we spent thanksgiving with my sisters family and her inlaws. they live in olympia too. it took dahlia a little while to warm up to everyone she didnt know, but she had fun. the kids all played while we waited for dinner to be ready and it was fun to watch them together. when dinner came.... neither valen or dahlia were adventurous and wanted to try anything. dahlia ate a fair share of the turkey though and one roll. she wouldnt touch anything else! and valen was chowing on rolls and milk.... maybe next year they will appreciate mashed potatoes and gravy like a true american! (=

i didnt get any pictures of us all at the table. i wished i would have. jasons parents are so friendly and made us feel right at home. and their daughter rebekah too! 

this is my sister and i, do you think we look alike? i just dont see it!

later that night justin and i were talking about how thankful we are with our life. just looking back since we first got married and were making 600 bucks a month and then got pregnant and i couldnt work. then moving into a house we really couldnt afford, but believing that justin would be getting a better job soon.... and he did! and i could go on... but just how we have always had just what we needed. never more than that. and that is how we like it. we dont scrape by, but we dont make loads of cash to waste on "things". we are also so very thankful for our amazing children who bring us so much joy and laughter. some days in the past we have thought, "oh if we didnt have kids we could do this or that" but truth is we wouldnt trade them for a million days without them! it is truly remarkable how they change our life! we are also thankful for our marriage and how it has gotten stronger over the years. things just keep getting better and we are more in love than ever. which brings me to another wonderful thought... we just found this beautiful bed and breakfast not too far from here on the water, that we are hoping to stay in next weekend for our anniversary! 4 years! seems like we have been together so much longer that that. but i think it is because we have done so much in those few years.... lived in four different houses so far and had a couple kids....

anyways, life is beautiful and we are thankful for so much!