Monday, November 29, 2010

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving. We had a nice, relaxing time. We decided, after a lot of discussion, to just stay at home this year. We’re taking a big trip at Christmas with the Murray clan, so we figured we needed to spend at least one holiday at home just relaxing.

We woke up Thanksgiving morning and watched the parade. It was so fun to watch it with Ella! Last year she tried to sing along with all of the people. This year she just watched the dancers and singers, and anticipated every float that came on the screen. With each float she would yell (and I mean YELL) who it was, then say hello to them over and over again until the next thing came on the screen. So it went something like this, “DORA!!! HI DORA! HI DORA! HI DORA! HI BOOTS! MOMMY, it’s Dora and Boots! HI DORA! HI BOOTS! See ya later Dora! See ya later Boots!” Needless to say, it was hysterical! Joe and I had to much fun watching Ella watch the parade.

We didn’t leave the house until 3:30 when we headed to our friends house for Thanksgiving dinner. Our good friends, the Grubbs, invited us to crash Christy’s Thanksgiving with her family. Christy is from a family of 7 kids, so whenever we get together with them Joe feels like he’s back at home. In fact, one time after spending some time with the Boardman family Joe said, “I love the Boardman’s! If I wasn’t a Murray I would want to be a Boardman.” We had a great time hanging out with the entire family and stuffing our faces.

Black Friday I usually dispatch Joe to get up at 4 am and run to Target or Wal-mart to find something we need. 2 years ago it was a GPS. Last year it was a new TV. This year we couldn’t think of anything that we REALLY needed that was going to be on a terrific sale on Friday, so Joe didn’t have to head out. We just slept in. Of course Friday afternoon, after cabin fever started setting in, Joe ran to Wal-mart to get a folding table. Then cabin fever started setting in for me and Ella, so later that night all three of us went back to Wal-mart to get some deals, then we went over to Target to get some more deals (movies for $3.99!). Friday night we had a leftover Thanksgiving meal with our neighbors.

It was the perfect, relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. Since Joe’s office was closed on Wednesday, we had a 5 day vacation as a family. It was a ton of fun just hanging out together and playing.

I realize I stopped all my thankfulnesses on Wednesday, so here’s my things I’m thankful for from Wednesday through today.

Wednesday: I was thankful for days off work that we get to spend as a family. And I know Ella and Joe are thankful for days off too.

Thursday: I was thankful for delicious food and wonderful friends. I already had a post where I was thankful for friends, both old and new, so this will specifically focus on food. I’m not just thankful for food on Thanksgiving, but that the Lord provides for us and we have plenty of food to eat anytime we want it. We have never had to skip a meal because we didn’t have enough money to buy food. I am able to look in our cabinets and ALWAYS find something for us to eat. That is a blessing! I know that not every family has that luxury.

Friday: I was thankful forleftovers! YUMMY!

Saturday: I was thankful for modern medicine. Saturday I was particularly thankful because I felt terrible, and it’s so nice to be able to pop a couple of pills and feel a whole lot better! But on a much deeper level, I’m thankful because Ella has medical items at her disposal that kids with EB didn’t have 15 years ago. And while there isn’t currently a treatment for EB, I believe in my heart that with the advances in modern medicine, someday (soon) there will be something out there that give Ella the ability to live a “mostly” normal life.

Sunday: Along the same lines as modern medicine, yesterday I was thankful for the health insurance we have. We are so fortunate because our health insurance covers much of what Ella needs. There will always be things that insurance doesn’t deem as medically necessary, but we aren’t forced to choose between paying our mortgage or buying Ella’s bandages. Yes, there are families that have to make those tough decisions. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid of how the new health reform law is going to affect us, but today I am thankful that we have most of her supplies covered.

Later today I’ll post what I’m thankful for today.

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