a very thankful Thanksgiving

I have a good friend....my best friend in high school....so many fun memories.... that I haven't seen in about 17 years. Her husband is in the Air Force and in the last couple of years moved relatively close to us in AL....6 hours away. We have been trying to get together the last 6 months and they invited us to their house for Thanksgiving. We have no local family anywhere near us....and were not able to buy 4 plane tickets this season. So reuniting with old friends... was such a blessing this year! Granted with just the four of us we always have fun and special times...but add in another very special family and it was MUCH to be thankful for! I swear the entire time I was there I felt warm fuzzies....and it takes a lot for me to get warm fuzzies. It is just so special (excuse my cheesiness) to meet up with someone that knows your strengths and weeknesses when you were child....someone you shared your special dreams for the future with. THAT is who my friend Heidi is. :D

At first I was hesitant as they had not met the A~man....but he (and all of us) were welcomed and accepted. A special thumbsup to their BIG boy....who is just a bit older than our A~man. He was so patient...and kind....playing with A! I think my hubby had fun playing XBox (or whatever game it was...I'm not a gaming girl ;) with J too! Z~girl had a blast with Miss O....wish we lived closer so they could meet up....but AL is a lot closer than the other places they have lived! Such a fun mix my little Tomboy with my friends girly girl! Oh and MR H. Sweet boy. 3 yrs old....my all time favorite age!(I was a 3 yr old teacher for many yrs) He's a mans man.....but I will conquer this boys affection!!! :D

We were able to take a trip to my friends office! Very cool. My friend is a doctor and I'm so proud of her!! <3 She even checked our blood pressure. :)

Anyway it was a wonderful 2 days....even though I wanted to stay 3 or 4 (hubby wanted to spend time at home Saturday and Sunday morning before he started back to work Sun night) but I am thankful for the time we had.

I will save the visit by the police (at our friends home) for the next blog.....a funny occurance (rolling my eyes)...well one of those situations where you have to laugh....or you will cry....which is MY LIFE IN GENERAL. :)

Lighting a candle tonight

in memory of my nephew Ryan who was killed in a car accident 2 years ago. He was 20 years old.

OK if you read my blog you know I can be scatterbrained. I'm comfortable with that now...it's who I am. Two years ago today I had scheduled us to fly to spend Thanksgiving with family....this was the year Thanksgiving came earlier in November so the week before we were to fly out...the nonrefundable tickets were bought one of my brothers emailed me saying in a nice way "could you not fly here any sooner than Thanksgiving day?" uhhhh I had booked ON THANKSGIVING DAY!! I was embarassed.

The kids are excited....we are...and after a long day of flying from coast to coast we finally arrive in Wa. From the start it strikes me odd. My brother R was supposed to be picking us up. Well most of my east coast family meets us in the airport. My brother S's girls...and his son....my great nephews and great nieces...and my mom. NO ONE looked happy. My brother R comes up to dh and I in a hug and says...I will never forget these words "R was killed in a car accident last night"... I felt so sick...like I had been hit in the gut...with all these eyes of my family on me. I remember hugging R saying I am sooo sorry...and running to the bathroom...to get sick and sob.

The rest is a blur...memories with family....some good even amidst the sorrow. It was a rough event for A and Z. We went to the viewing and brought them....I think back and wonder if some of A`mans issues...his obsessions with death were caused by this. A~man had only met R once...but R worked with adults with disabilites but their one time meeting...they were fast friends. You can't go back and change things... I remember standing next to my niece T...she is like a sister to me...heck most of my nieces I feel are more like sisters to me....just staring....walking out of the room hugging my brother and sobbing like I have never cried before...like I have never cried since. Seeing my nephew there....stilll and cold. I have NEVER cried like I did with R's death. I remember A~man screaming " my cousin is not DEAD".

I pray for his parents and his sister tonight as I often do....hoping they have peace....and comfort. If my heart hurt so much I cannot imagine their grief.

I hope R is up there playing his drums in glory!! ~Joy~

parenting is aging me....go figure

Today my husbands stepmother in law sent us some pictures. To back up she married FIL a couple months before he passed away...in 2004. Anyway it must have been pictures she had found. It was dh's senior pictures that FIL took, some pictures of him (fil) from that time period, grandparent pictures (my parents and dh's grandparents) , PRECIOUS reminders from the past...pics of the kids as baby/toddler with them. I'm so thankful to have the pictures now.

OK now for my vain side...it doesn't show often. Pictures of ME (oh and dh was in there too;) with the kids when they were a baby and toddler. OMGoodness! As dh said "you look like a little kid!" now I wasn't a little kid....I was 31....but b'gosh I looked 21. Maybe it was because I was so skinny? Honestly though...even though I wish I was 20 pounds at least lighter....I like my face better now....I"m rounder....more....well curvy....(I'm trying to see that as a positive). Now? well I look every bit my 39 years....but thinking over the last 10 years of parenthood...I've earned it! I would show before/after pics but....well I WON'T. I might show a local blog friend if she asked though. ;)