Thanksgiving 2011

We spent our first Thanksgiving holiday ALONE as a family. It was a complete success. I don't want to brag or anything, but my turkey was unbelievable... it was flavorful and practically fell off the bone. Black Friday shopping (although I was so sad to go alone when all my sisters were shopping together in Utah) was so.much.fun! I literally got EVERYTHING I wanted in about 3 hours. Yes, I was tired the next day, but all my shopping is done. We aren't getting our kids very much this year, but what we did get, they are going to love. Zero video games and zero flat screen tvs. electronics are overrated, in my opinion.

We spent the majority of our weekend playing games, putting up Christmas decorations, eating pie, playing croquet at the park, laughing together, having dance parties, walking the dog, hiking, cooking and praying our hearts out for my sweet little niece, Kennedy.

My amazing brother, Tim, lives in Michigan with his wife and two cute girls. They were visiting my older sister and her family in Atlanta this weekend. On Friday afternoon, three year old Kennedy fell in the backyard pool (the pool was being drained and only had about 2 feet of water). Her mom, who is an example to me in so many ways, knew that something was wrong and went searching for Kennedy. She found her face down in the water. When they pulled her out, she was lifeless and blue-- no breathing, no heartbeat... she was gone. No one knows how long she was in the water. My brother was able to perform CPR on his baby girl and after 4 minutes, she coughed up water. She was life-flighted to the hospital and has been in the NICU ever since. She is now breathing, eating, talking and almost back to her old 3 year old spunky self. This is an absolute miracle. There is no doubt in my mind that prayer works and that God is aware of each of us in our greatest time of need. My faith has been strengthened and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for each of my family members, especially for our sweet little children. Life is so precious.

We are all doing fabulously well. Aaron's new job is great. Roma is chunking up nicely and we are nibbling on her fat rolls. Ben and Luke enjoyed the break from school, but are excited to go back tomorrow. Zack is still a total SPAZ and keeps us in stitches. Simon is giving us a run for our money and probably won't slow down anytime soon. I am feeling incredibly blessed. I have been given so much.

I wish I had more time to blog, but at this stage, it's more important for me to be living life than to be writing about it. Happy Thanksgiving. Love to you all.