Happy Thanksgiving

We enjoyed celebrating this year with both sides of the family.  Andy's mom drove in and joined us on Thursday, and my family came over.

I was overwhelmed with the idea of preparing for so many people, but once I offered to host, everyone else offered to bring the majority of the food.  I contributed mashed potatoes that were too runny because I cooked them too long and green beans.  Savannah made green bean casserole because she insisted we must have it and the really yummy apple pie pictured below.

When Jonathan and Danielle arrived with the turkey, they asked for a platter.  I have no idea where my turkey platter is, so I offered my biggest plate and then laughed and laughed over it.

We traveled to visit Andy's side of the family on Saturday and really enjoyed our gathering with them.  It's really the only time of the year we get to see them all together.  This year we have two new additions: Andy's sister Dianna is engaged, so we met her fiancé, and our niece Page has a boyfriend of a few years, so we got to meet him too - both great guys as far as we can tell.

We enjoyed the day, and I was reminded of Psalm 136.  Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.  His love endures forever.

P.S. I earned my meals (okay, not quite), but I did six Jazzercise classes including one on Thanksgiving day.  I even squeezed one in before we left town on Saturday.  

Picture Update- Kinsley's birthday

We raced to Tessa's place to celebrate Kinsley's 2nd birthday.  It was one of those days where we were running ragged, but I was able to snap a few shots.

She thinks she's a movie star - loves her sunglasses.

Kinsley loves her new doll stroller. For a little girl into dolls, a stroller is a must.  That's how I used to get Savannah to walk through the zoo.  If she could push her doll in as stroller, she never asked to be carried.

Even though our time was short, we were so glad to see Kinsley enjoy a little of her birthday.

National Adoption Month

On Orphan Sunday Love Without Boundaries posted this quote on social media:

"I always questioned if I was ready to adopt and then realized no child was ready to be an orphan."

It took me back to a conversation I once had with a relative.  After bringing Julia home, my strong desire was to return to China for a child with a heart condition.  A relative asked, "why would you even consider that? Don't you realize that child could die?"  At the time my thinking was that I would be pursuing a child with a minor heart condition and that we have great pediatric heart specialists in the area.  None of my children came with a guarantee. None of us is promised tomorrow.

My thoughts are different now.  Of course losing a child would be something from which my family would never recover, but there is something that bothers me more than that possibility.  I am more bothered by the fact that a child would not survive childhood and would die without ever knowing the love of a family, without having a champion for him or her.

Over the years my desire for another child has waned.  We brought Wyatt home, and the future needs he faces terrify me.  They are not life-threatening, but our insurance covers so little, and he faces lots and lots of surgery and specialized orthodontics. I think I know we would have returned for another child if our financial circumstances had been different.  While I still hold on to a small piece of that desire, I am content with where we are and certainly getting too old to hang on to that old dream.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13