Thanksgiving

I am thankful for a lot of things.  Healthy children, a warm house, my sleep number bed, indoor plumbing, running vehicles, my family & Casey's, a job for myself & for Casey are just a few.

 

The big kids & I colored some turkeys one Sunday afternoon.  I love to color.  Caleb was happy because I let him share my box of crayons for this activity.

These turkeys made pattern turkeys at preschool.  They told me, "We can't eat the candy corn though.  It has glue on it and it will make us sick."

Caleb made this at school.  He is thankful for parents, friends, TV, food, family, toys and xbox.

Rylee was thankful for her mom, dad, brothers & sisters.

Taylor was thankful for dad's hugs.  She's our little cuddle bug.

We had Thanksgiving at my parents house this year.  As always - the food was delicious.  I was nervous because I was in charge of most of the desserts.  But they all turned out pretty good.  My favorite was the pumpkin cheesecake squares with fresh whipped cream.  Y U M

Casey & they kids played a little game while I watched the littles & my mom tackled the kitchen mess.  Alexa was a fan of the cranberry sauce & the candy corns.  I'm surprised she didn't end up with a major sugar rush.  Rylee was Dylan's buddy.  She didn't know his name so she just called him, 'this guy'.  It was adorable and hilarious.

Pumpkin cheesecake bars recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

6 hours

Yield: 24 bars

Ingredients

Crust
• 1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs
• 1/4 cup melted butter
Filling
• 4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup (8 oz) canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Garnish
• whipped cream
• pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 300°F.
2. Line a 13X9" baking pan with parchment paper leaving about 1 inch of paper hanging on the sides.
3. In a medium size bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter.
4. With your fingers press the crust on the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside while making the filling.
5. In the mixing bowl of your stand-up mixer, add the cream cheese and sugar. With the paddle attachment on, beat on low speed until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended.
7. Spoon half of the mixture over the crust and spread evenly.
8. To the remaining cream cheese mixture add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice.
9. With a wire whisk stir until smooth. Carefully, spoon over mixture in pan.
10. Bake the cheesecake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until just set. Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar allowing the cheesecake to slowly cool down for about 1 hour or so.
11. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before cutting into bars.
12. Top each bar with whipped cream and a dust of pumpkin pie spice.