What are you thankful for?!?!?

What a blessed day we had. We woke up, ate breakfast and prepared a feast for Thanksgiving dinner. The menu included smoked turkey (compliments of Steve Rice), mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoe casserole, green bean casserole, au' gratin corn, and rolls...YUM! And pies! There was waaay too much food. All delicious! Later that evening we invited several families over for fun and games. We hung out and had a really great time. Dips, more desserts, coffee and hot apple cider. It was a wonderful day.

Now, in answer to my question. I am so thankful for my family, our home, our jobs, friends and a wonderful church. Most of all, I'm thankful we still have freedom of religion, where we can still serve God. He has blessed us with far more than we could ever imagined and are worthy of.

Another birthday come and gone...

Any birthday after 40 is not as fun as they used to be. I know birthdays are supposed to be great b/c the alternative would be even worse, but I can't help but to feel a bit depressed as it rolled around on Sunday. I would've much rather forgot about it, but there were plenty of people around to remind me how OLD I am!

The kids and David got me some really special gifts and we went out to a delicious brunch at The European Inn. After church that evening we had some people over and enjoyed a cake Kelda made for me, and coffee. All in all, it was a beautiful day. And for the sun to shine, it was just icing on the cake. Thank you, Lord!

I've been busy today, Thanksgiving Eve, getting some food ready for tomorrow. I am looking forward to some yummy food, relaxing and fun with friends and family.

Brrrr...it's cold!

The fall, almost winter, has set in. We've been getting some beautiful days, but it is cold! Veteran's Day we spent 2 days at the Coast. It was lovely the first day and then rained the next. The shopping trip was great!

These past 2 weeks, we've been trying to catch up and do some things around the house. We had such a busy October, this is really nice. It's time to start cleaning the house, clear out the living area and prepare for Christmas decorating. We're going to attempt to shampoo the carpets, but we'll see if we get that far.

Speaking of Christmas, I am just about done with all my shopping. I have a few stocking stuffers to get and that's about it...yeah!!!

Victoria had her school picture retakes today. Everyone loved her hair. Said she looked like Princess Leia. She loved that!

Dillon is doing very well in school. He's finishing up a few things as the semester ends next week. We are all looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday!

Field trip to the OR Gardens

Today I was a chaperone for Victoria's class trip to the OR Gardens. We were truly blessed with a beautiful day...NO RAIN!!! It's been rainy and cold, but today, it was absolutely dry and the sun even peeked out a few times. It's always fun to do something with my kids in their school and their friends. I never had that growing up and it's something I wished for. I hope my kids enjoy it as much as I do.

Happy Halloween

My kids were so excited that Halloween was on a Friday night this year, and not a church night. We had such a good time trick o' treating with friends through our neighborhoods. There were parties everywhere. David set up a bounce house at the fire station in Stayton. The weather was great!