Hiner Thanksgiving. . .

So, here it is, Thursday morning, December 2nd. One full week after Thanksgiving. One of the things I'm thankful for is that I continue to take pictures. Pretty much everyday. Otherwise I would have no idea where my time is going. Even when I don't have time to blog the pictures that I take, I can look through my photo file and think, "O yeah, I forgot about that!" Lately I've been downloading the pictures from my phone about once a week. I take many, many pictures from my phone so it's always interesting to look back on my week through the eyes of my Blackberry.


ANYWAY. . . this post is about Thanksgiving. All of those other pictures will have to wait for another day.

We spent the entire day last Thursday at my parent's house in Nampa. This is me, NOT cooking. For that, we can all be thankful. . .


We decided to make it simple this year and have brunch together rather than cook a big Thanksgiving meal that would take a good part of the day just to cook and clean up after. I'm thankful that Shelly is a great cook and that Rob can make a perfect pan of hash browns and fry bacon with the best of 'em (I'm thankful for so much more than that about these two but this is a long enough post already!!)

I'm thankful for all of these people:

Someone must have seasoned the egg casserole with tryptophan. . .

I'm thankful for a chance to relax. This doesn't happen much. . .

I'm thankful that these cousins have each other. Even with a pretty widespread age difference (18, 14, 11, and 8) they get along fairly well. . .

(This next set of pictures cracks me up.) I'm thankful that Gloria is always willing to pose for my camera. . .

I'm also thankful that she has a sense of humor!!

I'm thankful for Spencer. I took care of this boy everyday when he was a baby/toddler so we totally bonded. . .

He has a sense of humor, too. . .

Humor is good. . .

I'm thankful for Ethan, too. . .

I'm thankful that I had the time to care for him as a baby, too. . .




These two have not always gotten along so well. In fact, last Thursday was the first time in a VERY LONG time that they hung out without complaint together. They did great and I'm thankful for that. It was much more peaceful. . .

In fact, they got along so well I started thinking they were setting me up somehow. . .

I thankful that I was wrong. Nothing but peace, all day long. . .

I'm thankful for grown-ups who squirt whipped cream into children's mouths just because they ask them to. . .

mmmmmm . . .


I'm thankful for my daddy. While I don't want him to worry about me or anyone, he still calls to check on me in bad weather and after road trips just to see if I'm ok. . .

I'm thankful for this kid. I so love her sense of herself. Does that make sense?

I'm thankful for these two . . .

They can act like they are repulsed by each other all day (it happens. . . ) but, when it comes right down to it, they love each other. . .

. . . they really do. . .

I love that they love each other. . .

I'm thankful for my mom. She's smart and resourceful and she raised me to be stubborn and independent. Maybe the stubborn part wasn't intentional but the independent part was. Thank you.


And. . . she loves her grandkids. . .

I'm thankful that we all live close enough to spend time together. . .

And, last and probably least, I'm thankful for Settlers of Cattan. It was a nice ending to a lovely day. Even though I didn't win. . .

So very thankful. . .