As I sit and reflect on November, I am flooded with an overwhelming sense of thankfulness. Thankful for every memory made, for every movie night, family dinner night, date nights, moments of uncontrollable laughter, bedtime prayers, hugs and snuggles, deep conversations, and moments of peace. It's important we take the time to reflect and see God's hand in all we do. He gives those moments meaning and purpose...He gives our lives purpose. Before I dive in on catch up time, as I sit here and write, I would like to impress the following because it's on my heart. The past few days and evenings Matt and I have united with our Nation in tears and heartache about the horrific events that occurred in CT last Friday. And although life must go on, I truly believe that those precious lives have impacted the hearts of so many Americans and have forced us to ask important questions. What if it was me or my kids? I encourage each and every one of you who reads this to slow life down, take a long time, and think about all those precious moments that have passed you by, the moment you are in and the moments yet to come. There is a loving, merciful, forgiving and powerful God walking along side you in those moments, wanting to love you, lead you and protect you. (Jeremiah 29:11)Cling to Him as you ask those questions. And find Hope in knowing Him and knowing that in His time we will understand His will in this life. I pray now that we don't forget all those lives that were taken, and that from this very sad event lives will be saved and added to the Book of Life!(Revelations 20:12).
So now as I reflect again on November, I praise God even more for these memories and rejoice in today and the events to come!
We finally got to visit the Cincinnati Zoo. It is the second oldest zoo in the U.S. It is a beautiful zoo, very comparable to the San Diego Zoo and in some ways even nicer.
Cute lil Red Panda :)
Mylie looking for the Red Pandas.
The trees of fall are so beautiful here!
Little Miss Baby Cheetah...the kids loved getting up close and personal with her :)
After everything we do we like to ask the kids, "what was your favorite?" Micah said he liked the baby cheetah, Mylie liked seeing the baby giraffe, and Max loved the penguins. Dad and I just liked being with our own lil zoo animals, Micah Monkey, Mylie Snuggle Bunny and Moosey!
Thanksgiving this year was amazing! Matt and I have always been a part of very large family Thanksgivings. This was the first time having a Thanksgiving dinner of less than 30 people. It was just our lil fam bam, Grandma Noni, Auntie Mindy, Megan and Morgan. Our family of 9. We had a great day making the turkey and all the fixings. Everyone, even Matt, had some hand in making our Thanksgiving feast! The food turned out delicious...but my favorite part of our dinner was the time we took after to read every card off our Thankful tree. All month long, each of us would write something we were thankful for and hang it on the tree. It was really sweet to read them on Thanksgiving. Here were some of my favorites:
Mylie: I'm thankful for tickle fights
Max: To go to the park
Micah: Thankful for Max and Micah when they play ball and for playing football with Dad
Morgan: Thankful for a roof over her head
Megan: Thankful for being in Ohio and all the new colors she saw this fall
...and 30 minutes later
Matt: Thankful that the Thankful Tree is over...until next year! LOL!
Helping Dad make Pumpkin Pies
Cooking and Chit Chat...my fav!
Our own rendition of the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving Picture :)
Thankful tree fun!
The day after Thanksgiving we were quick to get Christmas up, since we would only have 20 some days to enjoy it. The tree is up and stocking are hung. The kids have enjoyed snuggling on the couch with countless hot chocolates this month! We love being in the holiday spirit here at home, but we are so excited to spend time with family and friends in California this Christmas and New Year!
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