Thanksgiving in Oklahoma

It would have been too hard for us to travel for Thanksgiving this year. So we didn't. But I figured we couldn't be the only ones around with no family, so we got together a few other families in our ward that had no where to go for Thanksgiving and we feasted together. It was great. The missionaries were in the church building for a little while but for the most part, it was just our smallish group. I think the final count was.. 10 adults, 5 kids, and Kadee. We also took meals to several people who couldn't make it, but we still had A LOT of food left over. I cooked a lot. (Which I like doing.) I cooked a turkey, a ham, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, an apple pie, and 3 pecan pies. I was very happy with the way it all turned out.Spencer made homemade root beer for everyone but definitely made WAY more than we could all drink. We have SO MUCH left over. Everyone else also brought other things to share and we all had a great time.

Spencer also shared a story, originally written by Gordon Green almost 60 years ago, with everyone. President Thomas S. Monson retells that story here if you'd like to read it.

Spencer, hard at work.

Kadee, checking out what the kids are doing.

I feel like we have a lot to be thankful for this year. For starters, we are safe and we have each other. My diabetes has been slowly getting worse, as we knew it must, but I have been able to manage it pretty well. Especially with help from Spencer. We are blessed to comfortably meet all of our needs and we want for very little of consequence.

Other things we are very thankful for this year:

• FAMILY! (Of course)
• Spencer's hard work on his Pharmacy degree. (We cheer every time he gets an A.)
• Kadee's growing vocabulary and personality. (I love watching her grow! ...but not too fast.)
• SKYPE! We Skype with family a lot! Kadee loves it.
• Elder Cole Bertoch, serving in Missouri.
• Elder Tanner Wallace, serving in Mexico.
• Spencer has time to do his callings even with school.
• THAT KADEE CAN WALK NOW! (She's so heavy to carry..)
• How good Kadee is at going to bed. Seriously. Just lay her down. She'll fall asleep.
• The music lessons that I am able to teach with Kadee.
• Spencer's 2 part-time jobs.
• That we haven't had any big issues with our car.
• That we can all attend Institute together on Tuesdays.
• Baby Einstiens. (YouTube. Life saver.)
• To see God's hand in our lives.