Much to be thankful for

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year. God has blessed us greatly and we try and remember that every day, but it's nice to have a day that we get to share how we feel about what He has done in our lives with our friends and family. My family were (almost) all at the UT game in Austin or watching kiddos for those who were, so it was just us, Stacy's family and our friends from Mongolia. They don't have turkey in Mongolia so Suren and Julie were very curious about it. Curious enough to get up at 6am to help me prepare the stuffing and the bird. Their favorite part was stuffing the bird....lots of giggling. Nomio is doing great so that was the biggest gift this season...her restored health after her heart surgery.

That is one good looking bird if I do say so myself.

Everyone except Toby the photographer

There have been so many special moments in this hosting experience. Here are a few:

• The first time Nomio took Goldfish crackers from me 3 days after they arrived.
• The unbelievable hug from Suren after she saw Nomio being wheeled from the operating room to the PICU. She is such a strong, quiet woman and she just let all her worries go in that hug and the tears shed with it. We both did.
• Nomio's banana cheeks in the hospital.
• Nomio giving me a kiss on the cheek after "shopping" on the dining room table.
• Having Suren ask that she and Nomio be baptized.
• Sitting by the outdoor fireplace singing Amazing Grace with Julie.
• The tea parties.
• Wednesday before Thanksgiving after church when I took Nomio's hand and she walked with me all the way to the car. This was special not only because she held my hand and didn't look for Suren the whole time, but I had never seen her walk that far without being carried.
• Decorating the Christmas tree (which happened tonight....not before Thanksgiving, but I'm just posting now so I'll include it. It's my blog.) Usually I end up decorating the tree alone, but this year Hannah helped and so did Suren, Julie and Nomio.....especially Suren and Nomio. I usually give up before all the ornaments are on the tree (I have A LOT of ornaments), but they got every one of them on there. It's absolutely beautiful.