Let the fun begin.....

Well, I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We had a great week!!! The kids worked hard making books about the history of Thanksgiving. We ALL learned a lot. Did you know the Pilgrims were not the first group of people to have a "Thanksgiving" in what is now America? I'll try and get pictures of the kids with their projects on here tomorrow. We are getting ready to kick off our Christmas Around the World study this week.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving day with Steve's parents and his younger sister, Laura. We all went to Ryan's for lunch. That was nice. We didn't have to cook or clean up and the kids did a great job!!! I am so proud of how well they behaved at lunch--especially considering that we got them out of bed and pretty much into the car and then to lunch. The big kids (that would be Drew, Shelby, Casey and Steve) had fun outside with some foam airplanes that Grandma had purchased. I think she enjoyed watching all of the fun. Casey didn't really play with the airplanes as much as she played with a table and chair set on the porch. She did finally make her way to the bird bath. I'm sooooo glad that I had extra clothes for her because she really needed dry ones after exploring that bird bath!!!! Grandpa, Landon and I watched part of the movie, A Brief Encounter. Landon decided that he really didn't care for the movie that much and so he took a nap. From what I saw of the movie, it was pretty good. Grandpa told me what the music playing was--it was classical so I really needed the input on that one. I watched maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the movie before I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I finally just had to tell Grandpa the truth---that I had not been this still and quiet for 3 months and that if I didn't get up and walk around that I would be asleep and he would have to watch the movie alone. He was gracious and said okay. I got his movie out of the VCR for him and went for a walk outside.
After we left Grandma and Grandpa (who Casey calls "boo-pa"), we went to dinner at Denny's!!! I know, wow what a classy Thanksgiving we had. Hey laugh if you want, we wont have turkey at every meal for the next 2 weeks!!!!
As we were going to dinner, God gave us an amazing look at His awesome creation. We watched the edge of the weather front moving through. The sky was just the most amazing colors!!! It was overwhelmingly beautiful.
After dinner we stopped by to see Vonda, Chris and Jessica. We had not seen them in several months. It was nice to spend some time with them. They have a new puppy named Abby. Abby really liked Casey and thought that she was a walking toy. Casey had a long day and did not care to be a play toy for a puppy. She kept saying, "NO!! NO!! Woof Woof" at which point Abby would sit down and bark at Casey. Then Casey would bark back at her. We didn't stay to long because when you have a tired toddler that is asking to go home and you don't go, they make life less than enjoyable. Casey was asleep even before we got out of the drive way.
Friday, our friends from Greenwood came for a visit. Jennifer and I cooked a huge dinner for Friday night and we just ate on that for most of the weekend. We did fix finger foods for dinner on Saturday night for the USC/Clemson game. Congratulations to all the "other" fans that read this blog!!! Maybe next year will be better for football. Jennifer and I went out shopping on Saturday. To me it wasn't much different crowd wise than most weekends except for one store. I don't know what was going on at Garden Ridge but WOW!!! Their check out line was as long as the store. There had to be 100 people in line. Jennifer and I looked at that and decided that we didn't need anything from there!!!!
Today we had a quiet morning as they got ready to go home. The kids had a great time--ours did anyway and we hope Nate, Will and Josie had fun also. When we got ready to eat dinner tonight, Casey went around calling 3 extra kids to come and eat. She will ask about Nate all day tomorrow. She also learned to say Jen so now we just have to work on Lance.
Well, it's been a long and great holiday weekend. I feel so very blessed!!! Over the past few weeks/moths, I have been following the blogs of 2 young boys and their families and daily these 2 families remind me how much I have to be thankful for and how blessed I am. If you will, please take some time and pray for these 2 families. Hinton is 1 and lives in NC. In Aug. he suffered a severe brain injury due to abuse from his sitter. He got to come home from the hospital the middle of Nov. but his recovery road is long. I'm sure that his parents would appreciate prayers on his behalf and for their strength. The other little guy, Noah is also 1 and he is from Greenwood. He is a very sick little boy. The doctors don't know what exactly is wrong with him. They think he might have a mitochondrial defect but they are not totally sure. They just know what he does not have. Anyway, he is not doing well at all right now. He is back in the hospital and is very sick. I know that his family would also love your prayers. These 2 families have displayed great faith and courage and faith in God as they have gone and are going through these trials. Both of these families give God all the glory for the joy and for their strength. I know how sometimes I let piddly things get the better of me and I complain about things that are so trivial. I know you guys are shocked by this revelation!!! Haa Haa, I'm sure. Anyway, I'm going to do my best to follow the example I see in these two families. I AM very thankful that God has blessed me with a wonderful family and health for my family. So if you guys will just take a moment and pray for these two families, I would appreciate it.
It's getting late and we have a busy week (as I think most of them will be from now till January) so I'm going to close but first a few things I'm thankful that God has blessed me with:
*family--I have the BEST husband in the world and 4 wonderful kids!!! I also have the best parents and sibling(s)!!!
*friends--I have friends all over the place who put up with our moving and making them drive farther for visits and who now write our phone and address in pencil--just in case it changes!!!
*our military--I'm thankful for those past, Granddaddy, and those present (Eric-my cousin, Tom-Debbie's husband, Trip--Jen's brother) who are put their life on the line so that I can sit here and write this blog.

So what are some of the things you are thankful for?

Love
Tracie and Crew