Happy Thanksgiving YALL! From Wichita Falls, Texas

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families! As a mom and now a grandma, I love cooking thanksgiving dinner, with all the trimmings. I especially love decorating our home for it as well. Bruce and I just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, and our son Scott was able to come home from Texas A&M university (a 5 hour drive to Wichita Falls for him) and my daughter and her husband and 2 boys, Tristan 13 and Aaron 4 years old.

We had a wonderful time. My husband always cooks the turkey and then I do most of the rest. This was the first year that I ever cooked a Pecan pie. Can you imagine? A Texas Girl who's never cooked a pecan pie?! Well, that's because my mother or my mother in law usually do the pies. I love making the stuffing (family recipe) and the mashed potatoes and the green bean casserole, etc. I also made bread (buttery croissant rolls) and fruit salad.

My father in law and mother in law were not able to be with us this year, as my father in law is recovering from a broken hip from a recent fall and is in a Rehab center in IRVING,TX. Our thoughts and prayers were with them, and we spoke to them and they had friends from church there with them. Its just not the same without them however.

I hope you all took the time to think about what you are truly Grateful to God for! We are grateful for my husbands upcoming retirement from the USAF (26 years service!) and my Photography business (in its 15th year in Wichita Falls.) So grateful for our military friends all over the world, and our families. Grateful that we still have both sets of parents and that our children were with us.
We have our health, we are in our late 40s and its more and more important to exercise, eat right and to de-stress. I find LAUGHTER is the best DE STRESSER and our 4 year old grandson keeps me laughing. He is always saying something cute or funny. Also funny movies and fun friends help too!
Even though our country is in an economic situation right now, and the war is still waging in the middle east, we know that we were born in one of the most wonderful times in History. We have heat, running water, hot and cold, plumbing, a beautiful home, 4 automobiles and lots and lots of love. I think about my Nana who passed away 9 years ago and her stories about going to the outhouse and not having hot water and how she cooked on a wood stove in Wortham , Texas.
I am so grateful for so many things. One thing I always like to remember, an old saying I heard someplace once. "Ive never met a grateful, bitter person and Ive never met a bitter, Grateful person." Its true. We all have our ups and downs in life, but to have an attitude of gratitude truly will serve you well, and make this journey that much more enjoyable.
God Bless you all.