Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving has always been one of our favorite holidays, especially Jay's. It's a little more laid-back and relaxed (if you can avoid the Christmas season being pushed into Thanksgiving) and usually gives us a chance to enjoy fun times with our family.

This year we went to the beach with Jay's parents from Weds until Sunday. We usually try to make it to my family's on Thanksgiving Day and then head down to the beach with his parents for the rest of the weekend, but this year we just felt a little too drained to drag all 3 kids around that much.

This was the first year we had been at Wild Dunes for Thanksgiving Day and we got to go to their annual Thanksgiving parade. It's started by the firetruck (Will was so excited that he wore his fireman costume and the fireman waved right to him!). Then everyone decorates golf carts and bicycles to ride in the parade. They also throw out candy to the kids. Some of the golf carts were quite elaborate, like this turkey. Our other favorites were Prince William's Royal Wedding, the Griswold's, and a couple's 50th wedding anniversary. We all had lots of fun seeing everyone's creativity. Maybe if we're there for Thanksgiving Day another year we'll decorate our own. (And for the record, it was a warm 76+ degrees on Thanksgiving Day. We should have taken our bathing suits and beach toys.)

On Friday it cooled down and rained some that afternoon, so Catherine and Will put one of her birthday presents to use--an umbrella that you color and decorate the pictures. Her birthday is in 2 weeks, but since Jay's parents can't be here then we celebrated her birthday with them this weekend.
On Friday evening, Wild Dunes kicked off their Christmas season with a tree lighting and kids activities. Our favorite was the huge gingerbread house that the kids could decorate. They gave them cups of icing to stick various candies onto the house and they had so much fun. Will kept wanting to just lick the icing, of course, and would turn around to see if we were watching him. Then he'd just give us this sneaky little smile :)
The 3 kiddos love hanging out and having extra attention from mommy, daddy, Mimi, and PopPop. When the adults out-number the kids, we usually can keep everyone pretty happy!
And since I forgot to post it before we left town, Catherine's class had a Thanksgiving feast last Monday. They all dressed up like Indians and sang us a few songs and even had a special blessing. Their teachers had given each of them special Indian names that they thought fit their personalities. Some of them were Setting Sun, Brave Bear, Peaceful Lily, Mighty Turtle. Catherine's name was Great Spirit, which I think fits her perfectly. She does have such a sweet sweet spirit and seems to think of spiritual issues more than most four or five year olds. For example, she came home from school the other day and told me they sang "Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart" and while they were singing it she was thinking about meeting God and him introducing her to all the people in heaven. She said she kept seeing what that would look like in her head. I love her Great Spirit!
We have so many things to be thankful for--too many to list. But I am so thankful for Jay and his tender and loving care of all of us, for each of our children and how their personalities fit together so well in our family, and for God's merciful love to me. We hope you had a great Thanksgiving celebration too.