Giving Thanks and catching up..

This year has been hard to give a lot of thanks. Not impossible and we didn't forget it, it just took a little longer to make the list, or so I thought. A lot of the things I'm normally thankful for have been absent this year and especially this last few months. But in retrospect I feel like I actually have more to be thankful for than ever. This journey, spiritually and physically has taken me for quite a ride. There have been many ups and downs and lots of questions. Mostly, "WHY" and "WHEN". I have been blessed to have some key people in my life that seem to understand this journey to its deepest depths and I know that this was given to our family by God, I am thankful for them. We are surrounded by amazing people, mostly family and some friends that are also as close as family, I am thankful for this too. Since we've moved I have learned many things... I will try to list them but I know I will forget something:
1. Your junk follows you no matter how far you travel
2. A change of scenery is only that, all other emotions are still with you, they do not stay behind you.
3. My family husband and my children are my very best friends and support group. I love their presence all the more.
4. Trusting God with EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME, is the biggest challenge of my life
5. God answers the smallest things at the biggest moments, and when your alone, you don't miss them
6. Being alone is not so bad
7. Meeting new friends is wonderful and complicated
All these things are growing on me, stretching me and releasing me to be who I think, God is wanting me to be.

Most importantly, the journey that Daniel has been on and that I've been lucky enough to see and be a part of, has stretched us more than we thought possible and granted me with a man that loves me better than I thought possible. I am thankful for that!

I wish I had more answers as to what our future held. I'm not sure at this point why the limited front view, all I know is the rear view is crystal clear and I need to look back to trust the future.

Our Thanksgiving here was very good. It was VERY different. But I know that my sweet friend Lisa, worked very hard to make Daniel and I and the kids feel at home and very welcome. We had lots of food and there were five other children there for the kids to play with. We played the Wii, and looked over Black Friday ads. The parsonage where Bobby and Lisa live, is surrounded by a lake and prayer garden that backs up to the church. The church has a very old graveyard as well, it is surrounded by trees with red, yellow and orange leaves and green grass. Very picturesque and fallish. We ate and played and enjoyed our time, while still missing our families soooo much! I shopped Black Friday with another friend Kelly and her daughter and SIL, we had a great time and I'm almost done with shopping! It rained most of the day today and the boys went fishing while the girls and I napped. We are going to the floatilla tomorrow night to Wrightsville beach to see all the boats decorated for Christmas on parade in the water. Another new and interesting experience!

Cozy has come home with lots of new words:
please, cute, ice, juice, milk, and up to add to her list of : mama, dada, NO, ME!, horse, bapple (apple), boys and sissy and papa.

Beautiful catch - third trip to the ER

My poor baby girl. She went fishing with her dad and brothers and Noah caught her instead. He felt so terrible! The hook was truly through her little face and we could not get it out ourselves. So, yes we headed to the ER! She was so brave and calm during the whole process. They had to give her numbing medication, that was the part that hurt. But once she couldn't feel anything she allowed me to hold her head and the Dr. to push it back through her skin and then clip the hook part and then pull it out. It made my stomach hurt watching it that close but I had to keep a smile on my face. She was listening to Taylor Swift on the Ipod and watching Disney channel and just laid there. I was so proud of her. They gave her antibiotics and a bandage. Unbelievably, she has no scar!

(I was out to dinner with a friend and when we got home to take her to the ER, she was this calm sitting on the couch telling me what happened)

Halloween and my sewing room

A BMX champ, A cowboy, A lady bug and a Lamb

One thing I really like about this house is that I have some room, room for everything even a sewing room. It is such a perfect place to quietly create things without having to pick up after myself!

A trip downtown

A Saturday trip to downtown Wilmington was so much fun, well for Daniel and I. The kids were tired of walking around.. Here found someone with a sense of humor.

The Cape Fear River is beautiful, the town is basically built on the banks. There are historical buildings that boast visits from Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.



Noah is finally getting his front teeth!

Pancakes, Pumpkins and the Fair

8 children + Free Pancakes = Yum!

Yes, the waiter was surprised we ordered 7 smiley pancakes, 4 adult meals, and 4 kids meals (also free). He was even more surprised when the food was completely gone when we were through!

Cape Fear Fair 2010
We had so much fun and the kids enjoyed all the rides they could get on in the four hours we were there.

Pumpkin Time
We cleverly painted our pumpkins so they would last longer... We set them on our fall porch to dsiplay and then it rained that night and washed away their hard work:( I have to get used to the weather around here.