* Thanksgiving 2008 *

First of all - this is a L-O-N-G posting! Secondly, here is a pic of Zoie with some 'turkeys' she made at preschool...my kinda turkeys - very funky!

Zoie's preschool put on a Grandparent's Day the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so Grandma went to that (I have no photos...sorry!) and then she, pop-pop Jim and Zoie headed west to Gary's. I had to work until 3 that day so I stopped at the house, chilled out for a while, then got my things ready to go. Indie & I piled in the car and we were off! It's been almost 3 years since it was just Indie & I on a road trip and he stretched out the entire length of the backseat and was loving it! Uncle Gary's had a room all set up for us and Thursday morning, Grandma had a bread making/baking lesson with her 3 grandsons to pass on her knowledge of the tradition...


The rest of us just chilled...even sleeping in a bit!

Chris made a yummy breakfast casserole for us to have, but Zoie wanted a bowl of cereal - I think mostly so she could drink the milk from the bowl!

Dinner was prepared through-out the day as usual. After I'd gotten ready, I took the opportunity to snap pics of me with my girl, with the nephews and of Zoie with her cousins.








When dinner was ready, I used it as an opportunity to snap some group photos of Gary's family and of Mom with her grandkids to commemorate the holiday!



Then we said our prayers of thanks and dug in!




We all just chilled out afterwards - Aaron & I played the game SORRY and we all king of watched The Polar Express (what a classic!) on TV then hit the hay. Gary had to go to work this night still so he got rested up too.




Friday morning, Chris, Brandon, Aaron & I actually got up at 4 and braved the crowds to get some good shopping in on Black Friday. We got some great deals and came home dog tired - even after refueling at Starbucks! Riding in the car gets ya everytime!


After some napping, we settled in to watch the NU vs CU game - and what a game it was! Awesome football and even better as Nebraska came out victorious! Gator bowl, here we come!! Not to mention CO-Big 12 North Champions with Missouri! Woohoo! And speaking of Missouri, they had a big game on Saturday against KU...yet another awesome football game. We all figured that Mizzou would have an easy game but the J-birds really came to play and down to the last few minutes or seconds of the game, they scored a final touchdown and that was all she wrote! I felt bad for Aaron as he was the only one rooting for Mizzou...hard pill to swallow, but that's the way it goes! I wanted to get Zoie outside for some fresh air and exercise this day so we did some running around outside Uncle Gary's house...she looked so cute and was having such fun!!



We headed home late that afternoon and just vegged out Sunday...again, I'm SO thankful to the Lord for all the blessings He has bestowed upon me and continues to do so and I pray for those who weren't fortunate to be with their family or to even have a family. I can't imagine being in a place where you don't know if you'll live through the day due to hunger or rebels, like the orphans in the Congo or those just going about their daily business in Mumbai, India, when they were gunned down by terrorists. Makes me thankful for where I live, even with all the problems we have in this country. A phrase my mom often says comes to mind: "There but for the Grace of God, go I." God bless you all!