Family Thanks

I invited Tyrone over for Thanksgiving today. He very somberly said no. He stays to himself; he's been hurt too many times in his life. I hope he may change his mind.

Thanksgiving at our house is a riot and a half. :) My mom's side of the fam comes over (she has seven brothers and two sisters) with their families.

Here's a family tree: Gram and Grandpa (mom's parents)

Aunt Nan and Uncle Lou: Caryn, 29 (husband Matt, 26), Laura, 25(husband Shaun, 26), and Greg, 22 (girlfriend since grade 11 - he just graduated college - Katie, 23)

Aunt Polly and Ron: Brittany, 15 and Courtney, 13

Uncle Austin and Debbie... well, he used to be married to Valerie, who had Tiffany, 25, who has Christian, 6 or 7.

Bridgette and Dave (was married to Uncle Mike who died in 1997): Amy, 20 and Elizabeth, 15

Mom and Dad: Heath, 23 and me, 22

Uncle Steven and Kimmie: Nathaniel, 20 months

Uncle Dennis and Aunt Lisa (separated): Austin, 15 and Ethan, 13

Uncle Pete and Sarah: Keegan, 5

Uncle Tommy: Mikey and his daughter

Uncle Keith

Uncle Timmy, 25

Together, we have a fun, loud time eating, cleaning up, playing games (playing 'spoons' with my uncles is the BEST!!), talking (there are a few animated story-tellers in our family - though, Uncle Mike was by far the best; he died eight years ago.) If there's snow, we go sledding - that hasn't happened in recent years. Uncle Dennis documents our "I'm thankful for's" on video adding his own commentary. This year, though, Uncle Steven is coming up from Georgia, so he may take over that role. Uncle Steven looks like Tom Cruise (at least he did in younger years. haha. sorry :) ) and acts like Jim Carrey. He's naturally one center of attention. And now he and Kimmie have a little boy! Nathaniel is almost two, and so cute. Kimmie is Lao, Uncle Steven caucasion, and Nathaniel an adorable combination.

My little cousins are always fun - they're not so little anymore. Well, Christian is still little. He's six, I think. Maybe seven? yikes. He adds more ethnicity to our family - he's half Jamaican. I love my cousins so much - it's really neat, watching them grow into people.

Anyway, I look forward to the holidays because lately we don't see each other enough. Everyone has sort of moved away a bit and is doing their own thing. Shaun and Laura are looking to move back to NH soon to start a family (right now they live on Long Island) - that will be so much fun. Babies!! :)

I love my family - we've been through a lot together. As of now, none of them are saved except my parents. Caryn's husband Matt's family are born again, but he isn't walking with the Lord at the moment. We've had some good conversations. Maybe my dad will thank God for our meal this year - I've been saying the prayer the past couple years, and I've always felt a bit odd (it just seems like the place of the man of the house.) As so often is the case: we shall see.

There's much to be thankful for everyday.