Happy Thanksgiving!

 Yes, yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in the US.  This has been a week of great blessing here at Willow's Cottage.  Blessings and Thanksgiving!  I am sharing this with others who join us with Friday Fave Fives.

1.  Our Arizona family and New Mexico son arrived on Monday!  It was my two sons' first visit to our home.  They have visited their sisters here, but neither had been able to come since we moved here.

2.  Family pictures happened.  Hopefully, we will have some available soon.  Someone took this photo on a cell phone while we were waiting for another set.  Uncle hanging with the young ones.

The Professor with his grandchildren--I snapped this one during another break.

3.  Thanksgiving Day!  Dinner with ALL the family for the first time in a decade. (We also were able to host a couple from our Bible Study class.)  And yes, we were so busy and having so much fun that we never took a single picture of our wonderful dinner of  so much food and SO MANY pies!  Apple, berry, pumpkin, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate pudding and mince pies.  Yeah, my kids love to cook and bake.  All of them.  We love to eat the pies, too!

4.  This morning, we got together one more time before the travelers left for the airport, and we opened our stockings gifts.  What a joy it was for me to see all the stockings hung up together above the fireplace!

5.  PAL is a true Arizona girl.  She has never seen snow.  And she prayed and we prayed, that it would snow.  It did! This morning!  Not much stuck, but she experienced small snowflakes falling on to her tongue and her mittens.

All the blessings of this week will stay with me through this next year.  I am so very thankful my West Coast families were all here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.

Five Favorite Thankful Things

It is so close to Thanksgiving Week!  Life is ramping up.  I did start my Friday Fave Fives on Friday, but Life got in the way.  Better late than not at all to be thankful.  Enjoy your week of preparation and celebration!  Here are my Five Favorite Thankful Things from this week.

1.   I thought it was still autumn.  The leaves on the trees are still brilliant and vibrant.  Then why did we get snow?  And why on earth would that be a fave?  Well, I am thankful that we didn't have to go out in the cold.  And really, there wasn't that much snow and it didn't stay around all that long.

2.  On Saturday, we made a trek to another county to visit the local library there, Wagnalls Library.  It is a beautiful and historic place.  Our main reason to visit it was to check it out for having family photos taken next week.  Everyone's response was a resounding, YES, let's do it!  Stay tuned...more to come.

3.  Sunday night, we attended a Big Daddy Weave concert with Younger Daughter and our granddaughter.  I'm not much of a concert goer, but I thoroughly enjoyed this concert.  And Anne Wilson sang with them.

4.  The Professor had another commitment and so what did I do?  Dinner with the rest of the family at Olive Garden!  We were celebrating a personal milestone for Older Daughter, and it was a great time.  I love living near family.

5. Our coffee friends from California, T and S, have been sick.   Since they are well again, we met for... Coffee one morning.  Of course, New Boy loves this because he gets to tag along and enjoy yummy food. Time with friends (oh, you should have listened to the conversation the guys had about linguistics), and fun for New Boy.  He sits and does his school work, mostly all his reading, and sometimes hangs out with us old people a bit.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Be Thankful. Every Day.

 Good morning!  And yes, it is a good morning.  It's sunny and not too cold.  And it's Friday.  Fridays are a fun day for me.  The weekend is almost here and it is Friday Fave Fives time.  November is considered the 'thankful month', but really, every month and every day should be a time of thanksgiving.  And so, here are my thankful things from this week.

1.  Off Daylight Savings Time.  I am happy to be back on 'normal' time.

2.  I have finished a sweater and cap and they are waiting for the hoodie to be knitted, so I can send them to "other daughter" because her son has already outgrown the snuggly sweaters I sent before he was born.

3.  Veteran's Day.  I love to honor all the men in my family who have served in the US military.  My father and his brother, and two uncles, and father-in-law served during WWII.  My husband spent a year in Vietnam.  My brother-in-law was in the US Army Reserve.  My son is currently serving as a USAR Chaplain.  I am thankful for how they willingly have served our country.

4.  November 11th is also Chaplain Dan and Jennifer's wedding anniversary.  Happy Anniversary X 15 to them!

5.  Finally, since Younger Daughter had the day off from work, she asked if I would hike with her.  We chose a close but unpaved, windy and hilly spot, Flint Ridge State Memorial.  The paths were so covered with leaves that sometimes we were unsure what way to turn or if we were actually on the path.  If in doubt, let the dog lead.  The hike was absolutely beautiful and so refreshing  All. The. Leaves!

Be thankful.  Every day.

Cold and Sunny

 It is officially COLD here at Willow's Cottage.  For three nights now, the temperatures have plummeted below freezing.  There has been frost on everything in the mornings.  But, at least it has been sunny.  Maybe it is the cold that is slowing me down since I returned from my trip to Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina.  That's my excuse, anyway, for not posting photos of our trip and for being so late posting my Friday  Saturday Fave Fives. (you know the drill: click on the link)

1.  Warm blankets and afghans.  I love pulling on one of my handknit blankies and snuggling up in it.  In fact, I am doing that right now.

2.  Freezing temperatures at night mean my garden needed to be put to bed.  The Professor researched and found a way to cover the one bed that still has lettuce, spinach and kale growing in it.  So far, those plants have been snuggly and warm under that frost cover.

3.  The rest of the garden is almost done.  I'm thankful I've been able to get outside during the sunny times of the days and finish that autumn job.

4.  A long and wonderful conversation with a friend from our church in CA.  I miss her sweet fellowship and it was so good to just chat over zoom for two hours.

5.  At my Women's Bible Study, somehow we got on to the topic of contentment and trusting God. (duh)  There were words I needed to hear.  I'm thankful that I have gotten connected.

I hope you are finding all kinds of ways to see the blessings in your life and are grateful for them!