i have discovered that i'm pretty terrible at taking photos at holidays and events. i do my best photography on a random afternoon at 5. pressure to perform gets to me, i guess. lucky for me, kelly brought her fabulous camera to my house for thanksgiving and has promised to email me all the wonderful photos she took. my mom also took quite a few during soccer outside and the tree decorating on friday night. (she was contemplating stealing the camera.) whenever i receive the shots, i will post them here.
the weekend was fab. mom, dad, gramma, grampa, scott, kelly, laura & travis + our four squished into my house and ate off plates balanced on knees on a hodge podge of chairs in the living room for thanksgiving. the meal was a group effort as were the other several meals we cooked together over three days. we were crammed into the kitchen, every inch of counter space occupied. pots bubbling and boiling, cookies burning, dogs lapping at crumbs dropped. it was perfect. thanks to relatives who don't mind waking up early with my kids, landon and i even got to sleep in pretty late all weekend. as i said, the tree is up and lovely. i have the rest of the holiday decorating to get up/fall decorating to put away still to do.
december is already crammed, but i am going to try my darnedest to maintain the thankfulness i feel in my heart now throughout the next several weeks.
a few weeks ago, at the women's retreat, we were supposed to make a list of ways we could see the hand of God in our lives, things we were thankful for, blessings poured over our lives.
i thought it appropriate to share a sampling here at the tail end of this weekend.
+You made the world!
+You gave me a heritage of faith, a family who loves You.
+You gave me an insightful spirit.
+You healed my body.
+You healed my heart.
+You saved my soul!
+You gave me a God-fearing husband.
+You blessed me with a family to show me how to live for you.
+You gave me more godly friends than I can count.
+You provide perfectly for our needs.
+You gave me ellie.
+You gave me grayson.
+You've given me a heart for missions.
+You've given me confidence.
+You've given me the opportunity to minister.
this isn't all of them, and i only quit listing because i ran out of space on the assigned card.
the blessings are abundant and overflowing and never ending.
hope your weekend was as lovely as mine, and thanksgiving remains in your heart as well.
there was much coffee consumed.
the kids love to help cook.
it was thanksgiving morning, and we were making the most amazing pumpkin waffles out of this cookbook kelly game me several christmases ago. so.yum.
artistic bowl shot. and mom had great nail color.
ellie did her own hair on thanksgiving.
gray eating the toy gg (gramma) brough him.
along with the food, the table was decorated with a bowl of gourds and nuts, short taper candles in vintage green glass candlesticks and thanksgiving/fall-esque crafts done by the kids at school.
turkey courtesy ellie.
gramma's stuffing.
ham, sweet potatoes, gravy.
the water carafe with dishes in the background. 
making plates.
my siblings (scott and laura) are so good looking.
gg (gramma) and ellie.
more plate-makin'.
scott and me browsing etsy.
pop pop (grampa) playing piano after dinner.
doc.
hello, fabulous photo.
another one of my good looking siblings, travis.
pure joy. playing soccer.
someone who has photoshop please photoshop the snot off his face and send this otherwise fantastic photo back to me. thanks a million.
friday night we had chili.
my kids love chili.
dirk.
pretty laura.
pretty kelly.
pretty grayson.
oh.em.gee. for real.
sparkly ornament.
sparkly ornament II. 
non-sparkly ornament.
ellie decorating the tree.
gray decorating. i have several low branches adorned with no less than 6 ornaments each.
he carried that star around for quite awhile.
when landon was doing this, ellie said, "oh, daddy! you're so strong. i'm so impressed!"
focus.
rousing card games that did involve one person who shall remain nameless (cough::scott::cough) flinging all the cards off the table and onto the floor in a show of poor sportsmanship.
it's beginning to look a lot like christmas.
the holidays are here. i am pumped. tomorrow is packed with family photos, baking, table decoration/preparation, thanksgiving no. 1, and the arrival of family. i am planning to take many photos of all processes mentioned. stay tuned.
