Priceless!

Ahhh, Thanksgiving is now a thing of the past. I feel many pounds heavier, but thoroughly enjoyed all of the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, Oreo balls, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie squares, and pumpkin cheesecake. (Can you tell I like pumpkin?) The priceless moment doesn't come from sitting around the dinner table eating though. It comes from a simple game of football. The team consisted of my two boys, my two nephews and two nieces. Six cousins that don't get to see each other nearly enough, running around in sub-freezing temperatures, getting grass stained clothes, playing football with a basketball. Priceless!

I can't help but mention my little 2 1/2 year old nephew, who is the cutest thing you've ever seen, playing football with my youngest son. They also didn't even have a football, but that didn't stop my nephew. He got down in his linebacker stance, and tackled anything standing in his way. I think he could have played this game for hours, if he found a willing body to tackle. It's just a shame he's been taught to be a Bears fan. Instead of rooting for Brian Urlacher or Devin Hester, he should be cheering on Dwight Freeney or Bob Sanders. Oh well!

Happy Turkey Day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all! I know the boys are looking forward to a few more days off of school, and Dan and I are anticipating several extra days off work. The weather sure doesn't feel like the middle of November, though. We are planning a trip back to Valparaiso to visit both sides of the family and eat way too much food. My sister in law has planned a trip to the circus, so I will enjoy that with her, my mom and two nieces. (Some much needed girl bonding time, since I don't get much of that around my house.) I'm sure part of the family will be spending a fair amount of time in the woods hunting. In the midst of all of those things, there is a blanket of thankfulness in the air. Despite many ups and downs, gains and losses, highs and lows, we have much to be thankful for. From the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:15, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

Spine tingler!

I just had to share this story with you. We live in a county with lots of steep hills, sharp turns, and narrow roads. Unfortunately, each year several students are killed from the high school due to car accidents. It's so sad that it is a common occurrence. Fortunately, this story does have a happy ending. Two kids from our youth group, a young man and his sister were driving to school one morning. He went off the road, tried to correct the problem and ended up rolling the truck many times. She had her seat belt on, but he did not. As I understand, when people arrived on the scene they said they couldn't imagine anyone in the passenger seat surviving the crash, because the truck was crushed so badly. Not only did both of them survive, but they had no speakable injuries. The dash board of the truck was only inches away from the young ladies chest, but she walked away unharmed. The young man did not have his seat belt on, but says he felt someone holding him to the seat! While all of this is happening, the young girl remembers looking over to her brother, and him saying it will be o.k.

When a friend was recounting the story, it was one of those spine tingling moments. I would have to question anyone who says that miracles don't happen today! This family has been through some very difficult times in the last several years, and these are super nice kids who just got a second chance at life. Interestingly enough, the young lady went forward last Sunday, before the accident, and was baptized this Sunday, two days after the accident.

Fairy Tale endings?

I detest movies that have bad endings!!!!! I rented (via Netflix) Premonition, a new Sandra Bullock movie. I thought it was a fine movie, until the ending. I was just devastated. I was sobbing on my couch, alone at 11:00 p.m. at night.

Most of you know, I'm not what you might call a "girly girl." You won't find me shopping too much, I've never had my nails done, I don't like wearing dresses, I hate talking on the phone, and I generally do nothing to my hair each morning. BUT... I do occasionally like a good chick flick. Why can't they make them all with fairy tale endings? The girl falls in love with the man of her dreams and they live happily ever after! Not, she realizes she's made some mistakes, tries to fix them, and then her husband dies anyway. Come on!

So what do you think? Might life be too predictable/boring if everything had a fairy tale ending? Can you think of any other movies you've watched that had terrible endings? Let me know.

P.S. Juli, I'm still waiting to hear how the barn dance went! Pictures?