Many Blessings

What a beautiful Thanksgiving it was. It was in the +20's so the boys gave the little ones a ride in the sled before they took off themselves.

Very happy kiddos.

Candles are so fascinating for all ages.

I didn't take a bunch of food photos today. We had the basics...ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, wild rice, stuffing, fruit salad, rolls and pumpkin pie. The kids even had their own bottles of sparkling apple cider. We sat down to eat a few minutes before the boys got home from snowmachining/snowboarding.

Homer and I were so thankful to have each other and our five beautiful children all together on this holiday. Of course, there was a bit of sadness and always in our thoughts were our three children who were not with us. They are never forgotten, always missed and we look forward to a day when they'll come home again. Until then we are thankful for a heart full of memories and thankful for the family we are now.

Even though he fell asleep during the movie he still kept his babies in his arms. Such a great daddy.

Although it was around +20 at our house it was -2 in town where the boys went riding. Elijah didn't wear warm enough gloves and his hands got too cold. Took him awhile to get warmed up.

Nick had the chills, too. Typical Nick...don't cover up with the blanket right next to you, but instead lay under a pile of pillows. Silly kid.

I have no idea why Emily is standing on her head to watch the movie. She's silly, too.

It was a perfect night for a bonfire. We are tearing out the old kitchen and burning those nasty cabinets was so much fun!

The fire died down a little so out came the fire crackers. Then off they went to get the pantry door.

Our friend, Dave, was out drive-by pieing (you know, visiting one friend after another throughout the neighbor having pie). Unfortunately, his snowmachine had other ideas. My dear husband refuses to let any machine get the best of him so he worked on it while I enjoyed the fire.

This is an old kitchen we are tearing out, and by the way it heated up it was obviously not made of real wood. So glad to be getting rid of it. Looking forward to it all being gone and my grow room being built.

Can you see the fire smiling at me?

Such determination.

He did it! There was never really any doubt.

Lucas and Olivia came out to throw snowballs on the fire. Such entertainment. Elijah was still chilled from snowmachining and stayed in the house playing xBox.

The boys had Jordan over to spend the night so they stayed home while we rode the snow-go down to the neighbors with the girls. There were video games, Twister, lots of make-up, board games, television and snow play. Emily and Olivia had such a good time.

Homer and I had a fantastic day with five of our kids and we hope our other three had as much fun, too. The holiday is over and now there is so much to do! I took Emily back to her dad's this morning, the other kids all slept until noon and are moving pretty slow, Hurricane Holiday went through the house so I have major clean-up duty, and it's +30 at my house (can you believe it?) and it's going to be hard to work and not sit by another bonfire all day. After clean-up there is a wall to paint and rearranging to do so we can decorate for Christmas. Oh, and I need to work on my Christmas gifts for the kids. *sigh* So much life to live and so little time. Guess I'd better get to it!