Thanksgiving

We usually do Thanksgiving a little differently (Walker Thanksgiving on the Saturday before and then Peaden Thanksgiving on Thursday), but this year my mom's birthday fell on Thursday, the actual day of Thanksgiving. (Also, Sue surprised us with tickets to a USU football game for David's birthday, and the game was on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.) My mom had mentioned that it might be nice to have everyone there for her birthday this year, so we consulted with the siblings and we all decided to make it happen for her this year. So, Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday Mom! 

We gathered together in Morgan and celebrated the things we were grateful for by eating good food, sharing our gratidude around the table, and spending time together. (In the pictures below, my dad was playing with the kids by making up silly poems and then tossing/tipping them off of his lap. They loved it. 





Lydia has been begging to go to Wyoming since August and we just haven't been able to make it happen. We had hoped to go up after Thanksgiving, but the weather was going to be SO cold. We ended up going the day before Thanksgiving and spending the day with my dad, playing on the haystack, and helping with some things around the ranch. The transition after my Grandpa passed away hasn't been as smooth as I expected, but being there with my kids and my dad - it just felt peaceful and right. I love this place, and I love how much my dad loves this place, and I love how much my kids love this place. There is a small part of me, that seems to be growing, that could picture a life here among these fields and wild open spaces. 




We helped my dad clean out the flowerbeds in front of the house, and clean out the bed of one of the old trucks in the backyard. 

We also helped the family set up for Christmas in Morgan. 

We came home to snow in our yard, and enough time left in our break to really enjoy it! 

---

We missed being able to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Peaden Family. I don't think we've missed a Peaden Thanksgiving, ever - at least completely. We were planning to stop by after Thanksgiving, but we weren't really healthy enough (runny noses and coughs). We were glad that David and Austin had been able to go up before Thanksgiving to help Sue set up her Christmas Village. (I was home with sick kids, even then.) It doesn't really feel like 

I am incredibly grateful for the blessings we have. This year our family attempted to write/draw 100 things and hang them in our hallway of the things that we are grateful for. It has been such a great effort to think about the blessings we have and name them together as a family. 

Here are some of the list: 

David: 

-Home

-Warm Days and Warm Coats

-Pizza

-Sacrament

-People are patient with me

-Grandpa heart surgery and health

-Hiking

-Shantel

-Lydia

-Austin

-Caleb

-Lucy

Shantel: 

-My Apple Watch

-A window in my Laundry Room

-Panda Express (fast food and restaurants)

-Sunshine

-I'm grateful for the tree in the front yard. It makes me happy when the leaves turn red. 

-The blanket that Grandma Peaden made for me

-When my kids say "thank you" when I do something for them. 

Lydia: 

-I'm grateful for life 

-I'm grateful for family

-I'm grateful for Nature

-I'm grateful for the dogs in my life

-I'm grateful for water

-I'm grateful for electronics

-I'm grateful for church

-I'm grateful for animals

-I'm grateful for Polly

-Prayer

Austin: 

-Family

-Daddy

-Mommy

-Our house

-Food

-Grass

-Sun

-Frozen

Caleb: 

-Cloud

-The Hall

-The stars 

-The world

-Airplanes to Indiana

-The Ocean

-Brick and Ball

-Moms Apple Watch

-Dirt

-The Moon

-Polly

Lucy: 

-Upstart

-The light that comes from electricity 

-Playing with Austin and his robot thing

-Thankful for having drawings

-Thankful for dying and then being alive again (like grandpa great)

-Thankful for going camping

-Thankful for my job to clean the counter in the bathroom

-Thankful for clapping your hands

-When the lights turn off.- they turn back on

-Hanging up/Hanging down