So Much for Which to Be Thankful

We're behind in our posts, but we certainly don't want to pass by the chance to acknowledge God's overwhelming goodness to our family this Thanksgiving.

• Our adoption is finished, over, complete, done! Three new jewels are embellishing our home. They now have parents and siblings (a bunch!), extended family, a church family and even pets.
• Our oldest daughter, Tessa, is engaged to a man whom we think so highly of that we're ready to call him "son." We've met her soon-to-be in-laws, and they're wonderful people we already consider friends.
• Our twins, Joe and Lissie, both graduated from high school this year and through the accelerated distance learning program called CollegePlus!, they're both juniors in college already.
• Our parents, although facing some challenging health issues at times, are all still alive and make the most wonderful grandparents to our kids.
• We have a tremendous church and pastor.
• Our lives are filled with wonderful, supportive, selfless friends.
• Jim works for a Christian man in a company with great integrity

We arrived home from Moscow late Monday afternoon, 11/22, so by Thanksgiving morning we were still battling jet lag. However, we all worked together and still produced what our family considers to be a Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings.

Speedy is our trash speicalist. We've even given him the honorary title Dr. Trash, pHD. After all, who possibly could have more trash experience?!?

While some of the meal preps were going on, some fun was also in the works.

But, for the most part, the order of the day was the preparation of the annual feast.

We were happy to see Princess Bink and Oksana playing together for the first time since Oksana had become her sister. The togetherness of these two little girls who don't yet speak the same language didn't last long, but it was a start! Princess Bink quickly found another new sister to spend time with.

Dad prepared the roast beast (sorry, I'm just too much of a Dr. Seuss fan to let that one go), and we were ready for our feast

Daria finished Thanksgiving with her first English lesson on Rossetta Stone...

...and then helped Tessa frost Christmas sugar cookies. Tessa always likes to get a jump on Christmas--she wakes us each Thanksgiving to Christmas caroles.

God is worthy of receiving all our thanks and praise!