What an amazing week!

Our week off from school/work has been amazing.  We've had days and nights filled with family, friends, love and laughter.

Keil and I hosted Thanksgiving for the very first time!  Thanksgiving Eve brought turkey prep 101 (Thanks, Ed and Keil for doing the gross parts) and wine (too much), apples-to-apples, hilarious phone calls and a new nickname to boot.  I woke up wondering why in the world I thought hosting Thanksgiving was a good idea and who let me drink all that wine, didn't they know how much I had to do???  Everything was beautiful...the table, the food, the prayer, the fellowship, the laughter and even the kids had fun. 

I have only spent Thanksgiving away from my side of the family one other year -- in 2003 when Kurt and Christine lived in Texas and had just had our niece, Mary.   So this was a big deal for me.  I missed the beautiful drive up to The Plains, the chaos of my Mom's house with all my nieces, nephews, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins but most of all Mom, Michael and Becki.  I must admit that even though I missed them, I loved having Thanksgiving in our home with family.  

Didn't I host friends too?  Well, yes -- technically they are "friends" but I have to tell you that they are more family to me than just friends.  We have shared a lot with The Weights...holidays, birthdays, milestones, blizzards, etc.  We are building family traditions, one glass of wine and turkey roasting at a time!   We have built a little village here on Grayling and the surrounding streets.  I always dreamed of raising my kids in a neighborhood like this one.  There is so much trust and love here. Even though we were missing quite a few of the Graylingers, they were with us in spirit.  One thing I know for sure?  Our kids will never forget what it was like to grow up on this street.  I know I treasure every moment we have shared and look forward to those that come.

We ended our week with down time with Mimi and PopPop (well the boys ended up going to the Briar Woods football game -- Go Falcons!) while Mimi, Kate and I crafted for a bit -- with a brief intermission of a google translator conference call and laughfest from our North Carolina family.  The weekend brought family game night with my side of the family which always means laughter.  Each of my nieces and nephews took turns reciting their Christmas wish list -- I love that.  I love to hear what they come up with -- this year it looks like it might be Cowboy boots all around.  So sweet.

Tonight I end my post with an extremely full heart.  I am so very thankful for all of the blessings in my life.  I have the love of an amazing man, kids that are happy and healthy, family that I adore and friends that I couldn't live without.   Our kiddos are in bed, Keil and I have just poured a glass of wine, lit our Christmas Tree, put on the Christmas music and dimmed the lights.  This is truly one of my favorite nights of the year.  The calm before the storm....

Until next time,
Angie