Still Thankful

Disappointments come...

We tried to make it to my Dad's for Thanksgiving, and it seemed like the roads and weather and weather reports were stacked against us.  So, we ended up coming home without getting there.  This was hard for me.  Really hard.  Life does hold disappointments sometimes. 

Yet, I'm still thankful.

I'm thankful for Rob and my kids who have been beside me this whole time and still love me.
I'm thankful for safety.
I'm thankful for my "other" parents who took us in with no hesitation and shared their Thanksgiving Day with us, complete with wonderful food, made impromptu!
I'm thankful for a warm, comfortable home.
I'm thankful for my dad and each of my siblings and their families (whom I miss dearly), who is living a life faithful to God. 
I'm thankful that if we all keep faithful in this life, our time together in eternity will be endless!
I'm thankful for our abundance of food and how easy it is to get it.
I'm thankful for a cheerful dog who lifts my spirits with her tirelessly wagging tail!
I'm thankful for my little girl who came and shyly handed me a coupon for a 15 minute massage tonight, and then so generously set a timer for 20 minutes and sweetly gave me a neck rub for 20 minutes!!!  Amazing!
I'm thankful we can look forward to time of fellowship tomorrow.
There are so many things to be thankful for.  So many blessings in this life.  May we all take time to keep counting our blessings!

Thank you for your comments on my last post, Alison and Jeannie.  Sure miss you!  Thanksgiving time certainly has its place in our memories of our young years together as couples, doesn't it?!

Evan and Grandpa David playing Chess.  I believe Grandpa made this Chess board in Shop class.

Lana, catching some sleep along the way...

That First Visit

Rob and I met in October 1992, and then saw each other again for the first time at Thanksgiving.  

It looks like I liked him, doesn't it....?

And I guess he liked me, because he has proven it for the last 18 years!

Special time singing hymns at Grandma's one evening.

Happy Memory Lane Monday, everyone, and may we all give thanks for our many wonderful blessings. 

p.s.  Thanks for having the courage to drive 450 miles to visit me that first time.  I love you, rjk!

Our Coffee Shop

Rob set up a coffee shop in our garage this weekend!  It seems a highly unlikely business venture for us since neither of us is truly a coffee lover.  But, we are going to give it a try!  Hopefully it will be efficient in "serving up" some great organization! 

Okay, so here are the REAL pictures!

Nice!  Don't you think?   By the way...   We did NOT drink all this coffee!  It is compliments of several sources.  I use coffee grounds in my compost, so we get lots of these containers!

Life

An Homey Aroma

Seriously... fresh homemade bread is one of the reasons I don't work full time! 

When I was a child, our company often complimented my mom on her delicious homemade bread.  She accepted the comments simply and graciously, but I love to remember my dad's response:  "Homemade bread was in our marriage contract..."   As a child, I didn't really understand that, and didn't know if Dad was really serious, or joking!  And, get this!  I even thought it was a treat to have store-bought bread!  Now I understand the value of homemade bread.  Even though I often take the "easy way out" and make it in my breadmaker (unlike Mom who made 6 loaves at a time with her Bosch mixer) I still think homemade bread is worth staying home for!  And the aroma in my house cheers me, makes me feel "at home," and greets my children as they arrive home from school.  YUM! 

Halloween at Home

 The kids celebrated Halloween at school on Friday.  I was asked to sub for 2nd grade that day...  How many opportunities will I have to sub for Halloween???  So, I borrowed a costume and got in on the festivities....

Sunday night after meeting, we came home and carved pumpkins, gorged ourselves on a big assorted bag of candy (bought it "just in case we got any trick-or-treaters!" - a favorite line I have borrowed from my dad :), and roasted the seeds.    Mmmm.... good fun and a quiet evening!

We took the pictures after the mess was all cleaned up!  Well, I guess I did take a few during the process.  Must not make everything appear TOO perfect!  For you young mothers, though... it DOES get easier (and considerably more boring!)  The kids actually did a lot of their own clean-up, and no one got sick from the smell or ate any raw pumpkin seeds or innerds!!!