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A Thankful Thanksgiving
December 9, 2016
Hello again! Did you all have a good Thanksgiving? We sure did, with family and friends and chaos and messy kitchens and loud children. It was great!
Thanks for stopping by!
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Video Blog - November, 2016
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And here we go ...
Sometimes I wonder
if this blog is doomed to have a wedding every month. I mean that in a nice way.
Congratulations, Emma and Philip Hansen! So awesome to see my good buddy Philip getting hitched, and it was a lovely wedding indeed.
We three ushers.
The attractive, respectable wedding party.
Jed Cook with his lovely sisters.
Mr. Brandon gives me that "get outta here" glare.
Aww ... Rebekah Branigar and Melissa. Thanks for holding Jony! (my nickname for him)
Marriage is so awesome. God really knew what He was doing.
A few drinks later and everyone is grabbing shoulders.
Goodbye, love birds! Don't crash on the way out!
I'll bet you didn't know Captain America lived in our house.
Or Iron Man. Except, I make him take off his outfit before bed.
Yes, it's that time of year again. Family pictures!
Time to look sweet and sinless!
Jonas refused to smile until I changed his diaper.
All the grand kids with grandma.
Grandpa and Grandma.
Any parent knows what taking pictures with this many kids is like.
Still, we love them.
Man, these two are good friends.
These two ... these two are the kind you check on every 35 seconds.
And our two precious girls.
We're just a screwed up family who thrives on the love and grace of God.
Keoni's 3rd grade portrait.
Now that's pretty cute.
Little Rascals.
Sick!!! Michael murdered an innocent animal and hung it up-side-down in the yard! Oh yeah, it's deer season, and Mike got another one like last year. Congrats, you killer.
Out for a walk. Good having you guys for the weekend!
We jump ahead a few days and we're standing in the freezing cold at night for a concert.
Ma, Pa, Emma and Abby joined us. It was a classical concert that would feature the music of Mozart, Brahms, and Handel.
Psych! This is really a Rend Collective concert! Time to rock out!!!
Ok, they were really good, if you're not familiar with Rend Collective. They're an Irish Christian band and their music has a folky flavor. I can't believe their energy. I think I was the only introvert in the house (except Pa).
A silhouette of me and Marian. She had a great time too. :-)
Oh crud. It's Thomas family picture time. Somebody wake me when it's over.
This actually might have worked if Marscel hadn't suddenly been transfixed by the heavens.
We're going with this one.
You know, if we have one more boy and one more girl, we'll have the same sexes as the Thomases. Kinda freaky thought.
Traditional holding Marscel shot.
It is funny how he ended up being the tallest.
ADORBS!!!!!!!!!!!!
MORE ADORBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let's get out of the freezing cold and make the grub! Course my wife works hard as Taralyn texts.
Faithful Pa with the turkey.
I'm not posing only to make it look like I'm helping.
And neither is Marscel.
"Better is a table of herbs where love is, than a feast with strife." What about a feast where love is? Now that's the best!
These boys are growing like zits.
Oh my word ... forget the turkey.
She's so presh!
I love her so!
It's time to play, "Guess That Pilgrim!" Three people went against each other to guess what historical figure the person across from them was.
I'm the figure they're supposed to guess. "Were you on the Mayflower? Did you survive the first winter?" Hold on, let me fix my hair.
Old St. Charles! Wow, this place was amazing, and I had no idea something like this existed in Missouri. The town was built back in the 1700s, and while most of it has been modernized, a long street that goes a couple miles still has cobblestone pavement and the buildings are vintage 18th century. We're out with the Thomases and Dischers and Wongs and others!
Crisp, 50 degree day. It was just perfect.
Some history for you ...
"Security, there's a little girl in aisle 7 who needs to be escorted out. She's been staring at herself in the mirror for the last 20 minutes."
To put it mildly, people noticed our children that day.
Time for an over-priced carriage ride!
If I only had a dollar for every time I heard, "Oh, look at that little girl!"
"Look, dear sista! Fatha Chreestmus!"
Uncle Matthew sure is the best.
St. Lucia, who reminded us that we can push back the darkness with God's light.
Time for dinner with friends!
Oh, our beautiful Hannah! It's been too long! Come visit soon!
Just don't backwash.
Talking and giggling cause it's so cold you think everything's funny.
What a Christmas picture.
The evening was magical indeed.
Time to chill with a movie back at the apartment. Even Jonas kicked up his feet and joined the guys.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!
