Thanksgiving

Joel, Evan, and I have SO much to be thankful for. We are continually grateful for the way God provides for us. This Thanksgiving we were reminded of the importance of family. We love our family and it has been hard to be so far away the last few years. A couple weeks ago Joel's brother, John, was here for a short visit. Joel was able to spend a day with him and for that he was grateful. This weekend Joel's parents were able to be here with us.

They brought a "scooter" for Evan....


For Thanksgiving we all went to Chris & Renae's house. Chris, Renae, Joel, & Shari have been part of our "Gainesville Family" for quite awhile now. We love spending time with them and we were happy to accept their invitation to Thanksgiving.

Renae & Shari had things under control in the kitchen...

While Evan was doing his cooking on the floor...

After lunch we had a good time watching Mark & Linda play the Wii...

And Evan was well-entertained by Dr. Joel and all the balls...

Thank you Chris & Renae for hosting our family for Thanksgiving!


Friday was Joel's golden birthday. I am very thankful for my wonderful husband. After such a long election season he is finally able to relax and enjoy life. After a long day of shopping he decided we should stay home for the evening. I think he had a good time wrestling with Evan...



Evan also read some books with Grandma Searby....

And one with his "mama"...


And he spent some time with his Grandpa too...
what a happy little group...

Joel requested homemade pizza for his birthday. After Evan went to bed, the rest of us sat down to a nice quiet supper...

On Saturday, Linda & I went to a huge craft festival on campus. I got a little more Christmas shopping done and enjoyed doing it without Evan this time! Later in the day Joel and I went to find a Christmas tree! We were happy with our find and everyone helped decorate...


This was Evan's contribution to the decorating. Can you guess what it is?


Thanksgiving was here and gone for another year. Christmas is just around the corner and we are excited to be heading "home" soon to see the rest of our family. In celebration of the Christmas season we lit the first candle on our Advent "wreath". In the craziness of this season, may we not forget why the whole world celebrates Christmas.