There's no place like home

We came home to -

• licks from Molly
• clean house
• all of our toys
• laundry
• sick daughter
• 50 degrees in the house
• wind
• happy kitty
• empty fridge
• own bed
• bills
• unpacking
• familiar sounds, smells and activities of home
  

Good times

We drove to Nebraska for Thanksgiving. When we left our house on Tuesday morning, we thought we would never make it out of town. I think we hit every red light from our house to the Sealander's house. They were so kind to take care of 3 of our furry family members. (Molly and the hamsters spent Thanksgiving with them.) After we dropped them off, we headed for the interstate and hit every red light on the way. I think it took us an hour to finally get "on the road". Our first stop was Sierra Trading post in Cheyenne, where Patrick found a great new coat and the kids played in a couple of canoes that happened to be sitting on the floor. They loved rocking in the boats. I don't know what the employees thought... After that we made our way up to Sidney and spent the evening with Patrick's aunt and uncle and cousin. We had a very nice dinner together at Pizza Hut and then went over to Jim and Judy's house for some coffee and visiting. The kids liked playing with Ashlynn with Aunt Judy's toys. They also really like the aquarium that Judy has with some interesting fish in it. We stayed at the same Holiday Inn that we stayed at in September when we were in Sidney for Eric and Kaylee's wedding. Both of the kids remembered the hotel when we drove up. Following our visit with Patrick's family, we spent time in the hot tub and swimming pool. It was a very enjoyable night. In the morning, we continued our journey east to my sister Lisa's house. Michael has been asking every day for a month when we were going to see Ash-u-lee (cousin Ashley). (He is smitten with her and she is such a good sport to give in to all of his two-year-old demands.) Lisa's house is very warm and cozy (and CLEAN!!) and being there is such a treat. She is an amazing cook, a wonderful homemaker, and I love being a guest in her house. She thinks of everything, and I always come home inspired about ways to make my own home more organized, better kept, and more inviting. Later in the evening, Grandma and Pop-pop arrived. That was fun for my kids to see them in a different environment other than our house. On the way I told Michael that he would see Pop-pop at Ashley's house and he just couldn't figure that one out. The time that we spent at Lisa and Lonnie's was so wonderful. Great laughs, awesome food, some stress, good card games, wonderful music, hugs, kisses, little sleep, Wii, monster trucks, gun fire, cheap wine, birthday celebration, expensive wine, "WNTW", and best of all time with our great family. The only hard part was the absence of Marky, Maddie, Renee, Monty , Adam and Clara. We missed them all so much, and thought of them often. All in all, our Thanksgiving holiday was the best. I have much to be thankful for.

Making pies

I made some pies for Thanksgiving, and Meredith helped me put them together. She asked me if she could help me put the ingredients in the mixer. She used the word ingredients. How does she know that word or what it means?? Sigh.... she's TOO smart for this mama!!

Giving Thanks

I am looking back over the past month, when all of the planning began for the Thanksgiving holiday. I have spent so many moments with conflicting emotions. I've been worried, stressed, sad, excited, overwhelmed and happy. Now that the Thanksgiving holiday has passed, I wonder if I could have handled everything differently. If only I had prayed more, trusted more, backed off more, given in sooner, relaxed. But here I am on the other side of plans made and of events that have occurred, and I am grateful. I missed my older daughters so much over the past week, but in the midst of it all, I had so much to be thankful for. I found my thoughts resting with them so often, and yet my fears and worries were drowned out by my trust in God, that He knew where they were and what they were doing, even if we were apart from each other. I was able to enjoy Michael and Meredith in spite of some sadness in my heart. Patrick truly helped me get through the week with his encouragement and the plans that he made to keep us busy. Being with my extended family provided distraction, joy, so much laughter and many great memories. It's hard to believe that this week I have been dreading for a month is over. I am so grateful for that - not just that it is over and in the past, but that it was well spent and taught me great lessons.