So Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers.
I hope this Thanksgiving finds you all with grateful hearts.
We have so much to be thankful for this year.
The biggest thing we are thankful is the love of a kind and loving Father, who cares about even the smallest details of our lives.
We are also thankful this year, for our newest addition. How different this Thanksgiving could have been, had things not gone well. So many parents are going through the motions this year, as they try to cope with life without their children. Children who were taken far too soon by CHDs. My heart hurts for them, and even though I have so much to be thankful for, I can't help but feel sadness for all of them. I cannot imagine how they must feel tonight.
All of the children are thriving and happy, for that, I am thankful.
We have arrived in Ohio, and are in our temporary lodging. We will be here through the holidays.
It is comfortable here, with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Best of all, it's warm. We've quickly learned it is quite cold in Ohio.
We've tried to make it homey here and have put up some Christmas lights for the kids, outside. We are the only people here who have lights, but that's OK.


After looking at loads of houses, and praying a lot, we put an offer in on a house we loved. After negotiating all day, we have come to an agreement, and we will be closing on December 23. We are so excited to be homeowners! And yet, it is a bit scary! If something goes wrong, it's our responsibility! YIKES!! We love the house though, and could see our family there. It was the biggest house we looked at, and the least expensive! Can't beat that.
Here are a couple pics from the realty site.





I'm baking pumpkin pies, and Matt will be making a cheesecake. We've boiled the eggs. Tomorrow, we'll celebrate all we are thankful for, and know that all our blessings come directly from our Lord.
May you be richly blessed this Thanksgiving.

MIA

I know, I know..I left you hanging on the cruise entries. But see, something is happening. Something major.
We are moving.
What's that you say? You already knew we are moving? Oh. Well then, let me just say..it's happening NOW!!
We've been planning this move for well over a year and it is impossible to believe the time is now!
Our house is all packed up. Tomorrow the movers come and load up our furniture, and we leave on Monday.
It's all so bittersweet. I'm excited for a new adventure, and at the same time so very sad to be leaving our friends behind.
All of this to say...I can't do the rest of the cruise entries right now, because the computer is packed up, with the pictures! So, when we get there, and get the computer set up, I'll get back on it!
For now, try not to miss me too much!
Oh, and just because y'all need to know...Nannie has started taking several steps. She'll be a flow blown walker before long!

Day Five ~ Dinner with the Captain

On day five, Matt and I woke up wondering why it felt like we were still moving. We looked out the window and didn't see an island. We were scheduled to arrive at Grand Cayman early in the morning, but we didn't see it. We thought maybe it was on the other side of the ship. It was hard to tell what was going on, because the water was pretty choppy. We finally turned on the TV and saw that we were, indeed, still moving. Apparently, the weather was too bad for the ship to dock.
This was a huge bummer because we had been scheduled to do a pirate ship excursion. The kids were really looking forward to it.
Instead, we ate. HA! No, actually, the pics from the first entry that didn't fit anywhere, most of those came from day five. We spent lots of time at the arcade, and the kids went and did their programs.
Later, we did a scavenger hunt, which we did not win! BOO!!
We also found a karaoke booth. This booth was so cool, and tucked away in a corner, so it was deserted. We spent hours just singing our hearts out together. It was so great.
Then the time came to get ready for dinner. I have to say, the idea of having a formal dinner with the captain unnerved me. We had bought the kids all matching Jamaican shirts, it was the best we could do.
We met with Brett at a bar before dinner for drinks. The kids were excited because they were told it was all on the captain, so they got to have virgin daiquiris.
It was then time to head to the dining room.
The captain's table was right in the middle of the room, and it felt like we were on display. Especially, when the captain made his grand entrance...all eyes were on him..then us. EEK!!


Thankfully, as I mentioned before, he is amazing. It wasn't long before we were totally at ease.
Dinner was great, and afterwards we headed to our room to digest our food.
After awhile it was time to head to the flowrider.
This was an amazing pool with water shooting 35 mph to create a wave affect in which people could surf. They closed it for an hour for us, which was just one more amazing thing they did for us!
There were height restrictions and we had measured Zachy previously. He was tall enough..or so we thought. We didn't take into account that he had his shoes on!!
He didn't clear the restriction and he wouldn't be able to participate. Talk about breaking his heart.
The three eldest, Matt, and myself all tried out the boogie boards. The boys all took to it very quickly.








Let me just tell you..it was hard. One time was enough for me.
Zachy sat and was so, so sad. It killed me.


He decided to ask if he could at least stand in the water..and then, the most amazing thing happened.
Sam, the guy in charge, took Zachy to the bottom of the hill, sat him on his lap, and shot up the hill with him.

Zachy was THRILLED.


I cannot tell you what that moment meant to me. They did this just to make one little boy happy. Sam and Brett did it over and over, just to see him smile. Amazing.
The big boys all did some cool tricks and all tried standing up, but preferred the boogie boards.


After we were done with the flowrider, we had a little girl to take care of. She ran around the whole time while the boys played, and we took her swimming afterwards.


We then headed to our room and were greeted by elephants.


And off to bed we went.