Much To Be Thankful For!:)

 These past few weeks, as we have been preparing for Thanksgiving, we have been busy! We enjoyed having a visit from the Estradas! (We always enjoy getting to see the cousins, Uncle Victor and Aunt Kim!:)) Here Mom was teaching the kids how to write Haiku (Japenese Poetry) and Uncle Victor was trying it out!

 Trampoline time!

 Rachel (standing), Emily (kneeling), Josh and Evie enjoying the rabbits!

 Looking at pictures from Alaska....

 A yummy snack of banana bread....

 Natey keeping an eye on Evie and having fun at the same time!:)

 The day before Thanksgiving was VERY busy! We had alot of errands to run, cleaning to do, cooking, baking and other extra chores that come with preparing for family coming!

 Sleeping away...

 Joshua was a big help! He worked hard to cut sausage, celery, and other things in preparation for the stuffing! This year we made it with sourdough bread and it turned out very well!

 We got a nice canopy for outside on the patio where we were going to be eating. Everyone had to help put it together! We had quite the adventure with the poles popping out here, then there, but we finally got the frame securely set up.

 We had moved our dining table out on the patio so Momma decided we could eat on the floor! This worked out well, as we were also celebrating 15 years in this house that day! When we first moved in we did not have much furniture, so we ate our first meal on the floor! Now 15 years later we are blessed with many wonderful pieces of furniture and more than one table! God is so good!:)

 Enjoying some homemade, hot, clam chowder, before heading out the door to church!

 Back when we older ones were in Alaska, the Lord led our parents to start attending a new fellowship, in Orange-Faith Baptist Church. We have really been enjoying the fellowship there and find the Lord has really opened doors and opportunities for us in the short time we've been there! Instead of having a Thanksgiving Day service, they have a Praise Service the night before, with refreshments afterwards. Everyone sat in a square, we sang and then people shared what they were grateful to the Lord for and how faithful He had been over the past year. It was a really special time!:)

 Timmy and Joshua sitting with their special friend, Amy.:)

 Visiting after the service was over....

 Daddy, Pastor Fox and Daniel bouncing around Christmas ideas....

 Daniel and Mr. Smith (who leads the singing and young people's choir) having fun near the dessert table....;)

 The kiddos love swinging outside once the service is over....

 Mom and Mrs. Smith visiting.....

 After a good, warm night's sleep, Thanksgiving Day had arrived! Since we had no service that morning, the day seemed a little on the slow side until the relatives started arriving and that meant we would be eating soon!!:)

 The kiddos enjoying some french onion dip and Doritos. This is a snack we all really enjoy, but only eat on Thanksgiving usually.:)

 The turkey is ready!! Momma was pretty excited here!

 The patio prepared and ready for the meal! Momma picked out the table cloths and candles, and Daddy brought home some Christmas lights to hang up!

 The colors were simple, but lovely....

 The guys enjoyed playing football while waiting! Victor at one end of the yard.....

 ....Isaiah and Miguel (our cousin Christina's new husband) on the other end.

 Aunt Drana being enthusiastically greeted, just after her arrival..:)

 More players joined the football toss here....

 playing with the bunnies.....

 A rousing and fun game of "circle tag" ( a game we invented) on the trampoline! No one in this group was too "old" to enjoy or use the trampoline!;)

 Gathered to thank the Lord for the meal...

 Our buffet line....

 Everyone was very excited to eat! The food was delicious and it was yet another thing to be really grateful for! Praise the Lord for family, good food, tables and chairs, silverware, plates, cups and fellowship together!

 Ryan manning the drink table. In the busyness of the past weeks, Ryan turned 19!!:) We enjoyed going to San Diego that weekend, where we celebrated, which will, Lord willing be posted about soon!:)

 Our little outdoor dining hall...

 Daddy got a special call from Texas....;)

 We really enjoyed having most of Momma's side over to celebrate Thanksgiving, minus the Chrispens family! We are so grateful for all that He has done for us these past years! As our family continues to grow we remember how none of us would have been here, had God not brought Grandma Chrispens here from Mexico safely, many years ago. She would eventually give birth to her children: Momma, Aunt Adriana, Uncle John, Uncle Victor and Aunt Rocio. Now more than 40 years later God has blessed them with their own spouses and families, and we continue to grow, only in His gracious blessing!

 Grandma (seated in the center) with (left to right): Momma, Aunt Kim, Aunt Rocio and Aunt Adriana.....

 Saying goodbye to Aunt Rocio and Sophia....

 Relaxing on the couch after the filling meal....

 Later that evening, the Chrispens surprised us with a visit! It was really good to be able to have some time to visit with them! Here we were reminiscing about the past.:) There was a lot of laughing as we remembered things!

This family get together was yet another reminder of God's many gifts and blessings. While these are some of the more obvious ones, recognizing that, pain, trials and hardships are actually blessings in disguise from God to us, is not so easy. Yet God has promised us in the Scriptures, that He will not withhold any good thing from us, and is in control of our lives and circumstances. While this may be hard to see from a human perspective, (knowing God does not lie) we have to trust Him even when it doesn't make sense. When circumstances bring us low, let us remember that God will be faithful to see us through, and that He will never give us anything but good!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

                                                                                                James 1:17-18