Thanksgiving on the farm

We spent Thanksgiving day at Belluz farm, enjoying the beautiful warmth of an October afternoon...

jumping and playing together in the sand...

running through an enormous maze of corn where the kids got to choose which way to go...

even when they got too tired to walk...

We took a ride up to "Straw Henge" overlooking the majestic beauty of the forests, fields and mountains...

Abby and Dad had a brief game of tag before we headed back...

for some cuddles with adorable sleepy puppies.

It was a beautiful day of memories and thankfulness...

Thankfulness

When I started reading Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts", I started keeping a list of the different things in my life for which I was thankful. One of the lessons I learned was the need to be thankful always, for the painful and difficult things as well as the beautiful ones.

I'm taking today to reflect back on the past few months.... of the many many things for which I am thankful.  And I'll finally share a few pictures from the summer...

I'm thankful for Abby's friends (and her friends' moms!).  We had a weekend mother-daughter campout with 5 other mother-daughter pairs in July and then sleepover this past weekend. 

I'm thankful for Jon's brother, Paul and the brief visit we had with him in Ottawa when we drove through this summer.  Jude LOVED Uncle Paul who came bearing part of Jon's childhood Transformer collection AND rode a motorcycle.  Uncle Paul is definitely very cool :)

I'm thankful for the picnic breakfast we had at CHEO (the hospital where Jonah lived the last few weeks of his life).

I'm thankful for Nana & Papa and the beauty of the country... for the abundance of vegetables and for the 82-year old hands that cultivated the soil, planted the seeds and lovingly cared for the plants all summer.

I'm thankful that our kids could enjoy the garden and the little bean shelter planted just for them.

Jordy was particularly fond of picking and eating the carrots that Papa would clean off for him with his shirt :)

I'm thankful for the cottage and these 2 little brothers whose relationship grows closer each day.

I'm thankful even for Shasta, our very energetic, handful of a dog!  Abs had a great time swimming with her at the cottage and Jude had fun throwing sticks for her.

I'm thankful for my sisters and the projects they plan for the kids when we visit.  One of the projects this summer was making plaster hand prints for the cottage, decorated with beach glass.

I'm thankful for dad blowing bubbles for the kids and my mum playing lego with them.

I'm thankful for family fishing trips.

I'm thankful for my family (and s'mores!!)

I'm thankful that we could go to Kings Landing this summer with my parents and for the stories that they both shared with the kids about growing up in a different time.

I'm thankful for our kids... growing up and doing so many new, amazing things... stretching themselves past their fears.  Abby learned to not only put her face in the water, but actually swim under water!  Jude mastered the "bob"!

I'm thankful for Abby's excitment over her very first lemonade stand (at our summer yard sale)

I'm thankful for the two weekends could spend camping this summer, just our little family.

I'm thankful for the way that Jordy always tries to find flowers to give to me, even when there are very few to be found.

I'm thankful for the beauty of Creation and for the ruggedly beautiful country in which we live.

I'm thankful for the property that we just purchased to build a house for Jon's mom with lots of room for the kids to explore!  I'm thankful that Lin will move 2500 kms to be closer to us... as soon as she sells her house :)

I'm thankful for my amazing, handsome husband. 

I'm thankful for this life that God's given me...

Our little hockey player...

We asked Jude (in August) if he wanted to play hockey. Some of his school friends play, so we thought we'd ask to see if it was something he'd like to try....

... he responded, "I'll think about it".  It was his response through August and into September.  As deadlines approached and passed, he finally decided that he didn't want to play this year.  Then last week, the day after the final deadline, he changed his mind.

So, Jude is now playing hockey once a week with a great, family-friendly league (who were fine with our late registration)  :)  His first day was Saturday. Jude loves his equipment and being on the ice.  Getting used to the ice will take some time, but I expect we'll see a big difference in his skating by Christmas.

Jordy and Abs love the zamboni!  To Abby's delight, she found a friend from her class at the rink who is also there watching a younger brother.  Jordy's already talking about playing hockey next year :)