Thanksgiving ...

It was a delight to have my 'little brother' (youngest brother, that is) visiting for a week in our home! He doesn't get to be down here too often so I decided that we would visit all of our girls and their children -- and got it done all in one day! Wow!

However, we started the day at Northside Christian School where the elementary department was putting on a Thanksgiving program outside (awesome weather) and followed by a Thanksgiving dinner catered by Boston Market! It was an excellent program and we had a great time and were well fed!

One of the elementary classes presented a Thanksgiving Quiz and while most of the answers were pretty well known, there were a couple that stumped some of the parents -- and that is always a delight for kids to know more than their parents! The question that seemed to stump everyone was .. Thanksgiving is celebrated only in the United States - true or false. Well, the answer was indeed false and after some of the parents had yelled out "true", there was some laughter from the students! Canada is the other country which celebrates Thanksgiving. It made it a fun time for all and I am so glad we went. Thad enjoyed our balmy Florida weather -- about 75 degrees with a light wind and clear blue skies! We are certainly blessed! So, since I was able to see all the girls and all their kids, I decided to post the photos of Thad with them! I put them in order by age except that Teri is holding Rudy -- he should be at the bottom of the grandchildren but before Ava (our 'great').

But, first, a photo at Kamen's program ..

Roxanne with Uncle Thad

Sandi and Tim

Teri & Rudy, 2-1/2

Shonna

Kasi, 19 (Roxanne's)

Marley, 13 (Teri's)

Regan, 12 (Teri's)

Kamen, 11 (Roxanne's)

Bailey, 10 (Teri's)

Tyler, 9 (Sandi's)

RJ, 6 (Shonna's)

Ava, 1 (Kasi's)

A busy week and then some ...

Wow … it’s been about a week or more since I “blogged” .. probably like ‘more’ almost!! A full week!! I attended Come to the Fire Conference in Nashville TN (First Church of the Nazarene) with my sister, Rachel, her daughter, Jene’, and our sister-in-law, Susan. What an awesome conference it was! It was so full that I purchased a DVD set because I knew I couldn’t even begin to comprehend it and process what I had heard without seeing it again!

From the music to the excellent speakers, it was challenging, stirring, uplifting … I could go on and on! One of the reasons attending this conference was so important to us was that it was my mother’s dream that I go .. and of course, that Rachel went, too. But, the summer before the very first Come to the Fire Conference in 2006, my mother began urging me – almost insisting – that I attend. She had become close friends with Aletha Hinthorn and Patsy Lewis – more through emails and being a part of their prayer support team. I have quite a stack of emails that she and the two ladies wrote back and forth! So, I looked forward to this in perhaps a little different perspective than just another ladies’ conference.

I was impressed with the openness and transparency of the speakers! From those who had worked through struggles of panic attacks and eating disorders to the challenges of raising godly children, each lady had a unique perspective. What an awesome blessing they were. I was particularly intrigued that none of the speakers were introduced. Their “bios” were in our conference program but when it was time for them to speak, they simply got up and began to share their hearts! Wow!

Susan and I rode up to Nashville together .. and I have to share this one very funny happening .. although I wasn’t sure it was funny at the time. Since my broken leg incident last year, I am extra careful in keeping my balance which can be quite a challenge at times. Susan, who has also had knee surgery, was suffering from severe pain in her good knee so was using a crutch. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a break and where she parked, I could step out of her vehicle (which was fairly high) across to the sidewalk. Sounds easy, right? Ha! Not for me .. I went to step across and lost my balance! I thought, “Oh, no!!” However, she had a running board on the side of her vehicle and I just simply went “plop” (okay, it was louder than it should have been, if you know what I mean) and I simply said, “I’m okay ..” which I was. Susan was on the other side of the vehicle trying to get out and steady on her two feet! She had her crutch and was trying to turn around when she heard my “plop” and “I’m okay”. She couldn’t even respond quickly obviously. Then everything was funny … hysterically funny! The two of us were quite a pair!!

We had a special treat when a friend of Jene’s invited us to dinner before the first session on Thursday evening. Flo was brave inviting five people she didn’t know (along with Jene’) to her home but what a gracious hostess she was! She headed downtown and fortunately because of both Susan’s and my challenges in walking a long distance, we were able to get parking close to the church building. I wish I could describe here what it was like to hear over 1,500 voices singing together! Awesome!!

On Friday evening, in between the afternoon and evening sessions, we went out to eat at Darfons, a local restaurant near where we were staying. Jene’ felt “called” to embarrass me since I had recently celebrated the big 6-0!! She sang Happy Birthday very loudly – I don’t think people were quite sure how to react and I’m glad we had only a few more moments before we were leaving. Thank goodness!!

Back at home, Sandi was directing the Shoebox Packing Party – part of the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse and this year with Veggie Tales joining them … Click here to see the photos .. way to many to post!!

Now I am enjoying a visit from my youngest brother, Thad. It’s so good to have him around and it seems he feels quite at home for which I am very thankful!

And just a couple favorite photos from Ava's 1st birthday party!!