Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day:  Dylan and Kelly hosted the family for dinner today. Whew, because I lost power over at the Beach House at about 10:30 this morning. Thankfully, I had just finished sauteeing the onions and celery for the stuffing, and everything else was already cooked and ready to go. But poor Matey had to spend several hours alone with a rather dark house, NO music to listen to, and I was a bit concerned about the temperature in here. It all turned out OK, though, because the power went back on after about five hours and I returned to a warm and cozy house after my day away.

It was good to see Shane, who was already over when I arrived; and then Jesse, along with Emma and Kaity, showed up a little later in the afternoon. 

 Brendan and Kaity had a good time playing together.

 Little QP was her sweet self all day ...

 She LOVES having her picture taken and gives me her very best scrunchy face each time!

 Oh my word, Erin!

 Aidan Paul was pretty intent to play outside, cold or otherwise, so the four littles and I bundled up and went outside for awhile to give Kelly some needed space in the kitchen.

 Aidan loves his dinosaur winter coat--he's quite proud of it. He looks like the very cutest tiny dinosaur in it too.

 Brendan ran to the side yard to show Kaity his very favorite climbing tree ... it's HUGE.

 They both crawled inside this evergreen and began the climb ... up, up, up! Brendan told me that the higher up you climb, the thinner the branches get ... so he very wisely didn't climb much higher than in this picture. I love this picture of you, Brendan! JOY.

 We decided to walk on down to the creek to see if it had risen to dangerous levels ...

 !! It definitely was too high to walk UNDER the bridge. So instead, we walked OVER the bridge and threw leaves down, watched them spin and take the plunge, and be swept away down-stream.

 Kaity took very good care of Aidan while we were outside. She is a natural care-giver. Good job, Emma, teaching Kaity useful skills!

 I snapped a quick picture of Jesse as they were leaving ... he looks very tired ... but it's the only one I snapped of him all day, so I'm posting it anyway. I love you, Jesse. Thanks so much for coming over and hanging out with your family today!

So much to give thanks for today: health, life and breath, a roof over our heads, excessive food to eat, warm clothing, friendships and family, our amazing God who loves us unconditionally ... His love endures forever. What a difference that makes in every second of life.