Thanksgiving week re-cap

Thanksgiving week has come to an end. I say week because we celebrated all week. It started off last Saturday with all of my family. Since everyone was there, we had 17 around the tables. Mom did an excellent job and once again, did everything but the turkey. My Grandmother handles that for us. :)

Since everyone was under the same roof, Mom had a photographer come and take a family photo. That means we will have a picture of All my living grandparents, my parents, my siblings and their spouses and all of our children - together. How cool is that! You should have seen us trying to get my almost 4 year old nephew and 16 month old nieces to smile at the same time. It was a riot. At the same time, I was faced with the reality that my grandparents aren't going to always be there. I "know" this and have accepted it, but this year I was just a little more emotional about it than normal.

Chloe and Emma worked very hard on their schoolwork Monday and Tuesday and were able to start the school break on Wednesday. As a reward for working so hard, Tuesday evening we put up our Christmas tree. I can't believe we did this before the "official" Thanksgiving holiday, but I'm so glad we did. We are already enjoying it! We had to move a few pieces of furniture, but it was worth it. Chloe and Emma placed 90% of the ornaments and ribbon on our tree. They did a great job.

Wednesday the girls helped me around the house and we prepared for my parents arrival. Emma and I made a pot of spiced fruit to have for breakfast and for snacks, while Chloe made her famous homemade Lemon Bars. That little thing can cook! Wednesday evening while we waited on Grams and Daddy Mack, we made homemade bread. Well, I made bread while everyone talked to me. It was quite an ordeal that resulted in my big mixer going into the garbage can. The BIG outside garbage can. I was convicted of my "tone". The tone of my voice AND the tone of my feet as they stomped around. God was reminding that my body language was just as powerful as my voice. Believe me, I wasn't speaking love, joy, peace... and certainly NOT patience. God had to have a talkin' to my spirit before my parents arrived. :)


Thursday was a lazy day and we loved every minute of it. We woke up Thursday morning to lightning, thunder and RAIN. THAT was music to our ears. My girls immediately thanked God for the rain. We've been praying every morning for rain, God really showed off for them by sending it on Thanksgiving morning. It was a cool day so the homemade soup and bread was wonderful. (We decided that since we had the traditional Thanksgiving feast the weekend before, we would do something different.) That evening, we drove up to Lake Lanier Islands to see the Christmas lights. It was beautiful and we enjoyed every last minute of it.


We enjoyed a little bit of outlet shopping Friday, but mostly just enjoyed being together. Chad says he likes it when family comes to just be here. You don't need activity, you don't even need constant conversation, you just enjoy each others presence. Grams and Daddy Mack, we simply enjoy your presence when you're here, we hope you left rested!

We have so much to be Thankful for don't we? We are very quick to make lists, talk about and write about all the things we are thankful for during this week, but I wonder....what would happen in our homes, our churches, our schools, our world if we adopted a lifestyle of gratitude. Just an idea....

Have a wonderful Sunday!