Thanksgiving

This is one of my most favorite times of year. We have been blessed beyond measure and we have SO much to be thankful for! I love that this time of year reminds us of that. It is a time to stop the busyness of life and be reminded of what we have been given. I love being with family, laughing, eating, shopping, playing games, taking pictures, eating some more, lauging some more, and most of all...sharing what we are thankful for.

My parents rented a lake house on Lake Keowee this year so we could all be together over Thanksgiving. We joined my parents, my sister and her family, my in-laws, and sister-in-law to celebrate this year. We had a wonderful meal, and then we went on the back porch to share how we have been blessed this year. We went around the circle five times and each time we tell one thing we are thankful for. The children say sweet, simple and sometimes silly things, but it is always fun to hear them. They are thankful for God, Jesus, parents, siblings, spiders, cake, wolves, pets, dancing...so sweet and simple. The adults are also thankful for similar things...God, Jesus, freedom to worship God in the US, the pigrims voyage to America to worship God, salvation, jobs, homes, spouses, children, beds to sleep in each night, and health. I just love reflecting on what all we have to be thankful for. We have been blessed and have SO much to be thankful for! Of course this year we had an extra blessing...our sweet baby T. I never would have imagined he would be with us this year. It just blesses me to no end to hold him in my arms and look at him. He truely is a gift from God - a breath of Heaven here on Earth.

Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend!

Nana bought baby T a snowman costume to wear for our family picture. Here he is trying it on.


Our little snowman!


Nana and Big Pop enjoyed picking leaves and berries outside with Wyatt and AG.



Nana made her first "made from scratch" fresh, hot milk Coconut cake!



Here we are eating dinner together



Gram and Baby T


The men on the porch talking and pondering how the owner of the house was able to put a shower in a tree.


I have more pictures, but they won't upload at the moment...so check back again!

Baby T's first bottle!

Baby T had his first bottle a few weeks ago while Thomas was out of town. Both of my children have been breastfed and I am so blessed that it has gone well for each of them. Now it didn't always start out well. We have had many ups and downs and points where I thought it wasn't worth it, but I am so glad I stuck with it because it is a blessing to me that I am able to feed my children in this way. It has gone so well with T that I haven't even thought about bottles. Thomas wanted me to go ahead and try the bottle to see how T would do with it. AG really wanted to give T his first bottle, so we decided to try it a few weeks ago and T loved it!

I love T's face here! It looks like he is saying, "Look mommy! There's food in here!"

And another sweet one! Yes, AG was bored with it after about 5 minutes. She really wanted to hold him to give him the bottle, but I was worried she may drop him!



Good news! Since this day, T has taken 3 more bottles!! Yay!

Operation Christmas child

I just love this time of year! I don't enjoy the colder weather, but I do love that it reminds me that Christmas is near! When Thomas and I were married ten years ago, we decided to start a family tradition that would hopefully continue on when we had children. And so far it has...every year we donate a shoebox filled with toys, coloring books, toothbrushes, toothpaste, crayons, etc. to Samaritan's Purse/Operation Christmas child - . We have enjoyed doing it and look forward to doing it each year. Before we had children, we would do two shoeboxes - Thomas would fill a box for a boy and I would fill a box for a girl. Now that we have Anna Grace, we typically let her select which we will do and she usually chooses a girl that is her age (5-7 years old).

It always blesses me to do this special project with Anna Grace. I don't think her mind can fully comprehend what she is doing. I don't think my mind fully comprehends it either. I had a glimpse of what their life is like when I spent a week in Belize last year on a mission trip. The conditions these people live in is so sad. I try to explain to AG that these children have nothing and we are so blessed to be able to give to them. I tell her that these children may live in a house like her playhouse in the backyard, with no shoes, no food, or water. She always wants to give more to them when she hears this. I also tell her that the shoebox we are sending may be the only Christmas present a child may receive.

So this year AG's school took on this mission project too. They asked each child to donate items for a shoebox, money, or send in a shoebox packed with goodies to send to Operation Christmas child. AG was excited about it and so was I! We went to Target and bought the goodies. I always love watching AG pick out the items for the special little girl who will receive our box. AG really wanted to make sure the little girl received a stuffed animal and pajamas.

Anna Grace with the items for the shoebox


Packing the shoe box


AG drew the little girl a picture and sent her a picture of herself and T.


She also wrote the little girl a message.
It says:
Dear___________ From: Anna Grace
My address is: she wrote her address
Have a Happy Christmas. You are special to God.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that HE gave his only begotten son that whoever shall believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. I am six years old. And I have a babby brother an he is cute. I will always love him.
Florence, SC 29501
Love, Anna Grace Anderson


Shoebox is all packed up! We even got the pj's folded so they fit!
I love the excitement in AG's eyes here.


Box is ready to go!


I am SO thankful that God has blessed us beyond measure and we are able to give to those in need. I am SO thankful that God is working in my heart and my child's heart each and every day. I pray that we will never become numb to those in need and we will always be able to give to others...in many ways.