Thankful 15

Thankful 15 - For friends that I have made through my kids.  Tonight a friend of Elliott's came by to deliver some goodies that I had ordered from his Boy Scout troop.  I stood out on the driveway and talked with his mom for a long time.  I'm thankful that the boys have good friends and feel that we have been doubly blessed because I've gotten good friendships out of them also!

thankful 14

Thankful 14 - For the ability to go to the gym today.  It had been a few months since the treadmill and I had had a meetup.  I had actually only been there one other time since the beginning of May.  I had high hopes of getting there shortly after chemo ended, but my swollen legs had other plans.  My phone was nice enough to remind me every Monday, Wednesday and Friday that I was supposed to be at the gym:

It felt good to walk.  I am excited to try to run again soon, but for now I'm happy to walk and just get some sort of exercise and feel like things are getting closer to normal again!



thankful 13

Thankful 13 - For wide open spaces.  We love going over to Illinois.  Obviously we love going over there to see our family, but we also love it because there's a sense of peacefulness there for me.  There is quiet there.  There are wide open spaces for all of us - especially for the boys who need that.  Their new favorite activity over there is shooting the BB gun.  They were very excited about this - Mom even saved some more cans for them to shoot at.  And Elliott decided to shoot at some nests (empty) in the tree.  Made me nervous, but Dad assured me it was fine.  It was, and they had a great time!

thankful 12

Thankful 12 - This day was all about extended family.  So grateful that we are able to get together at least once a year.  We started celebrating the holidays a bit early with the Hosseltons this Saturday.



Loved getting to see my nephews.  Hadn't seen them in at least 6 months.  We even spent the night at their house, and the 3 oldest boys had a little slumber party in the living room - with not as much slumbering as I would have liked :)  My boys did make sure Eli had his coat on before they all ventured outside to play at 5:00 AM.  We're not sure if shoes and socks were included :)

Also got to see all of my aunts and uncles, cousins and spouses, and meet precious new babies.

Someone had the idea to remake a photo of "the cousins" from 1989 (I think).  I wish I had the original photo - I'll get it so that you get the full effect :)

thankful 11

Thankful 11 - This was Veteran's Day.  Thankful for anyone who has ever served in the military in any capacity.  Two Vveterans who are very close to our hearts are Brian's dad and my dad.  We were excited that my dad was able to come over for the Veteran's Day program at the boys' school.  Wish that Brian's dad could have been here, also, but we honored him with a poster and a picture in the slide show, also.

thankful 10

Thankful 10 - For Elliott's interest in piano and Rachel's gift of teaching it.  He just started lessons in August, and he really enjoys it!  I know that a lot of that is due to Rachel's enthusiasm and her patience and her talent. 



thankful 9

Thankful 9 - This day I was thankful for a friend's last day of chemo!!  She was just one round behind me, so she has been my chemo buddy since just right after my 2nd round of chemo.  We have the same type of cancer so we were on the same meds, same plan, which meant we have seen each other almost every Wednesday since the middle of July and that we will continue to see each other every 3 weeks until next summer.  I have enjoyed hanging out with her so much, and I think we must talk and laugh so much that a LOT of the other patients think that we're sisters at first!  She has truly been a bright spot in my Wednesdays, and I love that I'll still get to catch up with her every 3 weeks.   Congrats Jamie!!!!