So Incredibly Thankful for Family

I failed.  I didn't take a single picture of Thanksgiving this year.  But that doesn't mean it wasn't a wonderfully blessed time.

(on a side note, pictures will be a lot more frequent as soon as Jesse's and my Black Friday Nikon D3000 arrives!  So, so, sooo excited!)

I drove up after work to my parents' house on Wednesday to see Laura's mime group perform.  Jesse had youth group and a Thanksgiving Eve service at church, so he came up with Momma B on Thursday. 

When I got there, my brother Jon and my sister Kate were in the living room with Mom and Dad, and we all visited and enjoyed being together again, waiting for Laura to come home from school.  When we heard her car drive up, we all ran to the door and greeted her with hugs.  Poor thing, being the youngest of  a big family leaves her coming home to an empty house frequently.  She was so happy to be surrounded by all of us!

After all four of us siblings had hung out for about an hour, I went with Mom over to Ami 's (my dad's mom) house.  Last Thanksgiving was a difficult one since we spent most of it at the hospital with Papa Chuck.  When Ami announced that she wanted to host Thanksgiving at her house this year (our first one without Papa), we were all surprised, but thankful that she was willing to go on.

Mom and I visited with Ami, and then went into her kitchen to work on the potatoes and yams for the next day.  What a feast!

When we got back home, Kate had made a batch of salsa for our taco dinner.  As all of us girls worked in the kitchen making dinner, we pretty much demolished the chips and salsa!  It was fun to be back in that kitchen with my mom and sisters.  Not really like old times, since none of us liked to cook back then, but wonderful just the same :-)

The mime presentation by Agape Mime Troupe at church that night was wonderful.  We had all seen presentations by them before, but this was the first one any of us had seen since Laura joined.  So exciting!  She did a wonderful job, and we're all very happy that she gets to be involved with such a wonderful group of Christ-centered young people.

The next morning was a flurry of people waiting their turn to use the shower, preparing things for dinner, and getting ready for the Thanksgiving church service.  It was such a blessing to be back with the church family at Covenant of Grace.  I grew up in that church and was there for 16 years hearing my dad preach every Sunday.  I miss that church family, and I'm thankful that they still count me as family, too!

My poor handsome man is super sick this week (feeling much better now, thank goodness!) so it was good that he could stay home on Wednesday and come up with his mom on Thursday.  I missed him terribly, but I'm glad that he got that extra rest!

Jesse and Momma B got to Ami's house right before we did.  It was so good to be all together again!

We had a wonderful meal together, and enjoyed every minute of it.  We laughed and talked as a family, sharing tidbits of news and talking about school (Jon and Kate are both graduating from college in the spring, and Laura is graduating from high school.  They're all crazy busy with school these days!). 

After dinner, we sat around Ami's living room.  Jon went and picked up his lovely Megan and came back in time for pie.  Pies were my job this year.  I'll share recipes soon!

It was such a wonderful time with family.  I'm so thankful for every one of them! 

I realized on Thursday that it was the 4th Thanksgiving Day I've celebrated with Jesse, but the 3rd one that I've celebrated as his wife.  I'm amazed and thankful and really, just blown away with how quickly God brought Jesse into my life (quickly? Bethany...you knew him for a year before you guys ever thought about dating!  Yes, I said quickly.)  He timed everything perfectly for us.  The transfer student harpist in 2005 never would have imagined she'd be celebrating her third Thanksgiving with her husband in 2010.  God's providence is amazing!  I'm so thankful for the incredible, loving, strong, beloved man God paired me with in my handsome Jesse.

I'm also so thankful for the rest of my family.  My dad and mom who raised me in the way I should go, my siblings who made my childhood bright, grandparents who have been there to share in every special event in my life, a wonderful mother-in-love who delights in having a daughter, and enough aunts, uncles, and cousins to overflow my gramma's house at Christmastime.

This week has reminded me what a blessing it is to have such a wonderful family.  We don't see each other every week, but when we are all together, it's a celebration. 

Thank You, God, for the family I grew up in, the family I married into, and the family I have yet to meet!

♥

 

Thanksgiving 2008--Jesse and I hosted our first Thanksgiving at our house.  Going around the table beginning at the bottom left, Kate, Mom, Papa Don, Gramma, Momma B, Jesse, me, Ami, Papa Chuck, Laura, Jon, (and Dad took the picture)

Enjoy the rest of your wonderful Thanksgiving Week!

♥Bethany