November 28, 2019 Thanksgiving.

Gratitude............
Today I am thankful for family,
leftovers,
and stretch pants.
As I begin writing, I'm thinking.......
"Maybe the only thing we really need is more gratitude."
Cherished memories were once again made this past Thanksgiving 2019.

Thank you to the youngest member for setting our Thanksgiving table! Didn't he do a wonderful job!

(Many photos in this blog were taken by family members. Thanks to all of you!)

Phew......... what a load of food.
The fun, fellowship and festivities were the BEST.
Ahhhh... that word Gratitude......... it keeps creeping into my subconscious.
Truth be-known, gratitude should be something we express EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.... not just Thanksgiving Day. (I'm grateful that my adult children are awesome cooks.)
Because December is such an overload month of activities, we incorporated those "December Birthdays" into our Thanksgiving celebration... Receiving THAT CARD has been a family tradition for MANY years. (Hard to believe child #1 will soon be 45 😀😀😀)

THE CARD hold special memories for our family!
Several years ago, I blogged about it's history. Read about it here →→→PLEASE PASS THE CARD. ( also included in this 2015 writing, is another blog written by Lauren in 2009!.... 3 yrs after the tradition began).
We missed several celebrations in early November........ so we made up for that! (hard to believe this precious boy has turned 10!)

It melts my heart to see my grown children together in one place, enjoying each other's company.

Gratitude,
Gratitude,
Gratitude.
Regretfully, several in our tribe were not available for the Thanksgiving festivities..... but we felt their presence, and look forward to being with them soooooooooon! 👇👇👇

And several in our tribe will not be returning to Roanoke for Christmas..... thus the early decorating!
It's always fun to watch the younger grands get in the spirit of HO HO HO...

What is it about red hats and colored lights? It seems to do the trick!

(Playing Christmas music on Spotify helped with the ambiance!)

Lunch/Early Dinner was a success. ( I guess we could call it LINCH or DUNCH 😀)
For the 3 youngest members of the family, the night was just beginning...........
As promised, the first of many sleepovers was about to begin.
To kick off the night's activities, the Christmas bake-off was getting prepped while the 3 younguns' looked at books.

Bam 🔥🔥🔥🔥.........
(thank you Sarah, for your supervision and expertise. My kitchen will never be the same)
C  O  O  K  I  E  S     H  E  R  E    W  E    C  O  M  E   😀😀😀

 While the cookies were baking, baths and pjs were next on the agenda.
Again, my right hand assistant, Sarah, was instrumental in seeing that this event was successful!

GRATITUDE............
It requires humility.
It opens the door to contentment.
"MAYBE THE ONLY THING WE REALLY NEED IS MORE GRATITUDE."
Happy Thanksgiving 2019

November 23, 2019 Star City Half Marathon &10K

A taste and tour of Roanoke.
..... and the rain held off until the last runner finished!
The Star City Half Marathon and 10K began this morning at 8:15AM
The O. WINSTON LINK MUSEUM was the perfect spot to begin and finish the race.
Listed in this link →→Star City Half Marathon 7 10K are the gracious sponsors.
Kudos to all of those who participated.
And KUDOS to all of those who FINISHED!
There are no losers, there are only those who never try😍
Neighbors, relatives, friends, friends of friends.......... the smiles and laughter of finishing another race. 😀😀😀

Did I say that I adore these four peeps? ↓↓↓

I DID say that there were no losers, right?
These people have so much fun training, the race day is just a way of saying......
"I'm doing this for me. I'm doing this because I get to!"

Being a spectator with my iphone , made me realize how grateful I am to live in a city that supports the outdoor activities.

I love the NOKE.

Thanks again to the runners, the sponsors, and the cheer leaders.
#jobwelldone