But THANKS be to God! - 1 Cor. 15:57

I can't believe that it's the end of November already! This year has flown by! And what a wonderful year it has been. We have so much, as a family, to be grateful for:

1. Chris condo finally is rented out- yay!

2. Colin is thriving in his school and since he has been in the 2 year room (a debated topic because of his smaller size), his language has really taken off.

3. (Amanda) making it through yet another down-sizing and both of us being blessed with successful careers in a really tough economy.

4. Potty-training going SO well so far! We hope to have him completely diaper-free during the day before Christmas. He has shown such independence in this process, it's been a really sweet time.

5. A beautiful beginning to a wonderful marriage:

6. An awesome church - 7 Hills Church - that is growing by leaps and bounds and is taking us along for the journey!

7. And last but not least, wonderful family and friends! We were so blessed to have some many of our loved ones make the trip to Columbus for our wedding. We love you all!

Now, on to the festivities. 

In the morning, I could tell that Colin was going a little stir-crazy so I opened up his finger-paints (a birthday gift from Caitlin) and his adorable art smock:



It takes a very long time for little fingers to cover up such a big piece of paper! But we had fun. We stayed in Kentucky this year and hosted dinner for my parents and brother. It was my first attempt at preparing the entire meal- but I was very pleased with the results! Everyone hung out and watched some football while the turkey was in the oven:

The results:

My first homemade rolls (pre-baking in this picture). May be my favorite part of the meal!

Dad doing the dirty work. I don't do bones. Yuck! Not the turkey, just the bones.

It was a quiet, restful day! Very much needed. We plan to enjoy these next few days before we head into the holiday season. Hope everyone was able to rest and take a moment to count their blessings- and to savor the memories! God is good.