Happy Thanksgiving

What a delightful day we had. We had my niece Holly and friend Terri O, niece Mandy and her family, my brother Tim, Josie, and Viv, my sister Judi, Fred and I, and my mom and dad. Freddy and Charif and Penny and Daniel stopped by early in the day with flowers and Thankgiving wishes, and my brother Bob stopped by toward the end of the day. Annie and her family were in Burney celebrating with friends, and Isaac and Katie and girls were at friends in Craig, Alaska. We remembered to pray for those who weren't with us, and especially those on foreign soil. Corie and her husband are both in Baghdad serving in the U.S. Army, Lincoln is getting prepared to go to Iraq on a special mission, and Forrest is at West Point. We are so proud of our military kids--they could do anything else, but chose to serve their country--that's putting Country First, as Palin and McCain said during their campaign. Such a big family, one away at college, others couldn't come, but we love each and every one and are so thankful for the blessings we remember on Thanksgiving day. For me it is my favorite holiday, one with the least commercialism, only food and family around the table, remembering to be thankful to the One who has provided. I always think of our forebears on this day, what a different place it is now, but lest we forget, bought with a great price. Here's a just a couple of pictures from the Day...

Our vacation on the Pacific Coast...

Going back a bit to show the many activities on the ship...First, there was Vancouver BC, Nanaimo BC, then San Francisco, Catalina, San Diego, and back to Long Beach. You can see that we were really, really busy on this go-go-go vacation--you know how it is, you race around trying to "get it all in" that when you finally do get home, you're exhausted. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret: we mostly slept, hung out at the spa, and went to the dining room only when we felt like it. Ahhhhhhhhh....I need another vacation like this one!!
How'd this get in here?

Time to get up for breakfast kids!

This morning I made blueberry muffins. I thought back to how many times I made blueberry muffins from a mix for my kids. And I missed my little ones this morning. Oh yes, I could have made them from scratch and it would have been more of an act of service to my family, I suppose. But whether they are made from scratch or a mix, the message was the same, I loved to make my children happy. I couldn't do it always the way I wanted. I was prevented sometimes from my fantasy of what I imagined a good mom would do by a lack of resources, other circumstances, stresses of life. While I ate my share of the muffins this morning, I thought of you. I thought about if anyone is at my house for Christmas morning this year, I'll make the muffins from a box. Maybe the homemade cinnamon rolls too...but definitely the muffins from a box. p.s. Since I can't serve them to you, I'll drop them off to Grammies!

I love you kids!