Well once again, this Thanksgiving found us with more blessing than we can list or count, and that in itself is something to be thankful for!

We traveled to Winfield to spend the holiday with Papa Ronnie, G’ma Jeryl and Aunt Joni and had a wonderful time. Thursday Jeryl had her side of the family for Thanksgiving and Friday she had Ron’s side, so we got to see a lot of family and it was great to get caught up with everyone. Some hadn’t seen Josiah since he was born, so that was fun too. Let me tell ya, Josiah was lovin’ all the attention he was getting from the girl McArtor cousins….he had it made sitting with them! Otherwise, we just spent the weekend relaxing. Joni & I even got Ron & Jason to come unglued from the football games on TV and play a few games of “Sorry”–too bad I didn’t fare too well either game!

Because we were unsure of what the weather was going to do, we got up this morning and headed back to Des Moines shortly after breakfast. We made it home just after noon and spent the rest of the day putting the house back together after being gone for the long weekend. Once Anya saw there was snow on the ground, she was itching to get outside and play in it, so after Jason finished snow blowing, they played in the snow and had a great time sledding, making snow angels and having a snow ball fight. Josiah & I watched from the warmth of the house and then we all had some hot chocolate when they came inside. Since we had a good part of the afternoon left, we decided to drag out the Christmas tree and get it up and decorated. I still have some other misc. decorating to do, but at least the tree is up!

We hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures from our holiday weekend.

We had a great time this weekend staying with Jason, Jill & kids. As usual, the weekend went way to fast. The boys had a blast at the Hawkeye game and couldn’t be happier about result…Go Hawks! They made it home from the game around 12:30pm, so that wasn’t so bad. G’ma Barb and Papa Jim came over on Saturday to spend some time with us, so it was fun having them there also. Otherwise, Anya & Aubrey had a lot of fun playing (when they weren’t fighting over the same toy, sippy cup, flashlight or booster chair) and Josiah was just happy to sit and watch all the activity around him (and there was ALOT–trust me).

So, today is a catch up day around here from the weekend doing laundry and other jobs around the house. I think it is going to be one of those Mondays where the kids wear pajamas all day….love those days!

Here are just a few pictures of our recent fun.

We are heading North today to spend the weekend with the Miller family. The men and boys are going to the Iowa v Minnesota game tomorrow afternoon. We haven’t been up to stay in Forest City since Josiah was born, so it is long overdue for some fun at the Miller household. Hope everyone has a fun weekend and we’ll post more when we get home.

We have been so busy having fun around here I haven’t had time to blog about all our good times. We have had a lot of visitors in the last couple of weeks and now that everyone has gone home, it seems pretty quiet around here.

Last weekend the whole Miller family came to stay with us while the boys (Jason Mc, Jason M, Zachary and Noah) went to the Hawkeye football game and Jill, Aubrey, Anya, Josiah and I hit the malls. I wish we could say we were Christmas shopping, but we were really more kids clothes shopping (Jill brings out the worst in me when we are shopping–I lose all self-control) but we did manage to find some pretty good deals and some awfully cute clothes. On Saturday, Anya also had her first official birthday party with a little girl from her daycare. They went to Friendsville in Valley West Mall (same concept as Build-A-Bear) and she got to create her very own stuffed animal. She picked a giraffe to make and it is very cute, soft and cuddly. She had a good time running around with her little friends and it was a good opportunity for me to meet some of the other moms and get to know them. After her birthday party, our shopping spree continued on to Jordan Creek Mall and finally we made it back home. Since it was a late football game, the boys didn’t roll into town until after 8:30pm and were pretty hyped up after beating Penn State (way to go Hawks!).

On their way home from Iowa City the boys also stopped and picked up Aunt Joni who came here to stay the week with us. It was great having her here and the week went way too fast. I’m not sure who is missing who more, Anya or Aunt Joni, but they sure had a great time together. The kids got thoroughly spoiled and it was nice having an extra pair of hands here to help me with both kids. We look forward to having her come stay with us again soon!

This weekend brought the Miller boys back to our house Friday night to get a jump on the drive to Iowa City Saturday morning for the Purdue game. Again, another big win for the Hawks, so things are shaping up for this season after all. The kids and I basically lounged all day on Saturday while Jason was at the game. Sunday we went to church and then hosted our church small group that night, so it was a busy day for us. Jason and Anya took advantage of the semi-nice weather outside and Jason got the lawnmower winterized and the snowblower moved from the shed to the garage. I just hope it is a long time before he actually needs to use it!

Here are some random pictures of what has been going on around here. Have a great week!

We are getting spoiled this week by having Aunt Joni stay with us. Anya is loving having another girl around (and another person to ask when mommy and daddy say “no”) and Josiah is happy as long as someone is playing with him. What a fun week we are having!

For those of you that know Jason & I, you know that the election didn’t turn out they way we had wanted or hoped. We knew for quite sometime that it would turn out they way it did….can anyone say they are truly surprised by the outcome? Being a Christian and conservative in a town, state and country that doesn’t necessarily feel the same way we do about issues in life is something that we have gotten use to. It isn’t that we are fanatical McCain/Palin supporters, it is more a matter of us supporting and believing in the ideals they represent. Jason & I had a conversation after the election about how we were going to handle the fact that Obama was the president-elect—we decided we had 2 choices: 1) have a negative outlook on anything and everything he did and make our own lives miserable for 4 years or 2) support him and give him a chance to to make changes for the better. In Romans 13 it says:

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

So, according to that, we will support our new president. We know it doesn’t matter who is sitting in the White House for the next 4 years because our true leader, the One we put our faith and hope in, is sitting in Heaven. It is by God’s will that we live. No popular election result will ever change that.

Today we ventured across town to watch the Hawkeye game at the Cathcart home. We had a great time hanging out, eating and of course catching up with everyone. Too bad the game didn’t go the way we wanted it to! While the men were inside sweating the outcome of the game, the kids were having a blast playing outside–can you believe this weather we are having?!

Anyways, it was a fun day. You can check out the Cathcart family blog for some pictures of our day at: http://cathcart.blogsome.com

Thanks Brad, Steph & Jaxson for having us over!