Giving Thanks Unto God

Happy Thanksgiving!

How many times have we read or heard that we should take stock of our lives at Thanksgiving and make a list of what we can be thankful for? If we actually did that we would find that some years are easier than others. This Thanksgiving is an easy one. Our family has lots to be thankful for. Last year? Not so much.

One year ago we were in the battle of our lives for Tommy's life. Two weeks before Thanksgiving he had surgery to remove his knee and part of his femur. He had already had ten rounds of chemotherapy. He could no longer work. He gave up his apartment and moved home with us. Jena quit her job to be with him. It was a time of extreme emotional heartache for all of us and physical pain for him. It was very difficult for me to be thankful for anything. He was bald, tired, had 38 stitches and was walking on crutches and the future held yet more chemo.

This year Thanksgiving holds a whole new meaning for me. There are so many things to be thankful for if I tried to write them down I would run out of paper! But I will share a few with you.

My son is HEALED of cancer!
My son rides his bike several times a week doing 20 miles or more each time!
My son has curly hair on his head!
My son went back to LA during the summer and directed a feature film that my oldest son wrote!
My oldest son is the father of a beautiful baby girl!
My middle son and his family moved back to St Louis!
My family went through the "valley" but we remained faithful to God and became stronger Christians because of it!
Oh, and did I mention? My son is HEALED of cancer!

These are just a few of my thankful things. What are yours?

This and That

Greg and Jena in Jefferson City for the State Cross Country Meet. It was rather cold. Weatherman said it would be sunny and in the 60's! Not!


Olivia experiencing her first visit to Imo's.


The Wheelers invited us to a Mizzou game.


Me, Dave and Steve.


Another sushi run!


Roses sent to me by Steve to celebrate our 34th anniversary!

Olivia comes to town

Olivia and her parents came to town over the weekend. Here are a few videos of her performing for us!

Happy 80th Birthday Dad!

On Saturday we had a surprise 80th party for Dad. I think we did a good job of surprising him. I need to say thank you to my daughters-in-law for help with the cooking and to my sister for her help. And a big thank you to dad for putting up with me and Heather (and mom!) all these years. Happy Birthday!

Chocolate World

On our way home from the Cape we stopped in Hershey, PA at Chocolate World.

They have a little ride that shows you where chocolate comes from and how it's made.

They also have singing cows!

Even though the desserts look yummy, the girls and I opted for hot chocolate. It was the hottest, hot chocolate I've ever had. Amber had to buy milk to dilute the girls drinks so it wasn't so hot.

Making the far wiser choice, Michael had chocolate milk.

Next, it was on to the factory. You had to wear hats to work there. Then take your container, push the button and candy comes out and fills the container. Then put it on the conveyer belt to be shrink wrapped.





The best part? Free candy!

Pumpkin Shopping

Michael found the whole process of shopping for a pumpkin fascinating. He looked over all the pumpkins, picked up 3 or 4 to load in our cart (we unloaded them!) and generally enjoyed the whole thing.