We're thankful for . . .

Today we are especially thankful for Carrie! Today is her birthday and we are glad that we have had another year with her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARRIE! We all love you.

Cousins

There are five children five-years-old and younger here at the Gammons' house. It's a lot of fun, but if you're not used to it, it's a lot. We have had a lot of fun hanging out with the Falder clan. Matthew and Davy are fast friends. Mom bought all of the kids matching camo pj's. Tomorrow is our attempt at a brined turkey. More to come on that. Sharon is down stairs right now yelling at me about getting the salt dissolved in the water.

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Now playing: Neil Young - Long May You Run
via FoxyTunes

What a view!

As I have written, my mom's house has a beautiful view. She has talked about selling this place. I think the view and not coming back to Alpena would be the things that I would miss most.

Coming home

There are great things about coming home. It always helps me remember good things about home and how it has impacted me. The popcorn bowl above is the one that we used growing up. We had an old black pressure cooker pan that my dad would use to make popcorn on the stove. If it was a very special night, he would bring home an eight pack of Pepsi bottles. Tonight we popped popcorn on the stove and had our usual Sunday night family meeting, big yellow bowl and all.

Alpena

We left White Bear Lake yesterday at 2:00 PM. Our plan was to stop in Escanaba, Michigan to sleep. When we got to Escanaba it was 9:00 and all of the kids were asleep. It didn't make much sense to stop and wake all of the kids to go into the hotel, so we pressed on. As we were getting close to the Mackinaw Bridge I said to Amanda that the boys would be really upset if they missed the bridge. When we were about half way over the bridge Ben woke up and we heard Matthew say, "Bridge!" We arrived in Alpena at 2:00 AM.

This morning we woke up, had a cup of coffee and went outside. I love being outside in Alpena. It was a beautiful morning with low hanging snow clouds. The boys and I made a huge fire on the beach and walked by the water. Tricia, Alex and Davy come on Tuesday and we are looking forward to having them. More from Alpena to come later this week.

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Now playing: Agapeland - Smile
via FoxyTunes

What are you thankful for?

I was reading the DG blog this morning and Noel Piper (Pastor John's wife) wrote a great post about Thanksgiving. The best part about it for me was the following.

"If we want to give thanks, we need only two things. Something we’re thankful for and somebody to thank. Seems so obvious, but I think I need to say it because it’s amazing how many people can say, “I’m thankful for _____ ,” without admitting that God is there to hear their thanks."

We have been doing our "I'm thankful for . . ." banner after dinner each night this week. I need to remind the boys to whom we are thankful. What are you thankful for this year? Post them in the comments. Here are some things that have ended up on our banner.

Molly (almost every night from someone)
Food
Lego
Star Wars figures
Redemption
Family
Poor people (I think Ben meant that we should pray for poor people.)
My kids
Amanda
Jesus (Caleb knows we like this answer. He's a second child parent pleaser. I think he is thankful for Jesus though too.)

A few new videos

I have posted a few new videos to my Youtube channel. Nothing too exciting, but you might want to check it out.

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Now playing: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Raise Your Hand
via FoxyTunes