Thankful

The week of Thanksgiving was lots of fun.  My sister Carrie came in town and we got to see them for the first time in over a year.  On Sunday night we had dinner with all the Bradys.  Matt and Shauna gave all the kids their Christmas jammies and dresses.  We also had the cousins exchange gifts.  We gave Tommy and Nicole their gifts.  And Jenny and Steven gave us their gift.  On Monday night, the Purdy clan had an adult only dinner at the Fancy Schmancy Roof Restaurant.  It was delish.  And afterwards all the guys went to the Jazz Game.  On Tuesday we had pizza and game night at the Bradys, also adult only.  It's basically the only way to play games anymore.  On Wednesday Shauna hosted the Brady Lady Brunch.  It was for all her daughters-in-law and their mothers and their daughters.  It was lots of fun and delicious as well.  Thursday was the real deal day and we spent it with Bradys this year.  Tommy and Nicole were there for dinner and it was delicious.  Shauna made stuffing with croutons from Kneaders with a killer recipe.  I don't always love stuffing but this was awesome.  I made the mashed potatoes and an apple pie.  On Friday we had Thanksgiving with Purdys.  My mom had spent most of the day Thursday cooking and preparing so most everything was ready to go.  Around 1 we did family pix.  Jon and I set everything up on the tripod and Ryan's brother used the remote to shoot for us.  It worked out great.  The pix turned out pretty good.  I was slightly disappointed with my posing skills.  I still don't have it all down for groups that are so large.  It's hard to get that many people in place!  I have a hard time not looking at the picture and seeing what I should have done.  Will I ALWAYS feel this way?!  I hope not.  Dinner was good and afterwards we had a cookie and ice cream tasting competition.  Carrie's cookies won.  But the competition was a lot of fun, even if I didn't win :)

On Saturday we had to make the long drive home.  I hate that drive.  At least it's worth it.  I wish we could just pick Springfield up and move it about 12 hours closer.  An eight hour drive would be ideal, really.  Or, at least do-able.
The first day back from vacay Jon had a 12 hour shift.  Bummer.  Welcome back to reality, huh?!
At the end of a rough year, I feel like I need to reflect on everything that I am grateful for more than most years.  I can't help but see the tender mercies of the Lord in my life ALL the time.  And yet, I struggle to not feel overwhelmed with all that is going on right now.  It can sometimes leave me feeling a little grumpy.  We truly are blessed to have awesome health insurance, with an awesome job, awesome kids, and awesome family (even if they are far away).  We are blessed.