Friday's Thanks

My thanks for today is actually for the Thanksgiving holiday we had with family yesterday. It was wonderful spending time with everyone. The food, the visits (the wine - thanks Mike for joining me in our "shots" :) And, might I point out, the only item which we did not have leftovers.) Thankful we all had a safe drive up and back - had some pretty nasty rain, thunder, and lightning storms. All in all a great day (we'll pretend the photo radar wasn't there, Bryan.) At any rate, mom and dad come into town today for the weekend, so looking forward to extending the holiday. Below are some pictures from our day. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was equally fantastic!

Why can't I have pie first? Huh? No fair!

Cameron and Scout

Cameron and Grandma Denise

The bright spot on the hills on an otherwise
very fall day!

Bryan, Cameron and Grandpa Lasky

Hmmm ... think I need some more wine? :)

Cameron running up the driveway

working off his dinner ...

Bryan looks SO thrilled! :)

Cameron and Great Grandma Peterson

Great Grandpa Lasky and Cam

Grandma Denise, Cam, & Great Grandma Lasky

Theresa & I

Another dinner guest

Cam and Papa Mike

No caption needed ... what a cutie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I Am Thankful For:
* My husband
* My son
* The roof over our heads
* The jobs that let us have that roof over our heads
* The food in our pantry, in our fridge, on our table, and under our table
* Family and family and more family.
* Good friends that make me laugh and let me cry
* Good health

And let us not forget some of the little things:

* Toilet paper (for obvious reasons)
* Health insurance
* Microwave ovens, dishwashers, washing machines, etc.
* The little signs they put in steaks to let you know how done the steak is (because how else would you know?)
* The movie "16 Candles"
* The smell of daphne (the flower)
* Our DVR (otherwise I would never get to see the shows that I want to see)
* Coffee (this requires no explanation)
* Red wine (with all those antioxidants and gum disease-fighting power- I read an article on this - it's true)
* Weekends
* My kollage edukation
* Swimming pools in an Arizona summer

I am also thankful for the freshly baked apple pie on the counter that my sister made (Thanks Theresa!), one which I cannot believe is still untouched, and Uncle Steve's mashed potatoes waiting patiently in the fridge. Bryan, Theresa, Cam and I are all headed up to Prescott to spend the day with Bryan's family. The high up there today is around 48, so we'll be pulling out the winter coats. (Yes - we do wear them here!). Looking forward to a wonderful day with family.

May your Thanksgiving be full of all things wonderful. We all have much to be thankful for!

Wednesday's Thanks

Today's thankful thoughts are brought to you by Cameron! We decided that there are just so many things to be thankful for, that it would take waaaay to long to list them all. So ... we figured eight (1 for each year of his life) would be sufficient! Here they are ...

8 Things Cameron Is Thankful For:

1. My parents
2. A place to live
3. Food to eat
4. Toys to play with
5. All the rest of my family
6. I am healthy and not in a hospital, I have all my body parts, and no broken bones (that goes for the rest of my family too)
7. My friends
8. The clothes and shoes I have to wear

Tuesday's Thanks

Today, I am thankful for this ... a fridge overflowing with mother's day gifts, drawings, book reports, spelling tests, calendars, and postcards.

It means I am a loved mother. It means my son has an incredible imagination and sense of creativity. It means my son can read and spell and works hard to get good grades. It means I have a son who is almost as excited as I am about bringing home these projects that he worked so hard on and is so proud to display. It means a fulfilling life drowning in extracurricular activities and lots of family time. It means notes from friends who are afar, but yet still thinking about us.

It means I might need a bigger fridge.

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday. This is probably due to the fact that it is very similar to Christmas with the food, family, and all the "day of" activities, but without the financial stress involved. And while it may not be a holiday with the same religious connotations as Christmas, it is a holiday that allows us to reflect on all that we have been blessed with. Perhaps it is the time of year, perhaps it is the obstacles our family has faced lately, or maybe a combination of both that have allowed me to reflect even more so on all that I have to be thankful for. So, this week I'll be blogging a lot about all the incredible things in my life that I have to be grateful for!

The above picture is of an original corn husk doll made by Cameron. They have been studying the Pilgrims and Indians, and made this doll in art class. I won't go into the adventure I had trying to find the corn husks for the class, but let's just say I was very grateful for the employees at Safeway: The checker and produce employee for graciously informing me they actually sell corn husks bags, the girl bagging the groceries for asking me what I was doing with all 30 bundles of Indian corn I had in my cart originally, and for kindly taking it and putting it all back for me when I had my 3 bags of corn husks. :)