So much to be Thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving!!  This has been quite a year for my family and through it all we have been blessed.  I have had the opportunity to experience new things, learned to have faith and believe that there is always a lesson to be learned, even if I don’t want to learn it.  I have also learned that there is a bigger plan in store and just be patient. It hasn’t always been easy and I haven’t always been happy with the outcomes however I believe that I’m stronger person than I was a year ago. 

Here are just a few of the things that I am THANKFUL for…..  

I’m thankful for a beautiful home that I feel comfortable in and that makes me happy. 

I’m thankful for a loving family that supports me in everything I do.

I’m thankful for fabulous friends that put up with my quirky habits.

I’m thankful for Salem and for the joy that he brings me each day.

I’m thankful for two nephews and three nieces that light up my life and bring me more joy than I can put into words.

I’m thankful for a job that brings me joy and happiness and gives me the opportunity to serve others.

I’m thankful for a new Executive Director at work that has already improved my quality of life. ( I can’t wait to see the upcoming changes)

I’m thankful for this beautiful country, for all of the service men and women and their families and the sacrifices that they make each day so that I can have all of the freedoms and joys that I have been blessed with.

Happy Thanksgiving- part two

Thanksgiving day my Mom prepared a fabulous dinner.  Kelly and Dave were able to join us before going to work.  Thomas’ dad allowed him to come and join us for a couple of hours.  We had a great meal, played Memory and had dessert before taking Thomas back to his dads and heading home.  Noelle was able to spend the majority of Thanksgiving week with her Grandma Sammy (Dave’s Mom), so she isn’t in the pictures.

 

Happy Early Thanksgiving everybody…

It’s that season again where Kelly and I look at each other and try and figure out how we are going to make the holidays special for the kids and different from every other Sunday dinner.  We have a very small family and 90% of the time we have dinner on Sunday’s at my Dad’s house so when the holidays come it feels like every other Sunday dinner.  So this year we decided to change it up a little. Kelly invited some of her coworkers that would also be working on Thanksgiving and we invited our good friends Gary, Sandy and Shanna and decided to had a Thanksgiving party the Sunday before.  It was a great day! I hope it becomes an annual thing.  It was potluck style.  The guys all enjoyed watching football while the ladies finished up the food and played with all of the kids.  We had a ton of food and fabulous desserts. With the help of Katie, Kelly made her first pie crust which made delicious pumpkin and apple pies. 

                                                Katie and Baby Brooklyn       Sandy, Gary and Shanna

                                   Dave and his Mom, Coba                   Brian and Denishia

The Mertz Gang—(Noelle didn’t want her picture taken at the moment)

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of everyone else.  Hopefully next year.  It was a great dinner and a great time with family and friends.  Maybe next year we will be able to expand and include more people.  Kelly and I are not quite the party throwers so starting off small was still a little overwhelming for us but definitely worth it!!! 

Road Trippin’ with Kelly, Karly and Mom

Kelly, Mom and I decided at the last minute that we were going to take a quick road trip to San Diego to visit Troy, Julie, Tyler and Baby Kate.  Kelly left the two big kids with Dave because they were school and we took Karly with us.  We left on Monday night around 6:00 and Kelly drove the entire way.  We arrived around 2:30am.  Kelly and I have figured out that driving at night when you have little kids is the only way to go.  Karly slept almost the entire way. Kelly and I did a lot of singing to Madonna and Celine Dion.  I know you’re jealous that you weren’t in the car with us.  My Mom reminded us several times that Karly was sleeping and that we should quiet it down a little…. we ignored her.

I ABSOULTELY LOVE ROADTRIPS WITH MY SISTER!!!!

I ALSO ABSOULTELY LOVE THIS BABY GIRL! 

Kate is such a good baby.  I hate that they live 8 hours away. I would love to see Tyler and Kate as much as I get to see Thomas, Noelle and Karly. 

Troy is working a crazy amount of hours right now so we didn’t get to see him as much as we would have liked but we had a great visit with Julie, Tyler and Kate. 

On our first day there we relaxed at the house with Julie and the baby while Tyler was at preschool. When Tyler left for school I promised him I would come with Julie to pick him up.  When we arrived he was playing with his friends on the playground.  When he saw me he announced to all of his friends “See, I told you my Auntie Michele was coming to pick me up”.  He had a huge smile on his face and ran over to give me a huge hug.  It was precious and I loved every minute of it.

Our second day we took Tyler and Kate to get their pictures taken with Julie.  The pictures turned out perfect.  We attempted to get Karly’s picture taken too but she decided that she wasn’t going to participate in that activity so the only picture we have is this one.

Tyler was handsome in his picture and Julie and Kate were beautiful as usual.

After pictures Karly and Tyler went on the carousel at the mall.

Then we went home and took a walk around the block with the kids.  Tyler requested that Grandma take a ride on his scooter.  And Grandma’s always do as the Grandchildren request even it it isn’t that smart….

While Kate napped we played baseball and “clean up the poop” in the backyard. Only my brother would make his son think that cleaning up the dog poop in the backyard is a game.  I guess whatever it takes because Tyler does it by himself and without being told to do it. 

Then we made dinner which was a huge success until Karly found the See’s Candy.

What could distract Karly from See’s Candy. Yep that would be baby Kate.  She loved holding and loving on Kate. 

Then on our last day there Kelly and I were able to go to Preschool with Tyler and participate in his stone soup luncheon.  Once again when we arrived he had to announce to all of his friends that his Auntie Kelly and Auntie Michele came to see him. 

 

It was such a quick trip but we had such a great time.

I absolutely love these kids!!!!

Burrrrr it’s cold out there.

We had Thomas and Noelle’s last soccer games and that morning was unbelievably cold outside.  Salem even had to put his “tech vest” on.  

Once again Thomas is the only one that can calm Karly down.  She just loves her big brother. It’s really nice to see their loving relationship.  I hope it stays that way throughout the years. 

Salem wasn’t happy with his vest until he was outside…

Noelle played in her last soccer game of the year. 

She scored her very first goal.  It may have been for the other team but it was still a goal in her mind. YAY Noelle!

Thomas also played in his last soccer game.  No goal for him but he was a great goalie.

He may not have scored a goal but he improved his game and his confidence this year.  He played goalie 1/2 the game during each game and only gave up one goal.  I was a proud Auntie.