Three Reasons I’m Thankful This Thanksgiving

We have so many reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving. Here are my top three.

1. Family is arriving!  Kids, siblings, parents, cousins, nieces, aunts and uncles! Not all of any of those categories, but a wonderful mix of many we love. One major perk that came with relocating to California is the plethora of family members just a couple hours away. Many in our family came through my dad’s second marriage. Can I just say we are blessed? So many families struggle with accepting newcomers to the family. Our whole gang is a sweet testament to the opposite. What an amazing gift for all of us!

Tommy and I are especially excited for the arrival of our son Patrick and his sweet bride of almost two years, Shandi. They were each other’s first date back in high school, and they never had eyes for another after that. Patrick and Shandi are such a beautiful example of a young, godly couple. They trust in God to help them make wise decisions, they clearly have great respect for each other, they are loving and affectionate, and they have silly fun, too!  Patrick is following in his dad’s footsteps and is a supervisor at JW Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa, while Shandi is a cake decorator extraordinaire. These two were a match made in heaven! We’ve missed them since we left Texas and can’t wait to give them the biggest hugs they’ve had in quite a while.

Patrick and Shandi.

One more FAMILY FACT for which to be grateful is that, at Christmas, we’ll get to see many in our precious family who won’t be here this week. And we can’t wait!

2. I get to cook, decorate and entertain to my heart’s content. I’m a party girl through and through. I LOVE to entertain. Tablescapes, traditions, menus, cooking, planning, making it all pretty with flowers, china and silver… I enjoy all of it. In fact, I have to deliberately hold myself in check when I start to go overboard on the planning. The ideas keep coming into my head, and I eventually have to tell myself no!

Our Thanksgiving table last year.

I think I inherited the entertaining gene from my sweet Mema Weaks. She was the consummate hostess. Mema loved a pretty table and gathering all she loved around it. She pulled out the good china and had the silver polished up before every holiday, and I do the very same. So many gals (understandably so) think it’s too much work to pull out all the fancy stuff. Not so, over here. I can’t wait to get it all out every holiday, just like my dear Mema. What makes it extra special now is that many of her pieces grace my table.

Sweet Mema and Honey.

3. Our new home feels like HOME. A year ago this week as we awaited family and friends to arrive for Thanksgiving, we were busy, busy, busy packing and preparing to move. The week was such fun with those we cherish, but it was bittersweet because we knew we were loading up the truck and our pups to head to California two days after Thanksgiving.

Our last gathering at Casa Tabler with some of our besties a year ago this week.

I remember wondering, “What will NEXT Thanksgiving feel like? Will it even feel like home?” We had so many treasured memories in that house we were soon to leave. It was hard to imagine any other home measuring up. Tommy and I both agree that this DOES feel like home. A very different one than we had in Texas, but a lovely home nonetheless. Our lives look so different here in the desert. In fact, we joke that it feels like we are always on vacation. Never a dull moment here! We miss those we left behind tremendously. No one has taken their places in our hearts… that is for sure! But God called us to the desert. We were obedient and followed, and we are living out His blessings of contentment, joy and peace in our new home.

We love our new little cottage, power lines and all!

For what are you thankful this Thanksgiving? Please share below!

xoxo,

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