THANKSGIVING & A WEDDING

Thanksgiving was not what I had envisioned... the family sitting round the dining room table enjoying too much food but laughing and having a great time. However, that's not the way it was - at all. Grown kids + work schedules + living in different cities (and countries) makes it difficult. Jason & Jenny and family were at her mom and dad's; Chris had to work on Friday and he's in Springfield; Sara was here and it was her first Thanksgiving at home in 3 years; Masha was at home on the Isle of Man. Charlie decided to go to Springfield so that Chris wouldn't be alone; Sara and I stayed here because she had to work on Friday and we were leaving that afternoon for Nashville for a wedding. We got up Thanksgiving morning... at our leisure... and went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was a delicious start to our day. We came home... watched a movie... relaxed... and then had a turkey dinner. It really turned out to be a very enjoyable day and I was thrilled to have Sara home and to spend the time with her.

On Friday we headed to Tennessee for the wedding on Saturday of Allison Ellsworth. The Ellsworth family is very dear to my heart and I would not have missed that wedding. As expected, it was beautiful... but not near as beautiful as the lovely bride. She was beaming from the time she walked out the door with her dad until we told her good-bye several hours later. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the wedding was held outside. Who would have thought such a thing would be possible on November 28? It was sooooo good to see Steve, Jane, Lindsey and Kaitlyn too. When Lindsey introduced me to her boyfriend, she said, "This is Becky... from St. Louis... she adores Kaitlyn... and Kaitlyn adores her." :-) That Kaitlyn will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart... and has since the day I saw her in an orphanage in Belarus. God is so good to have given her one of the most wonderful families I've ever known. OK... I could go on and on about the wedding but just check out the pictures on Facebook and that will give you a pretty good story. Since we drove over on Friday, we were able to spend that evening with my sister, Brenda, and her family. It was a fun visit... Dominic continues to crack me up with his very animated conversations about very important things... like gas for the car. He's a funny boy!

Sitting on my bed. I just downloaded a Josh Groban Christmas CD - man, can that guy sing!!

Waiting and relaxing for a bit before it's time to start dinner. It has to be early on Thursdays - Sara goes to Precept; Charlie has small group.

Glad to have Sara home for the holidays this year. Glad that my Christmas shopping is almost done!! Woo-hoo!!

Needing childcare help for the Saturday night musical on December 12. Also needing more help for the KidZone Christmas party right before the musical. Any takers?

Reading "In the Secret Place - A Pilgrimage through the Psalms" by Jerry Rankin as my devotional each day. Reading "The Truthseeker" by Dee Henderson for fun. Need to start reading "Crazy Love" before Keith thinks I forgot how to read.

Avoiding cleaning out file drawers... and baking cookies for KidZone Worship. I just don't like to bake... or file.

Enjoyed the Ellsworth/Pinckley wedding... obviously.

Preparing soon to make shrimp stir fry for dinner.

Drinking a diet Coke.

Snacking: just finished some almonds.

Trying to work out our Christmas travel details. Once again... Grown working kids + holiday plans = a lot of thinking & planning.

Ending a productive week and looking forward to the start of Upward practices next week.

Misc. Hoping Keith's recent purchase of a new internal hard drive works well... if so, then I'll do the same. There was something else I was going to write here and it has completely slipped my mind so I'll go with this and see if it comes to me anytime soon.