2 to Grow With : We are Thankful!

We talk about being thankful all year and let that be the position of our hearts, however we don’t get it right all the time. Some weeks are busier than others and some are weeks where it is easier to talk about what did not go right. Our prayer for our family is that we would grow in thankfulness.

It was fun this year to hear what the girls are thankful for and share what we are thankful for. Gracie is at the age where she is beginning to soak it all in. Maggie, almost everyday, says something that makes us all giggle! This week as we talked about what we are thankful for that showed through.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My two turkeys!

Do you like the purple headband?

Me: While I could make a list of things that could span pages, some material and some more insignificant to most, I wanted to capture a few things as I reflected this week.

--Christ: I am far from perfect no matter how hard I try, He continues to show me his unending love and prove that I can only do this life with Him!

--My Love: Jimmy is the rock of our family. We laugh hard together, plan for what we want in the future for us as a couple, and parent our daughters together through the good days and challenging days. I am thankful we choose to do this marriage thing and parenting thing together!

--My funny girls! They both have their own sense of humor (often unintended). Maggie as she was praying the other night before dinner did her typical kids prayer which she usually only says part of “thank you God amen”. We are been working with her to not rush through prayer but to thank God for something. So this night she added “and the food” as she smiled big and said “I said it different!”.

Love this smile!

Love how gracie can snuggle any where (like her mama) and rest!

--Family: Jimmy and I often talk about how much we love our family, both sides. My parents loved and made many sacrifices for me as I was growing up and continue to be sone of my biggest supporters! Jimmy’s parents have always welcomed me in as their own and I am blessed that even through there were some difficult moments at the beginning that I consider Jimmy’s sister not only family but a very close friend!

--Reminders of special friends and God’s hand: While we do not see them often now that we attend different churches, the Sarine’s are near to our heart. We call them the girls “Chattanooga Grandparents” and adore them. The nativity the girls play with was handcrafted by Mr. Craig. This year it is not only a reminder of them but also God’s hand on their lives and answer to prayers as they received some wonderful health news this week! Praise God!

--Special Friends: it is not lost on us how blessed we are to have the network of friends that we have both in Chattanooga and across the ocean!

Jimmy:

-- While he is extremely thankful for so many things (God, family, friends), this year the biggest blessing is oxygen! Yes, something so simple, but so healing! As many of you know Jimmy has struggled with Cluster Headaches since college. He can go 3 plus years without even having one and then we get into a cycle “cluster”. The last time he had these Dr. Smith tried oxygen as a treatment and it has worked! Jimmy just takes it when he is feeling them coming on. (Rachael Note: also a big thing for me to be thankful for as I do not worry nearly like I use to about these and how to work our family around them).

Gracie:

--When asked she very clearly in order said “God, Family, Friends and Food”.

--Doctors with after hours: Gracie had been complaining of her throat hurting this week, which I really thought was do to the cold weather moving in (and it sure has and is quite cold!), but Tuesday night she said she was feeling bad enough to go to the doctor. Sure enough, a strep test later we were called in an antibiotic.

Maggie:

--“headbands” which I really do believe she is thankful for as they are the first thing she puts on each morning (even if we have not gotten to putting product in her hair yet) and the last thing she takes off as she drifts off to sleep.

Other fun things from the week:

--Wednesday night we had some friends over for dinner with the hope the kids would watch a movie and the adults could play games. Well the kids did watch a movie, but the adults talked too long and the kids were tired!

Maggie and Keaton

--We took the girls Thanksgiving Day to see the new Disney movie Frozen. It was quite cute! We enjoyed a great meal with my brother, sister in law and Ellie! We love holidays with family!

Ready for the movie (Gracie snagged my scarf!)

I am beginning to think Maggie intentionally does not look at the camera!

One hot mess!

Ellie Snuggles!

Aunt Katelyn snuggles with Maggie

-- The girls elves showed up this week. We do not do the Elf on the Shelf but they do have these cute little stuffed elves they like to snuggle with that will bring them a treat or two. They think it is pretty neat and were quite excited.

Our elves came and brought the girls new jammies!

-- We had Maggie’s BFF Addison ver tonight and she is spending the night while her parents get them moved into their new home. We had a great day playing and making cookies!