Christmas feel to it.

Personally, I'm not sure which I prefer. With our Thanksgiving being early in October, it can often feel less like Autumn, and more like Summer still. However, I like the space we have between Thanksgiving and Christmas. For the past couple of years, I've just decided to celebrate both. You can't have too much gratitude - or Pumpkin Pie, in my opinion. One usually includes large get togethers with our families, and the other, a small intimate dinner for just us.

Regardless, this year, as nearly all of our immediate family was out of town, we didn't have much planned, so it honestly snuck up on me! My parents were the only ones home, and as my mom wasn't busy making hundreds of pies for the store, she wanted to make dinner. She told me I could have it at our place, which suited me perfectly, as it meant I could still enjoy setting the table. So set the table I did.

I have envisioned this pair of pheasants down the center of my Thanksgiving table for a very long time. My mom and I purchased from an antique shop five years ago to sell at the store. For a couple years my Aunt had them in her kitchen, and this past Spring, knowing how much I loved them, gifted them to me. They were my inspiration.

I made simple arrangements of white Roses and berries from our Ivy in clay pots. I liked how the clay picked up the copper tones of the birds.

The greenish blue tones that they also have made the blue berries and greyish blue squash good accents.

I love the woven chargers with our dining chairs. and simple ribbon-tied napkins to make each place setting more special.

George sat content, sleeping quietly, as I puttered around.

The next morning was a holiday Monday, but we lazed around like it was a Saturday. I made Pumpkin Spice waffles and we spent the morning reading. In the afternoon, the boys went for a hike, while I walked around the Balls Falls Thanksgiving Show with George.

All the historic buildings were dressed up for Fall, and everything is tucked in and around the old village. It was a gorgeous weekend - the perfect way to put one in the mood for Fall.

Looking forward to seeing how you all decorate your Thanksgiving tables.

Ribbon and Candles - Everyday Occasions 

Chargers - Pier One (in stores only)

Table Cloth by Ralph Lauren - Homesense

Soother Clip - Darling Emma Handmade

christmas morning brunch

Does anyone else feel like Christmas seems to come and go more quickly with each year that passes?

Like, much more quickly?

I felt like I was so prepared - shopping done, gifts wrapped, menus planned - but still, as the day would get closer, things would come up. I'd remember a gift I still needed to wrap that I couldn't remember where I hid for the life of me, Ryan would remember a secret Santa gift he'd need, or a potluck item he'd have to bring to work.

We really made an effort this year to be intentional about what we were going to commit to, and what we would spend time doing over the holidays. We had a busier start to the month, but the actual week of Christmas was slower and more relaxing. It was lovely.

It also helped us not get so caught up in the activities of Christmas, and spend more time focusing on the true meaning of the season - the birth of our Saviour.

On Christmas morning, we host my family for brunch. I love hosting it, but one of the main reasons we do it, is so that we don't have to go anywhere on Christmas morning. It just works out perfectly for us. We have lots of time as a family to open gifts, and then as everyone is busy trying out their new toys, I put an apron on, and get breakfast started.

I also love setting the table and love that we have a space large enough for us to all sit down together.

I really lucked out this year with grocery store flowers. Usually I would order flowers from our flower truck, but I wasn't able to, and was left hoping the grocery store in town had something that would work. Dark Red Hypercum and a dozen White Roses worked perfectly, especially when I added some bits of evergreen.

I also used some of my red transferware.

And while we all fit around the dining room table, the kids have their own special table.

But they still expect it to be special!

Something I did differently this year was add a large wreath to the stone wall. I love the greens against the stone, and it didn't get any easier than hanging a wreath.

This was our Christmas buffet.

- Sausages and Bacon

- Potato and Onion Frittata

- Breakfast Tarts with Bacon, Scallions and Cheddar or Goat's Cheese

- French Toast Bake

- Fresh Fruit

- Ina's Easy Sticky Buns (which I made bit size)

- Olliebolen (which are like Dutch donuts, and were still warming in the oven)

Here the boys are, playing at my grandparents' farm on Christmas Eve. As a girl, I came every Christmas Eve, and we ate and visited with our cousins way past bed time. Now, we're all married with children of our own and we don't do this any more, but the invitation to come is always there. We decided last minute to go and visit, and I'm so glad we did. My aunt, who lives there with my Papa, had the entire house (literally every possible surface) decorated for Christmas. She had set the table with my Nana's antique Christmas china and special Cornflower glasses. She had trays of treats and homemade Eggnog and so much food it was crazy. I just loved seeing the boys doing what I loved doing when I was their age - Christmas Eve, celebrating with family, beyond excited for the next morning.

Us opening gifts on Christmas morning - Jude is just getting old enough that he is starting to understand the excitement!

All the cousins!

Opa and Nonna, and their six crazy grandsons.

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours was.

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours.

A Merriest of Christmases

These past two days have been unusually relaxing and quite peaceful.

Ryan and I spent the day wrapping up the last of our gifts, setting the table for brunch on Christmas morning, and tidying the house before we headed off to church for the evening.

I didn't have much time to share with you the rest of the house, and that's okay.

I did however enjoy playing with the boys and snugging on the couch as we read the Christmas story. I enjoyed chatting late into the night with my handsome husband as we laughed and stuffed stockings.

And I enjoyed a few too many delicious Christmas cookies.

I love Christmas day.

I love hosting Christmas for my family. For the past number of years, we've hosted a late breakfast on Christmas morning. My sisters and parents all come over after we've each had some time to do our own gifts with our families. We enjoy a big brunch, and exchange gifts with each other.

It's especially nice because it means that we never have conflicting Christmases. Breakfast is always with my family, and dinner is always with Ryan's.

As you can see, the table wasn't quite finished. Some of the napkins we in the wash still, and again, that's okay.

Everything was laid out the day before and prepped in the fridge so I could spend as little time in the kitchen as possible and as much time as I could soaking in each moment and watching the boys joyfully open their gifts.

I love watching them on Christmas morning.

Breakfast has become the same each year. When you find a good thing, why change?

We enjoyed cinnamon buns from the store, citrus salad, bacon and sausages, french toast with maple syrup and our favourite, eggs Benedict.

After gathering the piles of paper, and relaxing for a while, we headed to Ryan's parents for our traditional Christmas turkey dinner - and it was amazing, as always.

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And now the boys are fast asleep, and presents have all been opened. The house is quiet and peaceful and it's hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone.

But really, that's the best part about Christmas - it's never really over. The greatest gift is always patiently waiting to be received. Our Saviour is always waiting, longing for us to come and sit and rest and be loved and welcomed as we are. The lights come down, but His light is always shining brightest, even in the darkest of times. And the gifts are opened and the tree is bare once more, but the greatest gift, the gift of life eternal is always found at the foot of the cross - the tree on which the perfect baby we celebrate at Christmas time hung for our sins. So that we, we who are broken and lost and hopeless, can be made perfect, and welcomed in and given the only sure hope - eternal life.

It's the most perfectly beautiful gift. And it's ours if we want it. And who doesn't want to be loved unconditional and welcomed as we are, and given life and joy and purpose and washed beautifully clean and made holy by his perfect blood, shed for us?

He gives us the gift of Himself, and the gift of finding Him in everything we do each day. We simply have to choose to open it or not.

Wishing you the most wonderful of Christmases today.

With love, 

the Heikoops

Thanksgiving Dinner

Between my pies cooling and basting my turkey, I took a few photos of our Thanksgiving table. It was a wet, rainy Saturday and therefore the perfect weather to be inside a warm kitchen.

Menu

Sage Butter Basted Turkey with Orange Bourbon Cranberry Sauce and Giblet Gravy

Sausage, Apple and Walnut Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Maple Butternut Squash

Corn 

Broccoli Bake

(This staple is Ryan's favorite, and something my mother in law brings just for him - I can't make it as well... I'm getting better, but it's still not the same.)

And for dessert I made Pumpkin Pie with Maple Cream and Apple Pie a la Mode.

As my family celebrated on Thanksgiving weekend, it was just Ryan's parents, my sister-in-law, and his two grandmas that came.

I thought purple and yellow seemed like a pretty fall combination. The arrangement is very whimsical with Sunflowers, Cabbage, Willow and even some Pine Cones and Lavender from the garden. Once we sat down for dinner, I moved it to the coffee table. It's nice to be able to see everyone at the table.

I kept the place settings simple with my vintage cutlery, linen napkins, and a white gourd.

I picked out this table cloth at Homesense for $15. It's a Ralph Lauren and it's nice and thick. Someone in my family will comment on all the color going on, I know it. I don't usually stray far from classic white or neutral table linens.

You can see that above my door there is a lovely dark spot waiting to be painted. This past week was fire safety week at school. With Willen's help, we replaced all of our smoke detectors and moved them to more optimal locations. We also replaced our carbon monoxide and natural gas detectors. We even came up with an emergency evacuation plan and picked a meeting place safely away from the house.

It was a lovely evening. I think the pie was my favorite. This year I used a real pumpkin and made my own puree. It's not quite perfect. I need to alter the spices to my taste. But it was still delicious, and the texture was perfect!