Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with some of the things I’m most thankful for-my family and friends. We celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom’s house with a big spread of food. All of my mom’s family was in town and Justin’s mom also came to celebrate with us. We all gathered together several times throughout the week and as usual had a lot of fun eating, sleeping, watching football, visiting and laughing together! We are blessed with two wonderful families!

Carving the turkey!

This is what we did while we waited...







Ava Kate enjoyed her first Thanksgiving as you can see by the pictures. She got to try some new things- broccoli rice casserole, pumpkin pie, homemade whipped cream, cranberry salad, turkey and she also got some of her favorites- mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and rolls. I think the homemade whipped cream is the new favorite! She made it very well known that she wanted more and more and more of it! Who wouldn’t though?




I had some friends in town for the holidays and Ava Kate and I got to spend an afternoon with Robyn, Kimberly and Jill and all of there little ones. It was a lot of fun to get to visit with the girls and watch all the kids play together. It still blows my mind that we all have kids now and we aren’t the silly high school girls we used to be, well maybe we are deep down. I love these girls and their friendships and feel very thankful that we have remained such good friends so many years later.






Justin, his mom, Ava and myself all ventured out into the madness of Black Friday this year. We didn’t get up with all the crazies but we made it out about 10am. By then the lines were much shorter but we still got some good deals and completed the majority of our Christmas shopping which always feels really good.


Another highlight of the week was a slumber party with Lila. We had been planning it for over a week. I think she was pretty excited about it- her mom said all week she had been talking about the s-l-e-e-p-o-v-e-r which she spelled out instead of saying so her little sister Laney wouldn’t know about it. Lila and Ava Kate took a bath and then Lila helped me get Ava ready for bed. Lila read Ava Kate several books. After I put Ava to bed Lila and I baked some peanut butter cookies and then we watched Dennis the Menace together. I am pretty sure we only watched about 30 minutes of it before looking at each other and deciding we were both about to fall asleep. We got up and played with Ava and Justin got us donuts. Lila helped pick out mine and Ava’s outfits for our family pictures we were taking with all of the family later that afternoon. I wish I had her around everyday to help me get dressed, that girl definitely has a sense of style!







Looking back on the week I realize yet again we are blessed beyond measure- with lots of love, health, family, friends, food, home and most of all hope which we find in our salvation!

“To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love.”- Thomas Merton