THANKSGIVING RECAP

This year the crew came to us: both sets of parents, Shannon's sister and her boyfriend, and two family friends of Shannon's mom- 13 in all. We had a very full table. I put the turkey on the BBQ for third year now. I think that tradition is here to stay. It keeps the oven open for other creations and it's lots of fun outside. Here's the pic of the whole crew. Jake graduated from scraps to a turkey leg this year. The table was set with china I inherited. It's orange and brown so we affectionately call it the Thanksgiving China. For years it was "mine" (mostly cuz everyone but me secretly thought the color scheme made it ugly) but kept at my parent's house and we've eaten on it for years now. When we moved to SD... we brought it with us. This was also the first time in 13 years of marriage that we used all our crystal cups. I actually had to remove the price tags off some of them from wedding presents. HA!!

Also, we do a tradition that was started by TJ when he was 2 or 3 was something we now call the "Blessing Pot". It's where we pass out paper to everyone earlier in the day and then they write down what they're thankful for. Then one of the kids collects them all and we put them in a kitchen pot. Then after dinner, one person pics one at random (only rule is that it can't be there own) and reads it. Then whoever just had their blessing read gets to go next and they pull one and read it. This continues until they are done. Here's a pic of Tyler holding the pot and my mom reading one of the blessings on her turn.

And for fun, I wrote down what we each of the 13 pieces of paper said that we were blessed by this year. Welcome to our table. Mine is the last one listed.

• My wife

• I am thankful for my extended family, and always feeling loved and supported.

• I’m thankful for a loving wife, good health, a great family and God’s provision for all of us.

• God has blessed me with sharing this special day of giving thanks with this wonderful family around this table.

• My biggest blessing this year was to watch my own son baptize his own son T.J. to watch my children all four of them and our grand children grow in their faith is pure joy and a huge blessing.
  
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• I am blessed to have a “full house” and a “full table” this Thanksgiving. Loving Husband, healthy, handsome boys, supportive parents, a part time job I am passionate about. My heart and life are very full. Praise God for his precious provisions for me.

• I am thankful for my awesome room.

• I am thankful for the blessing of love in my life that comes from my husband, my daughter, son in law, my grandsons, my sister and her family, so many dear dear friends and God’s love is so sweet and I am so thankful.

• I am very thankful for my grandmas and my papas. I’m thankful for my toys. I’m very thankful for my Dad and Mom and my house.

• Having been blessed with an amazing woman.

• I have been blessed with God’s hand Guiding and Directing my steps this last year. Blessed with a small group, music ministry, and divorce care ministry. Praise God.

• I’m thankful for my brothers.

• A Job. Healthy Family. A Caribbean Cruise with my wife. A new clutch. New tires. Soccer with my boys. A house. Water. Fire Fighters. Blogging. God’s huge grace and blessings all around.