Single Digits!!!!

Wow, we are into single digits, 9 days until our plane leaves, I'm feeling fluttery in my tummy.

I did do a little packing yesterday and have given up on taking two small suitcases. It was completely stressing me out trying to get it all in and I have officially given up. We have two smaller ones that we would take as a carry-on on domestic flights and then slightly larger one. It is my hope that I discover I have too much stuff and am able to send the two smaller ones home with Brian when he returns and keep the larger one for myself and the babies.....not sure on that though. We'll just have to wait and see.

We get to see TONS of family today, including TWO Thanksgiving meals...and I confess, I do not like turkey. I'll eat a turkey sandwich, you know the lunch meat that is soaked in sodium solutions so that it is nice and juicy, but I am the type that eats a steak med-med/rare and the thought of dried up striny turkey is not appealing. I will eat a piece of dark meat for the festivities and then move on to all the GLORIOUSE cranberry relish, sweet potatoes, corn, grean beans, cranberry relish, rolls, pies, salads, did I mention the cranberry relish??? AND at my mom and dad's we always have prime rib, Mmmmmm.... They own a restaurant and for as many years as I can remember one of the local factories hires them to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the ENTIRE plant. We are talking 8 of the biggest birds you can buy. We all pitch in and by the end of the day on tuesday you are so sick of picking turkey and all it's amazing. So she saves a small pan of it and we all oogle over the roast thawing in the cooler. YUM! Anyone else have something besides turkey?

Perhaps the best part of Thanksgiving is the afore mentioned family. Brian's brother and his family will be in town, though the other two won't make it this year. The cousins love getting together to play and it is always nice to catch up on what's going on in everyones lives. At my parent's there will be my sisters, my dad's mom, his two sisters and their families (including little baby cousin who is about the same size as our Chloe and Aubrey) and you never know who might pop in....some of the long-time employees of the restaurant, some of my moms family including her parents, and even sometimes a few loyal customers. We have so much fun. We do our meal at the restaurant where there is a nice BIG kitchen and we decorate for Christmas while we are at it. I will try to remember to take my camera and post some pics. We all work at decorating while mom and my sister cook (I kind of float, I like to do both!) It is an unusual tradition, but it is all ours and we keep coming back every year.

My Thankfulness Post for today:
Today I am thankful for family. There are many types of family starting with my own little unit...husband and four daughters. Simply put they are everything to me and I don't know that words can express any more than that. Then there is the family I will see today, our extended family. There is our church family for which I am thankful and friends. We have so many friends and there are a few that I count just as dear as family to me. There is my on-line family, that is you, the ones who read this and celebrate when I celebrate and encourage when I am down. Though I may never meet many of you, know that I am thankfull for you!
Family is something I can not imagine life without, my life is full of family and I really wish the words were coming better to me, but it is mainly feeling...love, adoration, respect, sentiment, joy, and simple awe.

Jenn, who will not be eating more than one bite of turkey today.