Thankful---Full of Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving, All! I'm still in the Thanksgiving spirit, even though Black Friday has come and gone, and others are well on their way into Christmas debt. I still have pumpkin candles burning and my pretty Thanksgiving center piece on the table. I always thought that Thanksgiving got pushed aside to make way for the more commercial holiday, and I have always felt a bit sad about it. My husband and I felt full to the brim with thanks this year, and it would take the entire page(or more) to list all the things that we are thankful for. Our enthusiasm spilled over onto the kids, too. Here is just a few things that were on our thankful list this year.

1. Written on a turkey shaped piece of construction paper with various and sundry colored feathers sticking out..."GRANDPA IS BETTER AND GRANDMA LIKES THAT! ME TOO"(Lanie)

2. "Mama, do you know what is really great? GRANDPA CAN COME TO CHURCH ALL THE TIME NOW, WHICH IS WHAT HE LOVES TO DO!"(Nathanael)

3. Overheard while on the phone to a friend..."GRANDPA IS SO MUCH BETTER THAT HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SKIP TREATMENTS NOW AND THEN, WHICH IS BETTER FOR GRANDPA , GRANDMA, AND THE REST OF US WHO GET SO WORRIED!"(Mikayla)
We are all praising the Lord for Dad's health which continues to improve!

4. The Lord gave us the funds for Lanie's oral surgery!

5. Our family is bonded together with strong cords of love. We are healthy, happy, and God has supplied all our needs!

6. The most important...God is still God and in control of everything. We are able to rest in His care, keeping, and guidance of us as His own, dear children.

Several times this Thanksgiving day, my eyes filled, and I had to busy myself with the dinner prep. in order to get contol. And I'm not usually the overly emotional type. But, God has been so good! We are Thankful this Thanksgiving! Full of Thanks!

Mikayla and Nathanael played a duet for an offeratory at church the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I wish that I had taken video of that since they played it on the church's grand piano. But they were willing to do it again at home for me. It is along the side with our favorite videos. Enjoy!

Psalm 150
Praise ye the Lord. Praise him in his sanctuary: Praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltry and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

Fall Recital

The kids had their fall recital on Thursday for their music lessons. Grandma took some pictures. I didn't bring mine because I thought that Mikayla had hers, and she thought I had mine so she didn't bring hers either. I was going to video it, but oh, well. This was Alana's very first recital, and she did great! She has been taking voice and piano. Mr. Drinkwater, our teacher, had them choose only one thing to do this time because he has such a large group. So, Lanie picked voice. She sang "I am His, and He is Mine". Those of you who know Alana know how shy she is. So we were happily surprised that she went right up on stage and sang out nice and loud. She WAS glad when it was over, she admitted later. Nathanael played Pacobel's Canon in D beautifully on the piano, and Mikayla played Prelude #1 from the Well Tempered Clavichord by Bach. Also, beautifully! Here are Grandma's pictures from after the concert. They are all up on the stage receiving certificates for their accomplishments.

Who Am I?

So, at the Harvest Party, the kids also were dressed like a Bible character, object, or animal. We had some great entries at the party. Our family had a good time getting our costumes together. Can you guess who they are? Hint: Alana is Egyptian, but she is not Pharaoh's daughter. Nate is a thing, not a person. Mikayla is a Hebrew woman, but which one?

Pumpkin Creations

Well, I lost my camera for a time. We thought someone may have stolen it, but it had gotten thrown out with the trash somehow.The moral of the story: "Never leave your camera in a plastic shopping bag". But, now I have some catching up to do. At the end of Oct. we had a Harvest Party for our youth groups. We had a pumpkin decorating contest. So, here are the kids entries.

Nathanael's Patriot eating alian pumpkin.

Lanie with her princess Pumpkin. She used heart shaped cookie cutters for stencils.

The Finished Pumpkin Creations.