Time

Sometimes I feel like time is going by so fast- like, unusually fast! Seems like our little granddaughter Layla was just 6 months old and we were teaching her all kinds of fun stuff. She's 4 1/2 years old now, and teaching me all kinds of fun stuff:) she reminds me of what's really important in this life.

Don't even get me started on how fast my children grew up- honestly, I could weep about that! Somehow I didn't seem to understand how fast our time would go with them.

Now, here's the real kicker- The first 6 months of 2011 will likely be spent wishing the time would go faster. My husband will be leaving the country to work in Uganda, Africa for 6 months. If all goes well that time may be shortened, we'll see!

I do have a plan to help fill my time while I'm alone for 6 months. I'm taking a photography class, a weight lifting class, and volunteer at a local hospital or nursing home. I plan on having my little Layla spend many nights, oh, and my little niece Katie has already asked to come and spend the night when Uncle David is gone. I will definitely be having dinner with friends and lunch with my precious daughter, and most likely dinners with my son,,,, as long as I'm buying!!

I'm thrilled that we'll be able to talk on the phone and that we have skype and email, and of course we can text for 5 cents. I'm praying that the time will go faster than ever until he returns home... but not when it comes to our little Layla growing up!

This is no time for ease and comfort. It is the time to dare and endure.
~Winston Churchill~

I LOVE Thanksgiving!

I'm feeling a bit obsessive about Thanksgiving! I'm obsessing about what everybody is doing for the big day. I keep asking "so, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? What is your favorite food? What's your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?" Seriously, that's me... It's all I've talked about all week, and Thanksgiving isn't for another week, hope I don't drive everyone around me too crazy!!

I just love this day, this day where we come together and laugh and visit, where we make new memories that last us until the next year. I love that we live out the traditions we've developed for our family. There is nothing like a group of people that come together every year and know exactly what to expect, they know that there will be turkey, mashed potatoes, and my perfect gravy (that my mother in law taught me to make, kudos to her), greenbean casserole, rolls that are perfectly browned on top with real butter, and of course pumpkin pie with whip cream, and my new fav that my daughter has made for the last 3 years .... the now famous...must have every year from now on.... Peach Cherry Pie with lattice crust that she makes from scratch, and is perfect every single time! Oh my goodness, it's amazing and I wish everyone of you could try it. She actually made it for me for my birthday this year because I love it so much. Really, there is nothing like Thanksgiving..... Well,  Christmas eve is pretty darn close! I get pretty excited about my sister in law's cream cheese tortilla rolls, and her husbands banana bread, and his no bake cookies that he calls "unbaked" cookies, oh and their decorated sugar cookies and their famous peanut butter cookies.... Then there's breakfast the next morning, well- I could just go on and on.... I love to anticipate a day filled with everything that we have had for as long as we can remember- Memories- it's all about making memories, isn't it?

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. 
                                    ~H.U. Westermayer~