Blessed

Thanksgiving was a time to reflect on how truly blessed I am. I not only have my St. Louis family but my Little Rock family as well to be thankful for.

First, I am so thankful for Jimmy, Alex and Olivia. You three are my world and mean so much to me. I am truly blessed to be a wife to a great husband and the mother to the most amazing and beautiful children! Alex and Olivia, you two had my heart before you both were born and each day brings more and more joy as I watch you grow. Thank you all for choosing me!

On Thursday, we went to my Aunt Debbie's to celebrate with my aunt and uncle, my mom and dad, my sister and bro-in-law, my bro and sis-in-law and my cousin and his girlfriend. The food was excellent and in abundance! I made a new appetizer...Atomic Buffalo Turds. I know, a wacko name but let me say, if you like stuffed jalopenos -- then dont even worry about the name...these are heaven!! I got the recipe from my "girlfriend" Stephen. It's a long story on why I call him my "girlfriend" so just go with it. Anyway, Stephen made these amazing ABT's on Halloween night. I had to have the recipe and since I so graciously shared my recipe for BLT Dip, he obliged my request. Thanks Stephen! So, yes, they were still amazing and I think I had about 10 of them! The one thing I love and one reason I feel so blessed being with my family is that the laughs were a plenty. We always manage to have a good time together. After a few rounds of guitar hero, we ended the day playing the dice game Left, Right, Center. It was a great time. I am so thankful for my family and friends. After losing some very important people in my life the last few years, I have really tried to let those that I love really know that I love them and am so very grateful and blessed to have them in my life! I am also grateful for all those new found family and friends. You all have offered me the opportunity to grow in ways that I didn't believe was possible! Thank you to everyone. I love you.

On Friday morning, we headed to Little Rock to spend the weekend with the Morgan family. When we left here, it was sunny and beautiful. Usually every time (and I really do mean almost every time) I go to Little Rock, it rains. Of course, that means I get blamed for the weather. So as we headed south, the weather started turning bleak. Maybe I need to trick the weather by saying I am never going to Little Rock again and then pack my bag at the last minute and jump in the car. Yeah, I don't think that will work either. Oh well, those in Little Rock just aught to be thankful I don't live there! When we got in, everyone was waiting for us. We were going to make a "family" dinner but I nixed that and asked if we couldn't go easy. Ham sandwiches, cheese dip, leftover stuffing and a store bought apple pie. The Morgan's are known for always having a house full of family and friends and Saturday night was going to be the night so why tire ourselves out 2 nights in a row. It was perfect. After dinner, Michelle, Brian, Jimmy and I played many hands of a card game called Sergeant Major. It was lots of fun! The kids just played and played. I have such great memories of times with my cousins and love when my kids see their cousins and just pick right up where they left off. So Saturday morning, I got up and decided to do some baking! I love to bake. I made my famous pumpkin muffins. Everyone seems to love them. When we left today, there was an insistance that the remaining muffins stay in Little Rock. Definite compliments to the chef! Thank you. I also made a double batch of gooey butter cookies and a batch of Mary's "Butter" cookies. There really is no butter in that recipe but, they are my father-in-laws favorite. Unfortunately, this morning when everyone came over they started to get eaten. Many growls and grumbings went on to leave his cookies alone. Another compliment to the chef! I also made a chess pie that was my father-in-law's grandmother's recipe. It didn't get time to set after cooking but I got lots of compliments on it. Woo hoo! Just call me little chef! In between all this baking and before we had a house full of company, my sis-in-law, Aunt Margaret and I snuck off for a few hours without the kids and went to a cute little sewing store. I picked up some smocking pieces while there. I am going to give this a try. While at this quaint little store, I found a pattern to make the most adorable cloth stacking rings for babies. You remember those plastic stacking rings we had as kids. Well, this one is made of cloth and 10 times cuter. I can't wait to make one!! Also, after dinner on Saturday night, Margaret gave a lesson on making hair bows for girls. I made one and let me say it is really hard. Oh, OK, so I have a Type A personality and everything has to be perfect but I did manage to get one made. Actually, it was a collaboration. Tessie (a long time friend of the Morgan's) made the bottom bow and I made the top bow. It turned out really cute. Now, I just can't wait to go to the fabric store and get some ribbon! I am thinking maybe I could do my own Etsy store...jewelry, quilts, hair bows, stacking rings, embroidery and hopefully I can add smocking to that!


We are now at the end of our long Thanksgiving weekend. I am thankful for a fun trip to Little Rock and I am thankful we made it home in one piece. I am so thankful for all my family and friends. You all mean the world to me. I am so blessed to know each and every one of you!!

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!