Thanksgiving and other things...

We had a fun Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving dinner was at my house, there were 18 people here (including 2 babies!) I made the turkey (it was super great!) and the rolls. Everyone brought stuff. We had a wonderful dinner with all of my family here except Tyler (who lives in D.C.)

On Friday, Curtis and I took our kids to Boondocks (laser tag, arcade games, etc.) This is the first time the kids had met each other. I think it went well and everyone seemed to have fun. Now we will just have to do a lot more of that. Curtis has been around my kids quite a bit, (on the weeks he doesn't have his kids he comes up to my place most evenings and hangs out at the house.) I haven't been around his kids quite as much. We're still trying to figure out the best way to be together as much as we can, with and without kids.

Saturday I took my brother Kyle with me to get a Christmas tree. Then I put up all my Christmas decorations in my house. It was a lovely day, listening to Christmas music and decorating. I love Christmas so much! Then that night Curtis came up and we hung out with my sister Heather and her husband Kyle, because they had never met him.

Sunday night there were 23 people at my house (including 3 babies,) with all my family along with my uncle and a couple of my cousins for a dessert night. It was Kyle's 23rd birthday and Nathan and Jordan's first anniversary. Benjamin absolutely loved playing with his baby cousins over the weekend. He was so cute with them! I always love hanging out with my family! So a fun weekend full of good food and lots of family.

This year I have much to be grateful for! I'm thankful for the difference that a year makes. It's hard to believe the difference between last year and this year. It's truly night and day and it's truly a miracle to me to be so happy and blessed. Truly, deeply, down to my toes happy. Curtis is simply the best thing ever and I'm so grateful to him and for him.

In other news in my life: My dad had a minor stroke about two months ago. It affected mostly his left arm/hand. He was in the hospital and then rehab in the hospital for a total of almost 6 weeks. He is not able to work for a while so two and half weeks ago my parents moved into my house. My dad just got out of the hospital two weeks ago. They are staying in Emily's room which means Emily is staying with me. It's not my favorite thing having to share my bed and bathroom again, not to mention my dresser and closet. ;) I'm glad they are able to be here. My dad has been doing really well since getting out of the hospital. His recovery is coming along quickly. Another wonderful miracle! After all the help my parents have been to me over the past year, I'm glad to be able to be a small help to them right now.

I'm so looking forward to this Christmas season! Lots of fun things planned! Everything is so much better when you're in love. :)