Hello there!  I hope every had a very Happy Thanksgiving!  We sure did.  As my sister-in-law says, "There is always always always something to be thankful for."  Nine years ago, Russ and I could never have imagined how abundantly God would have blessed us.  Thanksgiving morning, I looked up and saw two precious answered prayers playing in the floor, the fire going, Christmas decorations and lights, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the background.  Happy Thanksgiving to us indeed!

Russ and I were thrilled to not be traveling on Thanksgiving weekend.  This has never happened.  In nearly all the 10 years we've been married...we have always traveled home for Thanksgiving.  This year, we were home.  We hosted my side of the family on Thanksgiving Day.  My mom came early that morning to fix brunch for us complete with fruit arranged like a turkey, muffins, cheese grits, and breakfast casserole.  It was delicious!

Smith napped through the whole thing, but our spunky three year old was ready and waiting for her muffins.  She's pretty picky, so muffins was a success in my book!

Closer to lunchtime, my dad and my sister arrived.  They stopped to visit my grandmother, who is recovering from TWO broken legs!  Bless her heart, y'all!  Russ and I may have been hosting Thanksgiving, but my sister (the gourmet chef of the family) prepared most everything for Thanksgiving dinner.  My parents were able to relax and enjoy family.  One of them may have even hid in Millie Janalee's room to take a nap.

Russ has not had many days off lately.  He's been working lots of weekends and had some night calls.  So he also enjoyed a day of relaxing and hanging out with family.  He served as our "lobby entertainment" at the Johnson Inn.  Ha!

I think everyone enjoyed a low key day watching football and spending time as a family.  The kids ran around and played together, napped, and fought (Ha!) while the adults ate and ate and rested.

Some lent a helping hand in the kitchen while Kristin slaved away on a delightful and traditional Thanksgiving meal...

We laughed a lot and tried to stretch out our full bellies from time to time.  We had to make room for more!

And at the end of the day, the main meal was served!  Kristin planned the menu and worked tirelessly all week helping me decorate for Christmas, making cookies, and then preparing most of this meal herself.  Thankful.

Russ and I broke in our dining room table for the first time.  It feels good to fill Nonnie's table with those we love most.  We even pulled out MawMaw's dining room table in the foyer.  We filled them both!  Such joy!

Russ and I have had a rough year.  But we have also had an amazingly blessed year.  We are forever thankful for so many people, experiences, and things in our life.  What a joy it is to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...

From our family to yours - Happy Thanksgiving!

She's THREE!

We waited an extra week to celebrate Millie Janalee's birthday with family and friends.  Having just moved into our home from Missouri and a storage unit in the midst of major paint jobs...it wasn't the best time to invite everyone into our home.  But thanks to sweet friends and amazing family, we got it done!  At least the main areas were completed.  The rest - we just shut some doors!  Ha!  We enjoyed a summer-themed pool party.

A slice of summer!

As usual, my sister outdid herself on details.  I basically sent her ideas and she made it happen.  It was a HOT late afternoon in July. Which makes the perfect excuse for a swim!

At this point, I had not even attempted potty training.  Give me a break!  We were in the midst of a huge transition.  And to be honest, we traveled way too much for potty training before moving.  The problem is that I completely forgot to put a swim diaper on Millie Janalee before the party.  So...she may or may not have had a diaper explosion when I realized it and tried to change her.  What a mess! And a lesson for me.  Haha!  One day she will roll her eyes at this picture...

We loved having everyone gather in our home.  We finally have a place to welcome others into.  We enjoyed visiting with our family and friends out by the pool or on the back porch.  Several of our friends we hadn't seen in quite some time.  It's good to be home again!  With a house and back yard FULL of our favorite people!

Smith and PawPaw

Elle and Grace

Roan and Lynn

Me with Matt, Leah, and Curry - ALWAYS so happy when Matt brings his camera!  All the professional pictures here were taken by him.

Russ and I spent our time in the pool.  Millie Janalee hadn't mastered swimming and her cousins needed a break to have a little fun themselves.  So we jumped in and joined the fun!  As you can see...we may be older in years...but always young at heart!

Russ, Clay, Jared, and Sam

Our home was also filled with friends and family inside trying to stay cool.  I didn't really get to visit much with those inside, but I'm pretty sure most of them stayed around for the after-party.

Maw Maw

Hughes - our youngest nephew

She She

We had to drag Millie Janalee out of the pool to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out her candles.  There were lots of cheers, and she got a bit overwhelmed.  Ending with a meltdown asking to get back in the pool.  Ha!  Three year olds.  Who ever said it was "terrible twos" was way wrong!  But I love this spunky, opinionated girl more than life!

As the sun set, the guests began to trickle out.  And the after-party soon began!

My brother, Uncie Buck

My brother-in-law, Uncie Lee

Millie Janalee spent some time with family opening her gifts.  The karaoke machine was among her favorites.  And she karaoke'd for the rest of the night!  Some of the best princess performances I've ever seen.  Ariel would surely be proud!

"Part of Their World"

Part of her audience

Second row audience

After all the gifts had been opened, Pawpaw and Susu presented Millie Janalee with her final gift.  A Barbie Jeep!  She was so excited!  I know this because of her gasp and her exclaiming "my new car!"

It was a successful party ending with a happy happy three year old princess!!  Such a joy to mother her!  Such a privilege!  So thankful for everyone who came to celebrate with us and love on our Millie Janalee!

Happy Birthday, Millie Janalee!

I probably should back up a bit and tell you that Millie Janalee had a birthday too!  Our baby - the one that made me a mama - turned THREE years old just weeks after we moved.  It was a chaotic time, but we did manage to move into our home, in the midst of all the painting being done, and have her third birthday in our new home as a little family of four.

What can I say?  I don't really cook too much.  And I rarely cook breakfast for sure.  So donuts is always our birthday treat of choice.  Ha!  She was just as excited over a donut as she would have been over anything I could have made.  Probably more so.  Smith was pretty excited too.  He had just begun pulling up at this point.

July 18, 2012.  The day our entire world changed for the better.  God is so good!

Millie Janalee wanted to swim for her birthday, so we did just that!  It really was the first time we spent a day in our pool with just us.  We enjoyed it very much!  Having our own pool has some major perks.  For example, when Smith was ready for his nap...I put him down and came back out to the pool for fun.  Thankful for that luxury and all Russ's hard work for so many years to get us to this point. Finally home!  Permanently.

Millie Janalee had a BALL!  We had a sweet friend come teach swimming lessons in our home the week before, and Millie Janalee had really warmed up to the water.  She is just a little fish.  Not swimming on her own, but not afraid of going under water at all!  We had her swim instructor come back for a second week in August.

After a fun day in the water, we rested and loaded everyone up for a trip to Corinth.  We visited Russ's parents for her birthday and opened her gifts there.  This was the last night we saw Russ's dad awake.  We told him good night and gave him a kiss before he retired for the evening.  Such a special memory on Millie Janalee's third birthday.

We are so thankful for the three years of pure JOY...and maybe a test in patience too...we have been given.  So much more than we ever could have imagined or asked for.  God knew the desires of our hearts much better than we did.  Thankful always that He knows more!