We are Thankful

  For Thanksgiving this year we had a blessed weekend with all of our wonderful family. We spent 2 lovely days with Ryan's family at his sister's home and made some great memories . It was our first time back together since Mom went to Heaven so it was sad and happy at the same time. The kiddos had so much fun playing in all the piles of leaves that were falling generously from Michael and Julia's trees.

They raked pile after pile and then jumped in them. They buried each other as well in those huge ,fluffy piles.

  Carly and Elin having fun with Bear ,who was sitting still for once and not bounding around excitedly as he did most of the weekend.

   We went on a fun outing/hike together to some water falls. Our crazy Eva. She is the one we are always having to look out for. She seems to have very little fear, and was climbing rock embankments out far ahead of everyone else.

   Proud as punch of her little 5 year old self!!

   The other girls had fun, but a much safer sort!!

   Elle is now the proud owner of Emily's hand-me-down camera. The one with the battery door broken off and held together by pink duct tape. The one that drops its batteries constantly when the duct tape falls off.My but it is a gem of a camera.  Our 7 year old, feels like a million bucks owning such a treasure and was snapping pictures importantly our whole trip.

I love this picture. The Skaling boys and their Newfoundland puppies. Shawn and his family recently welcomed a tiny,fluffy,pouf ball of a puppy named Daisy into their family. There is quite a difference in size right now and Bear was a little rough with her, but that will change!!

  So cute! IT really made us realize how much Bear has grown over the summer when we saw this little 8 week old!

Elin feeling pretty proud of herself for her climbing accomplishments as well.

    Adorable little twinnies .

Biggest Cousin Abi

 Little cousin Elin

  Middle sized cousin Ruthie.

Me and both my boys!!

    Eva Grace, Our fearless, grinning ,wonder-girl.

           Cousins

Ryan and Em.

  Bear finally got someone his own size to play with when we went to my brother Josh's house for Cameron Family Thanksgiving meal.

  Grammie as the trampoline referee . All 20 of her grand babies were under one roof for a few hours together and she was one happy lady!!

  This is what happened when my brother T.J. grabbed my camera  at one point.

   Daddy and Phoebe sorting through pictures.

   Let the games begin. Usually at a family get together like this with 20 kids, someone has a birthday  around the corner, and what better time and place to celebrate it and throw a party, then with all your cousins around?

  Ryan decided to have a meet and greet with my brother Josh's geese and goats.

  And I fell in love with a gorgeous guy named Sven!! I wanted to bring him home to my 2 lovely lady goats.

  Adorable Elise had Grampie's heart!!

     and her trampoline skills were very admirable too!!

    Creepy Josh..he likes to scare us ladies with his "smoulder" . Why we were encouraging him with the cameras is beyond me, but he had several trained on him while he posed.

  " I'm thankful for"......is a tradition in our family. We had a gathering before we all parted ways to share the blessings God has given us. My Grammie and her husband"Grampa"Karl were able to join us this year as well as my Aunt Wanda.

   Still buddies. Although this duo is a little differently proportioned then it was at the beginning of the summer, Cammy still loves Bear!!  We would find her snuggling with him throughout the day . It was so cute.

  Eva's one lady band on the trampoline.

Now the cousins really had themselves a time in the" hay mow" Jenny and I went to see what they were up to and got a few cute pictures of them playing amongst the hay bales. Leila's grin makes me smile whenever I see her.

   Jackson .

So this is what I'm thankful for. First of all God, for sending Jesus to save me . For being so much bigger than anything that comes my way. For the blessings he gives me every day. For life, for breath. For the promise that He will be with me always no matter what. For surrounding me with love, showering me with forgiveness and grace. For giving me peace in the middle of my storms. For being the victor and for fighting for me in all my battles . For the blessing of family. Husband, daughter, blessings. Parents and siblings. In-laws,nieces,nephews. Truly  God's gifts to me are more than I can count, and I am thankful.  So thankful.