Day 22-28

Ahhh...I've been so wrapped up in all of my blessings that I haven't had time to blog about them. Here is a quick recap of the week of thankfulness that I missed.

Day 22 - I'm thankful for memories...the ability to have them and create them. I spent some time working on Norah's scrapbook today and it was so fun to see how much she has changed and how different she is from the other girls. It was fun to have some girl time and adult coversation and the girls loved having a daddy/daughter day!

Day 23 - I'm thankful for food...the preparing and the eating of it. Today I invited some girls over to "freeze our butts off." We prepared 19 meals to stock our freezers so those nights that we just don't have enough time to get a good meal on the table, we can just pull one out of the freezer and *voila* we have a warm, homecooked, healthy meal for our families. It was fun to catch up while we cooked and made spending the day in the kitchen lots of fun.

Day 24 - Today I'm thankful for the arrival of the Christmas season!  I LOVE Christmas and today we put up our tree and got our house and our minds in the mood. The girls had a great time sorting through all of their ornaments and hearing the stories of when they got them and who they were from.

Day 25 - Today I'm thankful for Mark's family. We spent the day in Illinois visiting with Mark's extended family. This year there were so many kids which is a huge change from years past. The girls had a blast playing games, enjoying the warm weather and eating lots of yummy treats with their cousins. I got to visit with a lot of people I haven't seen in a while and there is just so much love and strength in this family that it was awesome to be around it.

Day 26 - Today I am thankful for time at home. Mark has been working so hard trying to finish off our basement and our free time gets filled up so quickly. It was so nice to have time to work in the basement and while Norah napped the older girls played so nicely together leaving Mark and I time to work down there together. It's not very often that we get quiet time just the 2 of us. It was fun to talk to him, uninterrupted, even if it was only for about 20 minutes.

Day 27 - Today I am thankful for family get togethers. Each weekend after Thanksgiving my dads entire family gets together. This is no small gathering...with 12 siblings...most people can't imagine a get together where introductions are a necessity. Everyone brings a dish to pass and the food is always delicious. After dinner each family is introduced and everyone gets a chance to meet all the newly married spouses and children. My math isn't the best but I believe there are still 10 living siblings, 50 grandchildren, 158 great grandchildren and the numbers for great-great grandchildren are growing too fast to keep up. This year there was an age range from 2 weeks old to 78 years old. My grandma would be 99 this year if she were still living. She has left the most wonderful legacy, it is really amazing to see so many people all gathered at the same time to celebrate her life. My grandpa died before I got to meet him, but they raised an awesome family.

Day 28 - Today I am thankful for fun. My girls are so goofy and fun, I love to see their excitement for holidays.