thanksgiving

happy belated thanksgiving!i have sat down several times to make this post, but i have been away from my own computer (and i couldn't figure out the mac..), so now that i'm back on a pc, here we go~first, i hope that you enjoyed your thanksgiving, and more than turkey or pie, i hope that you were able to enjoy those you were around, and be able to seriously count your blessings. i know that i am blessed in so many ways by the Lord, and thanksgiving reinforces that even more. ray and i traveled up to salina, ks to enjoy thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. i documented quite a bit of it with pics, so i'll tell you as i go :c) my day started with a walk on a beautiful kansas morning, with my best four-legged friend

the amazing light beckoned me to get my camera and capture it's beauty, and i gladly obliged

i let the sun show off a little bit

ahh, God's glory..

playin' peek-a-boo with the sun (and a little camera tilt for my friend cheryl :c)

i can't tell you how much i love nature, God is truly an artist

some depth of field for a field (cheesy, i know)

this screams kansas to me

thanks to the shiracks for being such fantastic hosts!

here's how the men spent their time (there's a tv with football playing on the patio)

and here's how the women spent theirs

and here's baby carter, who's not much of a baby anymore!

mmmmm... my favorite rolls, homemade by aunt lisa

our spread, with grandpa at the table ready to eat!

here's the family that i am so thankful for

a beautiful sunset to go with the football game

we spent the night playing a ferocious game of mexican train dominos. here's my grandma.

my aunt lez, who most likely just tried to go out of turn again

my uncle mark, who just won big

me and my mom, just being lovely

my grandpa trying to figure the game out

it was not a quiet game..

my stepdad, finally down to his last tile

and this, my friends, is my last hand. the hand that made me lose. see all those dots, yeah, those aren't good..

the final scores, with mark squeaking by me for the win :c(

i love my family, and have thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with them this weekend. after kansas, we headed down to tulsa to spend time with ray's mom and sister, where we still are now.

this is the best part of the holidays :c)