Thankfulness...

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever.
Psalm 118:1

This past week, our family set aside time to be with extended family to celebrate all the blessings that the Lord has given us. What a great week it was! We had all of the trimmings (three times but who is counting), many calories consumed, many miles traveled, and lots of hugs given. As we close this month that is set aside to be full of gratitude and thankful times, let me share what I am thankful for...

A husband that makes pumpkin cheesecake with his daughter.

A daughter who does not like her pilgrim hat one bit...

but tries to put on a smile for her mommy
(and the fruit snacks that have been promised).

For all of the school memorabilia
that only a mother can love and a teacher can appreciate.

Sweet cousins that love being the oldest kid around
(Morgan holding Drew @ Nanny's Thanksgiving)

Kids being kids @ a family gathering...
(Addie, Maggie, Drew, and Morgan)

A loving husband that works so hard to be a
great father to his children and a best friend to me...

An adorable 3 year old that has just learned how to make silly faces for the camera and does not mind where she sits for Thanksgiving Dinner. And take a close look at the plate.
PB and J for this little pilgrim lady.

A little boy who makes me stop
and think how life is like a blink...
it happens too fast.

I am thankful for time with family.

For brothers and sisters-in-laws

For Moms and Grandmothers..

For Dads and Grandfathers...

Happy Thanksgiving from the Sanders' Family.

As you go through this day, look for tiny treasures placed along the way. I lovingly go before you and plant little pleasures to brighten you day. Look carefully for them, and pluck them one by one. When you reach the end of the day you will have a lovely bouquet. Offer it to the Lord with a grateful heart.

From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Sanders Go East...

In years past, the Sanders' crew would gather together for a weekend day of shopping fun at Opry Mills. We always start at Bass Pro and we wonder around the crowds... pace the food court to find a table to eat lunch... gather the bags for Poppy to deposit in the car... but not this year. Due to the May flood and the limbo of what is to come of Opry Mills, this little tradition was not in the cards this year. So, Kyle thought this would be a great time for us to head east for a family weekend vacation. We stayed at a fabulous cabin that one of his friend's owns and had a great time.

NeNe and Poppy were the grandparents of the year when they offered to travel with Addie and Drew. Kyle and I were not going to be able to leave until after school so that would have meant night time travel. That is not a great time these days with little Drew boy. He is a great daytime traveler but once the sun sets... it is a whole new world. Nene and Poppy picked up the kids after a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel and were off to the "cavin" as Addie calls it. And I cannot forget to mention that Kyle gave Addie her Halloween CD to listen to on the ride up there.... 5 hours later...Nene and Poppy now know all of the words to Ghostbusters and Purple People Eater:)
As for Kyle and I, we enjoyed some kid-less travel with Clint and Kristen
with dinner to top it off.
Friday was filled with a great pancake breakfast where Addie gave us the soundbite of the trip. She was so excited about breakfast with " all of her family" that she just could not contain herself. We were eating a little later than normal so she kept asking "Where's my pancakes?" over, over, and over. Finally Kyle told her, "Drink some of the good mountain water!" Knowing Addie's eating habits and her ability to find something wrong with anything, I cut my eyes at Kyle to say "watch what you say" Addie took one sip of the water and said, "Too mountainy." Needless to say everyone just laughed.
After all the pancakes, eggs, and sausage were consumed and bellies were full we were off to shop... for about 9 hours.

As for Saturday, 3 of the Sanders crew had other plans, that did not include shopping. Clint, Kyle, and I decided to go hiking in the Park. We hiked to Ramsey's Cascades. This is an 8 mile round trip hike to the highest waterfall in the Smokies.
It is a beautiful hike but it is a killer of a hike. The rocks and the roots were terrible but the end is well worth the painful trek up.

Clint capturing the moment for kyle and me.

The daredevil boys.

Can you tell they are brothers?

After three hours of hiking... God's beauty for us to behold.

Kyle taking a breather.

This sign helped Clint realize that he did not need to climb up the waterfall.

I told you it was rocky and rooty.

These are cool bridges that are on the trail.

After we recovered from the hike, we went to the Christmas Shops and had some fun. Addie picked out ornaments for everyone. She picked a camera for me... does she know her mommy... and a camper for Nene and Poppy... and a Dora and a hot pink converse for her.
As we were leaving we had some fun with Santa.

This might be the best picture we get this year.

Still not a fan of the guy in the red suit.

I am trying all my tricks...

Our first Christmas pic of the season.

The kids with Nene and Poppy.

Trying to get Addie and Drew to look... always a task for the camera operator.

On the way home..
I think Poppy is ready for this "vacation"
to be over so he can get some rest.

Hopefully this is a new tradition of togetherness for us.

8 Months...

Another month has rolled by and this little boy is still amazing us and stealing our hearts. As his Aunt Kelli put it today, he is losing the baby "look" and transforming into a little boy. I do not know if it is the khaki pants, football jerseys, or the camo pants but he is turning into a "big" boy. Drew is getting around quite well these days. He has mastered the army crawl and prefers it to the traditional hands/knee crawl. His favorite place to crawl to is the bathroom... he loves to play in the shower.

This little boy does not like to be left alone and will sure let you know it with his little pitiful cry. I am a sucker for the cry and Drew knows it.

Other things Drew can do this month:

• He can cheer on the Vols now because he has learned how to clap.
• He likes to shake his head back and forth like he is saying no... I hope this is not a sign of things to come:)
• He can check The Smokey Mountains off his bucket list of places to travel.
• He can find his mouth with yogurt bites and puffs.
• He can sit in the bathtub and play with Rubber Ducky.
• He loves to stand up next to furniture... this is a bad thing because mommy sometimes forgets that he is standing up.... He gets tried.... He falls down.... He cries.... Mommy comes back and makes him feel better.
• He loves to play in the kitchen with the fridge magnets, empty the bread basket, and peel the onions.
• He can stand in his crib.
• He eats everything we give him... mommy has a sigh of relief.
• He sleeps from 8:30 pm to about 7am:)

Drew reading Red Fish, Blue Fish.

What a month...

For some reason this month has been a whirlwind
and for the life of me I cannot figure out why?

Maybe it has something to do with CRAZY little girl I love so much...
(This picture come with the question "What color is my tongue mommy?")

Or with these twenty yahoos that you can catch up with here...

Or this little cutie pie...

But this month has just flown by with a lot of great times like...

Date Night with My Hubby @ Firefly in Nashville!!!!
(Thanks to this friend for the great restaurant tip and
to LiLi and Poppa for the babysitting with no curfew)

A few birthday celebrations for some of Addie's friends...
Miss Lilly turned 3 with a fabulous rainbow birthday party.

Miss Stella and Addie waiting for some yummy cake.

What a free spirit this child is...

Blowing out the candles... of course Addie is front and center!

We decided to paint the last room in our house that has not been touched by the Sanders' paint brush. Of course Addie had to get in on the action because a paint brush is involved. Kyle really did take one for the team because we did this with kids in the house. Which meant I was of no help with a paint brush this time. The one time I tried to help, Addie came in the room and her white shirt turned to midnight blue. Speaking of midnight blue... I wanted more of a gray blue so I am not convinced that this color will be staying. We have painted 9 out of 10 rooms in this house and I have loved all the colors but this one. As Kyle so gently put it... You would have to NOT like the room that has five windows and four doorways in it that took 9 hours to paint. In translation... too much cutting:) But our 3 year old decorator cannot stop raving about it. Addie's words "Daddy our playroom is beautiful!" "Mommy come and look what Daddy and I did to the playroom! It is great!"

And the last fabulous time for this blog post is
Mr. Evan's Thomas the Train Birthday Party!

This boy is serious about his trains...

Blowing out the candles...

And opening the presents...

So that is a wrap for the first 15 days of November.... and this is just what I got on my memory card. I cannot upload the bottle giving, diaper changing, lunch making, bathroom cleaning, book reading, etc... things that go on as well.
Check back soon for our hiking trip and mountain getaway.