HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have had an exciting week, complete with lots of snow and even more turkey...yum, yum! Blake started off the week with a quick trip to the states. Would you believe he went to Warner Robins, Georgia? Yeah, you can imagine how jealous I was, especially considering he was able to have dinner with my parents and my brother. We weren't sure if he would even make it back in time for Thanksgiving, so I guess that was the first thing for which we were thankful--we were together. Considering the fact that Blake is leaving in 9 days for a 5-month "trip," courtesy of the U.S. military, togetherness is a luxury and not one we take for granted. We spent Thanksgiving day with a very good friend of mine, Jill, whose husband is currently on a "trip." I roasted the turkey, made some macaroni a la Brenda-Bailey-style, whipped up a sweet potato souffle (thank you Aunt Lois!), and baked some gooey, chocolate brownies (are you hungry yet?). We had a great time visiting and eating, and eating again, and eating some more. Later that night it started to snow. It snowed all night, and we ended up with about 3 inches of glorious white snow---perfect for sledding on our new toys that I bought for the kids last week. Let me just say right away that sledding is my kind of sport. Maybe that's because I'm in a position that comes natural for me---on my rear!

By the time we woke up this morning, most of the snow had melted, so we decided to take the kids ice skating in K-town. The rink just opened last weekend, and the kids have been asking to go....why not try it? Now here's my question for you to ponder....who sits around and thinks up this stuff? Who was the first person to say, Hey, let's put a very thin blade of steel on the bottom of our shoes and ride around on the ice! That will be fun! Actually, I did have fun, and by the time we finished, I was doing triple loops around the rink. Ok, I'm exaggerating. By the time we left, I was able to go around the rink one whole time without falling. That's more like it.

The kids had a great time, too. We rented a penguin for Grace. Ha! I can see the puzzled looks on all your faces! The "penguin" I'm referring to was plastic, about 3 feet tall, and wore his own ice skates. Oh, and he had handles on his head for Grace to hold, to help her keep her balance while she learned to skate. It was really neat. She skated around that rink for two hours! Of course, Troy was born with athletic talent, so he was skating circles around us all from the minute he stepped on the ice. Irritating.

I can honestly say it's been a wonderful holiday. I am thankful for so many things, but especially my family. I'm also thankful that I worship a God who has poured out blessings on my life even though I don't deserve any of them. I wrote a scripture on my message board this week that sums it up: "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." (1 Chronicles 16:34) So what are you waiting for? Go ahead...give thanks.