Thanksgiving

We have so much in our lives to be grateful for, most of all God, and family and friends!

This is our friend Megan, and her husband Stace, both Army Officers, who are currently stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York, and who are expecting the birth of their first child around Christmas time.  They were here recently for a visit.  So good to see them and so happy for them!  Thank you to both Megan and Stace for their continued service to our country.

Even though I no longer ride my horse, I still meet with my Saddlebag women friends on Thursdays, sometimes for lunch, and most recently to camp out with a few of them at the Mineola Nature Preserve on a Wednesday night preceding their Thursday ride.  I love the artwork on this U.S. Hwy. 69 overpass at the exit for the Preserve.

Most of the Saddlebag women have fairly nice horse trailers with built-in living quarters for camping with their horses.  Me, I brought along my backpacking tent and pitched it under some nice shade trees next to where they were parked and enjoyed a nice evening of good conversation and good food with my good friends.  The next morning after coffee and breakfast with them, I headed home just as they were heading out on horseback.  (Can you see my little backpacking tent pitched under the trees??)

I am thankful for good positive results following my recent colonoscopy at the Athens East Texas Medical Center, where Tom took this cool photo in front of the building, amid the awesome landscape of waterfalls and pools.  That white bird was standing so very still it almost looked artificial!

Yea!  My sister, Donna, who lives in Wyoming, came to Texas for Thanksgiving!  And we went for a walk with Tom, down the road and in behind my Mom's house, passing thru a pasture with some very curious horses.

Yea!  My brother Wendall, who lives in Indiana, also came home for Thanksgiving.  This was the first time all my surviving siblings had been together since 2001, when our Dad died.  So good to spend time together with family! 

               Seated: Wendall, Mom, Me  Standing: Ginny, Donna, Sharon, Don, Norma

Here is my Mom with 11 of her 28 great-grandchildren!

I am thankful for our Christmas cactus plants.  They are so amazing when they burst forth in bloom!

I feel incredibly blessed to live on a quiet country lane......

...Tom and I both feel fortunate to be gainfully employed, and have the funds (Thanks, Tom!) for a wonderful home-improvement this Fall!  We recently had a concrete slab poured under the carport that we added on to our home a couple of years ago.  Before....

                              ...during construction....

                       ...getting ready for the concrete...

                     ...Ta-Dah!  Nice!!

I recently had the privilege of helping at Quality Furniture's Annual Private Sale, where they give away a lot of money and prizes to their loyal customers!   This is their pre-opening briefing from the owner...

                    They are all decked out for the holidays!

My job was to stand by this Christmas tree that was loaded with envelopes stuffed with cash!  Each customer came and chose an envelope, receiving cash ranging from $2-$100.  For every $500 of merchandise purchased during this sale they were awarded additional chances to pick envelopes from the tree.  This job has always been fulfilled by the store owners' mother, however her health has not allowed her to be there to help with this the last two years, so I humbly fill in for her and do my best.  I have to say it is sort of fun to give away other people's money!

 

 

After working in the Canton Wal*Mart for 14 years, I transferred recently to the new Wal*Mart Neighborhood Market in Edgewood which opened on December 10.  So far, I really love it!  It is a small store, and it is great to be working so close to home, only 2.7 miles from our house!  

A couple hundred folks showed up for our Grand Opening ceremonies.....

...and we have experienced overwhelming positive feedback from our customers, who are so glad to have a neighborhood grocery store in our small town offering low prices and great customer service.

We are continually blessed with the most awesome sunsets here at the edge of the woods!

Tom and I went to Oklahoma the first week of December to perform some maintenance on the Ouachita Trail.  We parked at the Big Cedar trailhead and walked westbound lopping as we went along.  We were very thankful to our Trail Captain, Bill Sears, and Ryan who had walked this section the week before, carrying chainsaws to cut the big stuff.  Wow!  Hard work!  Thanks, Bill and Ryan!

Here Tom is navigating across one of the "rock glaciers" on the Ouachita Trail.

We were rewarded with some awesome views.....

We made it the 2 miles to Red Spring....

...this is a real blessing for backpackers to come across a nice water source beside the trail....

....cool, clear water coming up from under the ground!  Just hold a water bottle under the end of the pipe and fill!  (I would still purify it though, cautious person that I am.)

We are being festive here at our little humble abode for the Christmas season....

....a sweet memory from Tom's mother, we still get out her little gumdrop tree each Christmas and load it with fresh gumdrops!

 

And now our other Christmas cactus has bloomed!  Just beautiful!

 

I was surprised recently to find I am now a great-grandmother!  What?  No way I can be old enough to be a "great"  grandmother!  This is my youngest grandson, 21 year old Dylan, and his girlfriend, Alexis, with their sweet baby girl, Juliette!

What a sweet, pretty little bundle of joy!  Juliette, my first great-grandbaby!

This is my son's wife, Sissy, holding Juliette, their first grandchild!

 

I could go on and on and on......we are grateful to be healthy, happy, active....we have the love of family and friends...God is so good to us....