We Give Thanks...

Thanksgiving 2006

This year, we made our way to New Iberia, Louisiana to spend Thanksgiving with Aden's family. We all stayed at his parents' house and it was a full house! Scott, Kristin, Chloe, Emma, and baby-in-the-belly were there and slept out in their camper. Lisa and Buddy made it as well! Sonia and Sarah (the Keeter's neighbors and friends) made it for our Thanksgiving meal as well.

As I suspected, the menu was plentiful and the conversation was great. We all ate so much, yet the serving platters seemed to be as full as they were when we started after the meal had come to an end! Nonetheless, we had such a wonderful lunch.

The girls all went shopping on Friday and came home with bags-o-plenty from the Lafayette mall, while the boys played with Jaiden and watched TV (Chloe and Emma spent time with Kristin's aunt during this time). It was an enjoyable day, even with all of the traffic and packed stores!

We had planned on coming home Saturday morning, but decided to stay an extra day and it was so wonderful. The time spent with Mr. and Mrs. Keeter was so enjoyable. We were even able to get in an entertaining game of Dominoes in on Saturday night after Jaiden went off to dream. We were all laughing so hard; I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep, the wine, or a combination of both, but there were several times we were all nearly in tears. Oh, and if you are looking to play a game that you can almost certainly succeed in beating Mr. Keeter (Aden Sr.), play dominoes. He he he... sorry Mr. Keeter.

The drive home was uneventful and safe (thank you, Lord!). Jaiden did remarkably well and we owe our thanks to Pops for lending us his laptop computer so Jaiden could watch some of her movies during the trip.

We were also able to spend some time with my parents upon our return from Louisiana. We all spent some time outside while Aden grilled out chicken. Pops and Leslie played with Jaiden in a pile of leaves and she had such a good time. We did get out the video camera and will get that video attachment to our blog in due time. The meal was great... Jaiden enjoyed her food, but couldn't wait to get down and play. Of course, it didn't take but a few minutes for her grandparents to give in to that!

Well, we are home now and things are back in order. Jessy, Landon, and Christian will be coming to visit us this Thursday-Sunday and we are greatly looking forward to that! We have a Christmas parade on Friday, a 5K race scheduled for Saturday morning, and much relaxation planned for the rest of their stay!

We will also begin our preparations around here for the Christmas season! We have to pull out the Christmas tree, decorations, The Christmas Story and get started! I am looking forward to it, Aden I am sure is dreading it, and Jaiden has no idea what is yet to come!!!

I hope and pray that you all will be able to enjoy the upcoming month without losing sight of the true meaning of this season. It is so easy and worldly acceptable for us to all go crazy, keeping ourselves busy, our wallets empty, our debt and credit card balances full, and our minds on everything but what is important. I pray that we can all stay focused and keep each other both in prayer and held accountable.

In closing, I am so glad to be part of this family. This Thanksgiving was so wonderful and I am so thankful for the wonderful family to which I belong.