Happy Thanksgiving!

We're thankful for so much, and today I am especially thankful that one not-so-good day can't take away all that I have to be grateful for. Let me explain...

For 4 of the last 5 years we have spent Thanksgiving with our good friends, the Crawfords. We have had some great times and made some priceless memories. This year, with Xander's recent surgery and just the busyness of life, we decided not to get together with them. We should know by now, that when we try to mess with a good thing it will just get, well, messed up!

Kevin and I decided to run in the Dallas Turkey Trot this year. We thought, we may not always have the opportunity to do it, so we might as well. I was going to run 8 miles and Kevin was going to run and push the kids in the 5k. As the weather reports started coming out it looked like it was going to rain and be very cold. We made the decision to do it anyway, and bundle up the kids and hope for the best. On our way to the race, because we still weren't sure if it was going to rain or not, I ditched the 8 mile and thought the 5k was a better choice. No big deal. We got there, couldn't find parking under $10 (we only had $7) so we had to find an ATM, get some cash, just so we could park. Done. We found the start and quickly realized that this was going to be a crowded race, but we didn't know just how crowded it would be. I wanted to run,a and Kevin was going to do the nest he could. Long story short, it was SO crowded, Kevin had to walk the entire time and I dodged people more than I ran, not what we expected.

Ok, so we had chosen a meet-up place for after the race. I finished the race and waited, in the middle of the intersection that we had chosen. I was able to see all the finishers come up the ramp, so I watched for Kevin and the kids. I watched, and watched, and then started to worry. I looked around, maybe he was somewhere else and I just happened to miss him. Hm. Then, I had waited so long they closed the 5k race. I was a little worried, but more confused, where had he gone? I walked back to the car and there they were. Apparently, he was waiting where we said (which was literally 30 yds from where I was standing) and we just didn't see each other. I still have no idea how it happened, but it did. We were both a bit cranky from that because we were unable to enjoy the free snacks and activities, because the kids were ready to go. Not a very good start to the day, but here are some great pics!

We had planned on a non-traditional main course, but all the traditional Thanksgiving sides; sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn casserole and rolls. Kevin was going to make a turkey and rice casserole (just realized all the casseroles) in his dutch oven. He has taken up a new hobby, and he enjoys trying new things in his traditional dutch oven, so we thought why not. Well, it required pieces of cooked turkey. I thought I had purchased turkey that was already cooked, and we were just going to cut it up, I was wrong. The turkey loaf (ew) had to be cooked...for 2 hours. I didn't realize this until 4pm and Kevin's casserole was going to take 1 1/2 hours. No dice. I just cooked the turkey loaf and made the sides. The "turkey" was nasty...but my sides were great!

The kids didn't get naps, because our day was so crazy, so by bedtime they were pooped. Luckily tonight was a night that they just crashed in bed, not the typical over-tired-can't-settle-down business we usually get.

Like I said, I'm not complaining about anything, I have way to much to be thankful for to let one day get to me.

I'm thankful for the little girl that makes us smile more than we knew we could

I'm thankful for the little boy that is tougher than nails,

but can melt your heart with his sweet words

And I'm thankful that God trusted us to raise them both together!