Thursday we will will celebrate our 20th Thanksgiving as parents. Wow! We have so much to be grateful and thankful for. . .Thanksgiving as always been my absolute favorite holiday. Family, food, and thankfulness -- is there any better day of the year?!?
Thankful to be an American -- thankful for these two. . .the one on the right who made me a mother, the one on the left who made this incredible gift for his brother's birthday.
Thankful that even at 8:30 on a Friday night after a long week of school and then a drive home he can still eek out a smile with me.
Thankful for FaceTime at 10 p.m. on a Friday night. . .that we can be 300 miles away from Nana and Grandpa and Thomas can open his gift from them "live". . .
Thomas had a great birthday this year -- his sisters went to pick him up Friday after school and then Saturday everyone but me went to see Thor (said it was the best) and then home for a big dinner with our Framily, the Maxwells.
Thankful for friends, family, and FOOD!
Cheesecake was requested so Barbara made her bestest cheesecake to date. . .
Thankful for an incredible Dad on the soccer team this year that not only took and posted pictures for us, but then created flashdrives for each player so we have all pictures of our players at our fingertips!!!
There are plenty of action shots of #10 too. . .but she might not be too happy with me for posting them here -- she is a very intense player! I think she will appreciate them in the future though. . .
Thankful for the season they had -- thankful that they were able to play together again. . .thankful for the talent God has given them and how they work hard to do their best for their teams.
Thankful for fun times at football games too -- the same soccer dad was also a band dad and took some pictures in the student section during one of the best games of the season. It was also "pink out". (And something I will want to remember. . .we moved here from a small TN town in the spring of 2015. . .that fall, the kid in the black jacket's family moved here also! Margaret and he want to middle school together there and now high school together here.)
And speaking of that small little town. . .so grateful for having had a chance to be a part of that community. Grateful for this table full of teenagers -- three of whom are from that small town and Thomas is friends with them post-high school. And they don't even all go to the same university!! Crazy how life is like that -- and grateful that they want to hang out with us on a Saturday night :)
Thankful for trips back to that small town to see Marie's friend from MS (now juniors in HS!) perform in The Little Mermaid and then go to eat afterwards with many other friends -- Margaret friend's dad was there as was Frederick's friend and his mom (just boys don't want to have their pictures taken!) But they were all there!! And we have these incredible relationships with these wonderful people (gotta love FB).
Where do I start with this one? Grateful for a fireplace. . .grateful for a kid who likes books. . .grateful for his sister who saw this book was released and wanted to buy it for him. . .Thomas has gotten a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book for his birthday every year that they have been available in November -- ha! First thing he did? Check to see if it had 217 pages :)
Grateful for a career change and a job I really like. Thursday was "put all the holiday cards together". I had already done 100 or so. . .this was the big push for the last 150+. . .listening to my book, stuffing cards, snacking on lunch, and answering the phone. . .a lot of hours went in to getting to this point :)
And grateful that that day Tom had called Margaret's dermatologist to see if we could get in earlier than her scheduled appointment at the end of the month -- and she was able to work us in that day! And then quick decisions made, prescriptions filled. . .and an action plan. Really grateful for that. (And another small-town connection -- one of my bosses is from the same small (tiny!) town that the dermatologist is from. . .connections everywhere!! And small towns too, for that matter. . .)
Thankful for a job that begins late enough in the morning that I can (sometimes) walk to the bus stop at the front of our neighborhood with these two.
Thankful for fires outside
Thankful that even at 8:30 on a Friday night after a long week of school and then a drive home he can still eek out a smile with me.
Thomas had a great birthday this year -- his sisters went to pick him up Friday after school and then Saturday everyone but me went to see Thor (said it was the best) and then home for a big dinner with our Framily, the Maxwells.
Thankful for friends, family, and FOOD!
Cheesecake was requested so Barbara made her bestest cheesecake to date. . .
Thankful for the season they had -- thankful that they were able to play together again. . .thankful for the talent God has given them and how they work hard to do their best for their teams.
Where do I start with this one? Grateful for a fireplace. . .grateful for a kid who likes books. . .grateful for his sister who saw this book was released and wanted to buy it for him. . .Thomas has gotten a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book for his birthday every year that they have been available in November -- ha! First thing he did? Check to see if it had 217 pages :)
And grateful that that day Tom had called Margaret's dermatologist to see if we could get in earlier than her scheduled appointment at the end of the month -- and she was able to work us in that day! And then quick decisions made, prescriptions filled. . .and an action plan. Really grateful for that. (And another small-town connection -- one of my bosses is from the same small (tiny!) town that the dermatologist is from. . .connections everywhere!! And small towns too, for that matter. . .)
Thankful for fires outside
and inside :)
This was my Picture of the Day the other night. . .Margaret still sitting by the fire as I went to bed. . .hard to leave!
This was my Picture of the Day the other night. . .Margaret still sitting by the fire as I went to bed. . .hard to leave!
Thankful to live somewhere close to this kind of beauty. Thankful that my son realizes how special a view like this is and not only takes the photo, but shares it with me on an early Friday morning. Thankful for a God who not only created all this, but also allows us to have a relationship with Him.
And more beauty to behold. . .this time with the guy I love and get to do life with. . ."thankful" and "grateful" are too trite of words for this circumstance in my life. . .
We were able to meet friends at Fall Creek Falls a few weekends ago for the day. . .I had never been to a campground quite like this one -- it is something I might like to try someday! We took several hikes and then stayed late for a dinner and fire. Because of an event, the parking lots were closed off and we had to hike through the woods to our car.
Last Sunday was a little stressful because I couldn't find my Bible. . .my Picture of the Day the previous week had been this:
I use this Bible all the time -- it was a wedding gift 22 years ago. I had to have it rebound several years ago. . .and then to not be able to find it for an entire week -- I was getting nervous! But it showed up on Wednesday, in the same place I left it last Wednesday -- in the Awana's room I teach in.
There are a hundred "thankful" bullets here. . .thankful for the Bible and God's Word. . .thankful to the people who gave it to us. . .thankful for my marriage. . .thankful for the freedom to study openly and share the Gospel. . .thankful for the ability to be thankful :)
This was our Thanksgiving cousins picture last year -- looking forward to being together with them again this Thursday! We are going on 10 years of Thanksgiving together with this part of the family. . .because of "life" this is really the only time we all get together. THANKFUL how jobs brought them to Tennessee just a year after we moved here in 2006. . .and thankful that they like to host big crowds and compile lots of great food :)
This post could go on and on. I know the blogging world and social media world can sometimes paint "fake" picture of life. . .but I truly am this blessed. . .and want to give all the glory and praise to Him who has given us all that we have. . .not that there isn't pain, heartache, and grief in the world because there is. Because of sin. And we are touched by that also because this world is ruled by one who cannot be ignored and will always do his best to bring death and destruction upon us. I choose to look UP, to live for Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and look forward to that eternal life where there will be no more death and darkness. Friends, I pray that you know this JOY in the Lord that we experience. Please reach out to me. . .to Tom. . .to "that person" who radiates Christ's Light in your life. . .it's too good not to share!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2017!!! I blog because I might forget these little blessings and want to inspire you to list yours. You can do that in the comments :)
Love,
Jenni
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