10th Annual Thanksgiving at the Farm

The Sanders family has a tradition of spending Thanksgiving at a beautiful farm in Roundtop, TX that is owned by Jonathan's cousins, Bill and Shannon Rademacher. Our friends, Colin and Lynsey Ross from Scotland joined us to have another Thanksgiving experience while being in the states. I have come to appreciate this holiday yesterday, not only by taking in the country scenery, but by watching people interacting from all walks of life. Thanksgiving is a unique holiday because it really brings people together without any religious divisiveness. In the heart of it is food, one thing everyone can appreciate, joined with community. A perfect combination. Truly, I belive God is honored by us "loving our neighbor".

Keegan was passed around from arms to arms, kissed on, played with, and loved on. He was on his best behavior, and really not one person believed that he ever cried. The guys played horse shoes and girls talked on the sideline. (pretending to be cheerleaders but all the while had a better time having a conversation about something else...women are really good at this one.) We went with Lynsey and Colin down the road to this turkey made out of a barrel of hay. (look at the picture below) We decided that it would be fun to take pictures on it. It was not a very pleasant experience at first for our Scottish friends because they were introduced very informally to Texas stickers. I think Lynsey was still finding them on her rear end when we left that night. It was pretty humorous watching everyone run and jump on to the turkey. We ended the night by sitting by the fire, talking and dosing off due to the full stomachs.

I had a first on this Thanksgiving, and think it will be my last as well. I went skeet shooting. I have always despised guns and been scared of them. I thought if I handled one, I just might erase my fears. Once I had that gun in my hands I realized the power it gives people. I did not like that I had the capability to really harm someone. Jonathan helped me out by telling me where to place the gun on my shoulder and I breathed deep and shot at the clay pigeon. I missed by a long shot because I had my eyes closed I am sure. So, I guess you will never see me in camo holding game. It is just not me.

This Thanksgiving was very unique and memorable! Can't wait till the next year we will be there when I will be chasing Keegan all over the fields!

Our Thanksgiving table

My first and ONLY attempt

Us on the giant turkey

Colin and Lynsey

Colin trying to climb the turkey

Keegan with Aunt Char

Trying to get Keegan to smile for a family picture

Leigh and Bill on the "Gator"

Laura with Mae's new puppy Nicky

Keegan with cousin Mike who is 6 foot 9!

Keegan will have TWO girl cousins!

We have a pretty cool thing happening in our family right now. My brother and his wife, Matt and Jenifer, will be having a girl on my birthday March 14th. Jonathan's sister and her husband, Mae and Brad, will be having a girl on March 29th, which so happens to be on Leigh and Laura's birthday. (Jonathan's other sisters). March is going to be a busy month! Too bad...I have lots of boy clothes to pass on. Keegan is going to be surrounded by girls!

Welcome Baby Leif

Nick and Jada Shock had their first boy yesterday morning. Leif Jarren Shock. Nick is one proud man that he now has a son with who he can play football, go hunting, and wrestle with! Cell phones can create a problem when there is not much strength on one end or another. When Jada called me yesterday morning with the news I thought she said his name was "Leis". As my friend Christine asked, "As in Buy or Lease?" I said yes...still a little confused. Her husband Zach said... poor guy, any time he is written a letter it will start out saying, "Dear Leis". (dear lease) It was all cleared up when we found out his name was really "Leif". It is a Scandanavian name that means "desendent" or "beloved". Christine and I went to see him last night and he was so tiny! Even at 8 pounds, I had to adjust my vision because Keegan now seems like a giant, all 17 pounds of him. It was very nostalgic to be in that hospital room seeing the glow on their face just having witnessed the amazing miracle of birth. God shows his creativity in the design of every baby. Welcome Baby Leif!

I never thought I would blog

I have officially crossed over and have given in. I thought about it for a long while and decided that there were so many thoughts running through my head during the day that I needed to empty them out- instead of talking Jonathan's ear off once he stepped through the door.

Journaling is something that never stuck with me. I would see a pretty one in the store that would inspire me to start again, and then after a couple of weeks it joined the other pretty journals on the shelf. My friend Mariana and I have this same issue, and we decided that since we love e-mailing so much that maybe blogging just might work. It would give us an outlet to think of positive things in the week. Now that I have stayed at home with Keegan for four months, I think I am losing brain cells. I have found myself talking in funny ways, doing silly things, just to amuse him. Baby conversations just don't do it for me. Believe me...Keegan is sooo much fun, but he does not have much of a vocabulary.

I have friends, Janelle, Amanda, and Kristin whose blogs I read daily. They keep me smiling, laughing, thinking, and sometimes leave me teary-eyed. I now come to appreciate blogs because of them. I never understood the purpose of putting it out there for the world to see, but for my three friends who live in Dallas, I can now be in their world a bit more. So in honor of them, here is my first blog.