Thanksgiving 2008

What a Wonderful day we had with family and friends! We did everything from a haircut to eating and visiting to playing on the trampoline and of course watching football! We had mom and dad here. Then my sister, Dawn came with my youngest niece, Riley, and brother-in-law, Ralph. My other niece, Amanda, unfortunately had to work:( Then we invited our friends across the street, Jim and Wanda came over to join us.

Dustin doing Tommy's haircut. It needed done and I was cooking so a little coaching

and off he went. What brother wouldn't love to chop off their siblings hair! It actually turned out pretty good in the end too:)

Sister is here! Time to get the turkey rubbed down and ready to cook. It's a very yummy turkey recipe that is soaked in a brine for a day or two and then stuffed with onions and garlic and rubbed with seasonings. Moist and very, very YUMMY!!!

My niece, Riley was having a wild hair day when she showed up. Grandma Brown suggested I try and put it in a braid. She has never had it braided before and it came out pretty good. I know I'm not in the usual hair braiding position. She kept leaning back so I kept leaning back and that is how we ended up about half way through the braid :)

Then another first for Riley...the trampoline!! Her mom and dad took her out to bounce around. She wasn't quite sure at first, but she caught on quick! She kept telling Grandma "C'mon Gramma. C'mon!" Grandma decided to stay at the sidelines though :)

The food, entertainment and visiting was all great! I love this time of year when the family gets together. We missed our family that couldn't be with us this year. We love you all! Now it's time to get into gear with the holiday's coming quickly!

Ready...

Set...
GO!!

Corbin's thankful for...

In church sunday I had a friend come up to me. She is in the primary with Jerrud and Corbin at the end when they are all together for closing exercises. During primary they went around asking the kids what they are thankful for. Alot of them were saying toys and family and their friends. All wonderful things to be thankful for! It came time for Corbin to tell his answer.

"I am thankful for life. I am thankful for trees with oxygen so we can breathe. Also for minerals because without them we couldn't be alive."

I love hearing what kids are thankful for. Sometimes it opens our eyes to those little things in life that as adults we tend to forget. Don't forget to listen to those small precious spirits. They have a lot to say and they help keep things in good prospective.

M.I.A. :(

Over the past month we just have not had luck with our pets. Sadly our dog Zoey is missing! Nov 15th I was letting her in for the last time and she was nowhere to be found. We have watched for her and have not had any luck. We can only hope she is in a good home and out of harms way. The black and white picture is my favorite one of her. The little guys were watching tv and she was facing the other way leaning up against Corbin. The other one was taken not too long ago. She was a pretty dog with a lot of energy! Lots of love Zoey!!

Veterans day Parade

With it being Veterans day, of course there was a parade to go to. Dustin is currently a senior in high school and has been part of their JROTC program since his freshman year. He marched in the parade with South Rowan Highschool.

Their group did really well as usual :)

Salute to all Veterans!

It's veterans day today. It is one day a year given to our veterans that have served our country. I grew up as a military brat. My dad was in the Army. My oldest brother, James, was in the Marines and is currently serving in the Army. My husband served in the Marines and was in the Army when we met. I have a lot of past family history of military service as well.

For hundreds of years they have risked their lives to make our lives better. They sacrifice their lives for the freedom of our country. How wonderful of a feeling that is to me. To know that everyday I can have a sense of peace because of the men and women serving. I have nothing but repsect and honor for them. I have one thing to say,

Thank-you!

Catching up time!

So life for the past 6 days has been wonderful!! Ray came home last thursday after being gone for 5 whole very long weeks with his new driving job! I found myself having to physically let go of him so he could actually get things done around here that he needed to do :) Especially monday because I knew he was leaving tuesday sometime. The kids were all over him while he was home too. We went to a parent teacher conference monday morning and Jerrud couldn't stop telling everyone in the halls,

"Look! My dad's home now!!"

They were so happy to have him home. We think we might even get him home for Thanksgiving afterall!! That was the best news :)

Thursday was pretty quiet around here. Just relaxing and enjoying having him back.

Friday morning we drove to Greensboro to pick up his truck.

Mom, dad and David came over for dinner. They brought their Sugar-Gliders to show us there new babies. They are too cute! Once the babies are old enough, we will get one of the babies. I can't wait!!

We also celebrated David's 22nd birthday. He wanted to wait for his dad to come home before he celebrated it.
He got a rice krispie treat car for his cake. We have all been caked out around here...anything but cake!

Ray gave all the boys a ride in the truck. Talk about not being able to wipe those grins off their faces!!! They were so happy to be in "Dad's Truck"!

Saturday was the day we scrubbed down the entire inside of the truck. Jerrud and Corbin even helped :) Anything to be in the truck!!

Sunday we were able to go to church as a family. I miss having him there on Sundays. We went to church and then spent the rest of the day relaxing around the house with the kids.

Monday was the day of preparation. Preparing his truck and all his things for his second home. Just when you think everything that's needed is on there, something else was thought of. I think he got everything he needed in the end though :)

Rest in Peace Julie

We woke up to our very loved senigal parrot, Julie, dead in her cage this morning :( The boys are already trying to convince me to get another bird just like her. She is buried under our weeping willow tree in the back yard. The kids reassured each other that she will be in animal heaven because she was a good bird...after she learned to stop biting :) We've had her since Jerrud was a baby. We think she was about 12yrs old or so. We weren'r sure how old she was when we got her from the lady that rescued her. Jerrud is going to miss singing to her. Corbin is going to miss whistling to her and trying to get her to talk to him. Tommy will miss his fingers being nipped at when he feeds her. Dustin said she ate too many crackers :) David will miss her, but he has Jake at grandma and grandpas house to keep playing with. Ray and I will miss holding her and chasing her from the fan to the curtain rod when it's time for her to go back in her cage. And last, but not least, I'm sure our company will miss her loud screeches she came out with when new people were around :)

We love you Julie!!!

So Excited!!

I can hardly control my excitment! Ray will finally be home thursday after being gone for the past 5 weeks! The kids are excited to be able to see him when they get home from school too. Thursday can't get here soon enough!

I am so thankful to be married for the past 11 yrs to the man I love. To still love him so much that when we are apart I feel like part of my own being is missing. My family and friends have been a great support for me and the boys through this time with Ray away.

Thank-you! Thank-you!Thank-you!!

I couldn't have kept my sanity without you!

Isn't it wonderful to have friends and family like I have :)

Thankful to be sick?

*sniffle, sniffle* I hate being sick! The kids have officially taken over the house while I have been sick! Hurricane Boyz has struck again! I have no strength to get anything done besides breathe. And that is barely happening :(

So why am I thankful? It's these times you have time to think about how sometimes life gets crazy. It gets overwhelming and hard to handle. I believe that getting sick is God's way of saying "Slow down!" I was fighting a cold all week but I was too busy to get sick. My week ended and I did the last thing I had scheduled for the week. I went home and crashed. My body just gave out! Up went the temp. Puff and gooey went the eyes. Then the aches flooded my body! Even after all that, I am thankful for being given an excuse to have to slow down.

This month will be all about being thankful for things in life. It's easy to remember the big things and the positive things in our life. Don't forget about the being thankful for the trials that make you stronger. Sicknesses that make you slow down long enough to think and rest. The kids being roudy to remind you they are still alive and well. The messy house that shows a family has a home. Most of all, the friends and family that get you through everything big and small!