Beautiful Life





Hey child up and go; A big world is out there waiting for us to live in every day. Outside you will find, there is love all around you; Takes you, makes you wanna' say; That it's a beautiful life and it's a beautiful world and it's a beautiful time to be here, to be here, to be here. -Fisher

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Giving Thanks!

Right now I am sitting in my living room, enjoying the quiet and reveling in the fact that my home is already decorated for Christmas!  The guys have gone off to shoot guns and do guy things and the girls are outside with friends.  Me?  I'm sitting here with the Christmas tree lights on, giggling at the sight of all our stockings hung on the mantle, loving my life and remembering everything I have to be thankful for!  That is what I'm doing. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Thanksgiving went.   It was the first time my side of the family came to our home for Thanksgiving.  We are the only ones that don't live in my hometown and so usually go to them.  This year, they came to us! 

There were sixteen of us. Oh, and seven dogs.  Seven dogs y'all! Fifteen  of us and no dogs are pictured here! I cooked for them, they posed for pictures for me.  It was a good trade-off! 




My clan 


It all started with these two!


I'm the oldest of three sisters.  Not surprisingly, I have the largest family!  This will be our last Thanksgiving as a family of six....yes, we are a family of seven when Lizzie is with us.  But next year, we will be a family of seven, eight when Lizzie is with us!



Jennifer is the middle sister and she was here with her daughters, Brooke and Megan, as well as Brooke's boyfriend, Matthew. 


Amy is the baby.  She was here with her husband, Charles and their children, Brianna and Christian.



We managed to get TEN around the kitchen table!


And the six youngest of the group in the living room.
The newly painted living room, thanks to my Isabel!  That kid is an awesome painter, I tell you!


The turkey....MmMmMmMm good!

The pies....even better!
It was so much fun to cook and decorate and set tables and eat and laugh and play!




Jennifer is a natural with decorations and took charge of decking my halls!  I am so thankful for that help this year and for her spin on things.


Amy and Brianna became the mother-daughter-photography-team!  I am so thankful that they were there to capture all the best moments on memory card for me!

 

Claire enjoyed hanging out with the adults while the kids played upstairs.  She wanted to hang ornaments....that's my girl!




Having some down time with Papa.


I am thankful that my mom fought her way back to being well enough to travel for the first time in two years.  There was a time this past year when I wasn't sure she would ever be able to come back to Charleston.  She showed us! 



I am thankful that my dad is such a loving grandfather to all the kids!





I am thankful that our teenagers are the kind that enjoy hanging out with family and aren't always trying to ditch the adults!



Mostly, I'm just thankful that we could all be together. 


Together!


Together!



Together!



Together!


 Together!


Together!


Together!


Together!


Together!


TOGETHER!

I know, not very original, but hey, we were together and that was the big deal!





Of course there came a time when there might have been a little too much together!




What do you think?

I hope all of you had as much fun as I did with my crazy, wonderful family!

2 comments:

Joanne and Bruce said...

What a beautiful holiday post! Your living room and Christmas decorations look gorgeous. I am so happy for you all. Miss ya'll...come see us
Joanne

The Source said...

Love your family! Every one of them! They're the sweetest people!!

And I'm extremely thankful I don't have to pile into that van!! ;)