Thanksgiving

Eight years ago today in Starkville, MS, I turned around and saw Shep on his knee and thought he had fallen. As I was laughing at him (I mean bending to help him up) he laughed, too, and asked me to marry him. There was so much to be thankful for!

The next Thanksgiving we were married. I tried my first Thanksgiving dinner in our tiny little blue carpeted, brown-panelled, glitter-on-the-ceiling first rental in Panama City... And we laughed again. There was so much to be thankful for!

That next Thanksgiving Shep had started his own business, I was finally out of school, and we were building a new house closer to Destin. We felt like real grown-ups :) There was so much to be thankful for!

That next year the company I worked for in Destin closed down and we had to chose between Texas, Oklahoma, Tampa, or Tennessee. We celebrated that Thanksgiving in our brand new home in TN. Thankfully our old house in FL sold a few weeks later. There was so much to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving of 2006 was uneventful. We ate, Shep hunted, I enjoyed some quiet time away from work. Life was normal and peaceful. There was so much to be thankful for!

The next year we were just barely pregnant, with what we did not know yet to be twins :) I had a new job that was flexible and perfect for a new mom. There was so much to be thankful for!

And then came 2008. There was so much to be upset, and saddened, and angry about. But on Thanksgiving, our little kung-fu ninja had his first bites of turkey and sweet potatoes, and less than a week later he was home with us. Not to mention our newest little bun-in-the-oven we wouldn't find out about for three more days :) And, yes, there was so very much to be thankful for.

Which brings us to today. Shep and I are comfortably employed in a time when so many are not. We are finally settled, and mostly unpacked, in our new home where we plan on staying until our nest is empty. As for now, our nest is full... Full of love, full of life... and full of testosterone :) We're surrounded by family and friends who, while maybe not always close in proximity, are always close in our hearts.

There is so much to be thankful for.

Now, on a different note, I want to make mention of a couple of friends who are going through difficult times right now. Please lift up in prayer my friend Kathy and her family. Kathy lost her sister and her mother last week in unrelated illnesses, and this is a very hard time for them. Please also lift up my friend Sheila's 10-month-old great-niece. She was injured in a freak accident at home this week and is now in Cincinnati Children's Hospital with 3rd-degree burns covering her entire body. The doctors are hopeful, but she is battling a bacterial infection and can use all the prayers she can get.

Thanks all.

Also, to update on our prayer requests from last week, Mr. Jack and his mom fought the swine flu and the flu lost :) No hospitalizations for baby, or for mom :) Baby Rosemary did not get to have her trach removed due to swollen adenoids, and hopefully the adenoids can come out and the trach can then go. There's a plan in place... But time can pass so slowly some times! Please continue praying for her and her family! Also, Miss Mary Farris's surgery went as well as it could, however, the doctors were not able to do everything now... She's going to have to grow a little more and then they'll try again...

Please keep on praying for my favorite preemies, along with all the millions of other preemies out there, for a safe, healthy, wonderful, amazing holiday season! And don't forget those who struggle during the holidays... Most of us have too many blessings to count... If we passed a few of them on we probably wouldn't even miss them...

Love you all, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!