Thanksgiving 2011

Things I'm thankful for -

My church - we recently changed churches and I'm so thankful for the new one we found.  It's not like any other church we've ever been a part of, in fact - no two services have been alike.  Derek says I have a short attention span, so maybe that's why I love not knowing what to expect.  There is one thing I do expect, though, and that's for the Word of God to be preached and for my life to be changed.  It is every week.  Oh- and they feed our family on Wednesdays for free.  I love knowing I don't have to cook one night of the week.

My family - I'm so thankful for a devoted husband whose funny, hardworking, loving, and can make me laugh in almost any situation.  Yesterday marked our 17th Thanksgiving as husband and wife!   I'm thankful for all of our kids that are healthy and happy.  My youngest got an ear infection last week and was put on medicine.  She asked for pills instead of liquid.  As I gave her her medicine that first morning I thought, I am so glad that we are out of the liquid medicine phase.  I know that's stupid, but when you have a couple on liquid meds at the same time, do you know how many dirty teaspoons you go through?  So I guess I'm say I'm also thankful for modern medicine.  Speaking of phases, I'm out of the liquid medicine stage, the diaper stage, the not knowing when you're going to throw-up and you spew all over the sofa stage, the Teletubby stage .... and for all of that, I am thankful.  While I do miss the cute toddling around, I kind of like this teen/ tween phase, you can hold pretty good conversations and they are really funny.

My home - while it feels like a money pit sometimes, I love my house and I'm thankful for it.  Not only the house, but the location - I love my community and the things offered in it.

My extended family - My Mother makes the best dressing you will ever put in your mouth, while my Father makes the best jokes.  I love going to spend time with my family, and we all had a lot of fun at their house on Thursday.  I got to meet a 94 year old great aunt that I've never met before.  I found out today that she inspired Derek to start to exercise more and drink only water, but then again I've also seen Derek drink two cans of Coke today so far.  The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins while I enjoyed visiting with my Mom and sisters.

Lazy days - I am thankful when the kids are out of school and we can just sit back and relax with nowhere to go.  I've taught one kid how to play Cribbage and the rest of us have been enjoying a new card game I got called Dutch Blitz.  Just like it says on the box, we think "It's a vonderful goot game!" 

I did find out something this week - my sweet little angel on the right cheats at cards!

My van - Some people make fun of our 12 passenger van, but I love it.  Sure, it looks like we're a commercial company carrying cargo; but the kids have lots of room to spread out and we can take 4 extra friends with us anytime, anywhere.  Can your car do that?

A free turkey from Ingles - Yes, I earned a free 14lb bird with my turkey points this year!

There are so many more things that I'm thankful for, but I'm not sure the pages of my blog could hold them all.