We are thankful....

Thought this was a great idea from Nancy (a blogging friend)...what a way to get in the season!

Psalm 100 (New International Version)

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

We are thankful for....

our Lord Jesus Christ for so many things

our health

our sweet little girl Bronwyn (Winnie)

each other

a place to call home

our family near and far

good friends

our couple's small group

the high school kids we minister to

our church (Crossroads Fellowship)

the country we live in

and IBM...may be a challenging place to work but it pays the bills and we did meet there!

Hope everyone has a nice Thankgiving with their family and friends. We are in PA visiting Tom's family and headed to my Aunt's home tomorrow for the rest of the week. Hopefully I have enough energy to post a long blog about our 10day trip up north...

...and Winnie turns 1 !!!

Friday was our little Bronwyn (Winnie) Ruth 1st birthday!! We took the day off to spend time as a family around the house (in the rain) and get prepared for the big birthday party on Saturday morning. Thursday evening Tom & I went through the events that led up to Winnie entering the world.... from my water breaking at 3am, trying to fit in a McDonald's breakfast on the way to the hospital and finding out it was closed.... to pushing for 2 hours straight! I'm not a mushy person but thinking about our little girl's life for the past year brings tears to my eyes... She is such a blessing to us and it is hard to remember our life without her.

After she opened up the gifts from us and "Uncle" Ben & "Aunt" Pam we headed out to our favorite pizza place. We ordered a special pizza just for Winnie that had just a little sauce and lots of cheese....who knew a small would be soooo big! She loves carbs so her eyes were like saucers to see her very own pizza!!

Saturday was her BIG day to celebrate her birthday with good friends and a few family members (next week is another family birthday party)... With it raining we had to move the party to our good friends home, we were very thankful they opened it up to us (our home is just too small/awkward for 40 people!!). Over the past few weeks I've stressed about the decorations but all and all they turned out very cute.... teddy grahams and gummi bears in "hunny" pots (flower pots with hunny written on them), Winnie the Pooh decorations and a blow-up Winnie the Pooh (like the cheesy ones people put in their yards...no joke!). We really wanted someone to dress up like Winnie the Pooh and greet kids at the party...but seriously there were no outfits without the face showing (argh)!!

Proud Nain with her sweetie...

Winnie absolutely loved playing with her friends and of course dug right into her cake. She didn't waste too much time on eating the icing... Did I mention our friend Elizabeth made her awesome cake (same family who hosted)!! My cupcakes on the other hand tasted good but I will spare everyone on their appearance...haaha!

After Winnie's party we headed home to relax a bit and then get ready for our couple's small group Annual Thanksgiving dinner. Every year we look forward to this event....as usual the food was amazing and we so nice to catch up with everyone (current and extended members)....even with this group we were missing at least 4-5 families!!

Sunday after our family got on the road we went to another sweet girl's birthday...Presley. She was so cute in her little blue dress, enjoying being surrounded by family and friends.

Our 5yr Anniversary and Samuel turns 1....

You know, time really flies when you are having fun...and thats all Tom and I've been doing the last 5 years! On November 8, 2003 I married the man of my dreams and best friend. He is an amazing man that has many talents and such a sweet personality. Over these 5 years we've grown incredibly close and know the ins and outs of each other so well....and thank heavens know how to laugh!! I feel very blessed that the Lord guided us through the storms so we could be together forever!!! I love you honey!! I'm SO looking forward to being away with you for a few days in January, as we set sail on the klove cruise!!!

On top of celebrating our Anniversary the Nov birthday bashs got started with Samuel turning 1 on Saturday. Again, where does the time go!! Amy pulled out all the strings to make her boys day extra special with his family, friends and lots of doggie decorations. He was such a cute birthday boy in his dog overalls and matching shoes, grinning ear to ear every time he heard the "Happy Birthday...." song. We had a blast celebrating his big day with him....and thanks again for the kitty ears, Winnie wants to wear them all the time (silly girl!!)!
The doggie and his 3 kittens... Winnie sporting the kitty ears....too cute!