Give Thanks

Give Thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever! 

~1 Chronicles 16:34~

Our family gathered for Thanksgiving on Thursday.  Our little family of five and my husband's brother and his family of 6, along with my father-in-law.  Three teen/adult kids ages 15-21, and four wee ones from 3-10.  Yep, we scattered them in all ages, lol, but it makes for tons of fun!  The older kids played board games all day in the game room and watched videos, while the littler ones played with toys, played tag outside and entertained themselves.  And us grown ups.... well, we played cards after my sis-in-law and I cleaned the kitchen and the guys got in their game time and power naps.  ;)  

Us 'big kids' playing cards.

The attitudes playing board games. ;) lol

Gotcha sis!  My daughter always turns away when I'm taking pictures...  she didn't know I was 'packin' when I walked into the game room.  GOTCHA!  =)  Only picture of my daughter from the whole day.  Oh well.  ♥

Our 'twins'.  These two are cousins and just a few shorts months apart in age.  They are in the same grade in school and both were named after their grandmother....

My Tanner Lee, and bro-in-law's Chandler Lee.

And no, in case you're wondering....we didn't plan ANY of it!  lol  They get along famously!

Even 'cousin' Macie came for Thanksgiving.  And Gus was beyond thrilled to have a playmate for the day.  Just like the kids.  They wrestled, explored the great outdoors and took long, lazy naps all day.  (And thankfully....there will be no puppies in our future.) lol

Now... here's a cute little piece of useless information for you:  My husband's side of the family must have some super powered genes because all of our kids tend to look EXACTLY like their fathers.  So much so, that the cousins even tend to look like brother and sister.

Check out my Tanner:

And my niece Kenzie:

Downright scarey freaky huh?!  :)  But definitely adorable!

I can't believe we didn't take some pictures of the food and my HUGE new table that my hubby finished for me.  He bought an antique table at a benefit auction the church had, brought home a BEAUTIFUL surprise for me of a dining room table that is nearly 100 years old (I know this, because I know the family that donated it!), and I could comfortably seat all 11 of us for dinner.  Yep.... ALL of us, and I LOVED IT!

I know someday I'm going to have to have another 'kid' table when we start adding grandbabies, but for now, we can all sit together, share together, help one another, and love eating as a BIG family together. ♥ It was my favorite part of the day.  

After dinner (and before games and cards) I took family pictures for my bro-in-law's family.  (you can bet it was all his wife's idea! lol and we tortured him as long as we possibly could).  Family pics and a new Christmas card were made and I can't wait to surprise them with some extra goodies come Christmas time! ;)  I can safely share this tidbit because I know Michelle doesn't read my blog.  lol

My Bro-in-law Howie & awesome sis-in-law Michelle (who makes the most incredible chocolate pie ever!)

My oldest niece (and I claim her as my first child...long story) Brittany & Macie

New Christmas card with my favorite cuties!  Sidney, Chandler & Kenzie (aren't they just adorable?!)

♥ Family Christmas Card ♥
I just wish I had one for my OWN family! lol

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with your families.  Stay tuned to hear how it took a turn for the worse on Black Friday!  (just kidding.....but it wasn't pretty)