So much to be thankful for!

 Of course, I have to start with the most recent (and best) news...we have a new grandbaby! Kacey Reagan was born this morning at 2:00, weighing in at 7 pounds 4 ounces and a beautiful head of dark hair. Momma and baby are both doing well, after 2 weeks of fits and starts. She is the best birthday present her momma could ever ask for! And what a wonderful way to end Thanksgiving weekend!

Archer meeting his new sister 😍

Speaking of Thanksgiving, this was the first time in 3 years that our whole family (except Matt's 2 oldest) was able to come together for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I loved it! Since Leanne was in town awaiting the birth of Kacey, she and Joe joined us. Lots of food, lots of laughs and fun with all of the kiddos! I really enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with little Rosie. She is such a sweetheart! She shared her love and sweetness with everyone without prejudice. 

I had bought a new game awhile back, hoping to get everyone to play while we were together. Shepherd found it and asked everyone to participate. Not everyone played, but we all enjoyed the antics of those who did. The purpose of the game was to NOT laugh while someone acted out a certain ridiculous scenario. My 2 boys were particularly skilled at getting laughs from the crowd. Matt and Shepherd were both good at maintaining their composure. Sheila and I were totally hopeless! Just knowing that I wasn't supposed to laugh was enough to do me in! Good times!

The day after Thanksgiving, we celebrated Archer's 2nd birthday. He got some great stuff and really enjoyed the day. Even though the cake that I made for the party wasn't one of my best attempts (I struggled making anything turn out right last week!), he still enjoyed it. 

Dennis killed a nice 10 point early in the month. After we butchered it, he was nice enough to hold off hunting anymore until after Thanksgiving. Our spare refrigerator is used for both aging deer AND holding overflow during family gatherings...can't do both at once though! He left this afternoon to go on a state park hunt that he was drawn for. He'll be gone until Friday and could possibly bag 2-3 deer. He has already promised anything he kills to others, since it will be extra (outside his tag limit). He has another state park hunt next week. Plus he still has 4 tags left on his license. Hopefully we will have our freezers full, plus fill the kids' freezers by the end of the season.

I've just been working on small projects this month. I made 3 bowl cozies that work great for heating up soup and leftovers in the microwave. I also made a rag pumpkin for Nam (at his request) and 4 crocheted pumpkins. I still have the scarf that I'm knitting...haven't really had much time for working on it lately with everything else going on. I hope to finish it up in the next week or two. 

In 11 days, I'm planning to take my girls to watch The Nutcracker at Bass Hall. Diane will be filling in for Amber, since Kacey came early. I can't wait to watch Gracie! She loves the music from The Nutcracker and already has her ensemble picked out for the event. 

This week, since Dennis is out of town, I'm hoping to just rest and recuperate. Several of us developed colds after the long weekend. I've been sneezing and blowing my nose for 2 days. I don't want to take a chance on sharing it with the new baby, so other than going to "meet" her this morning, I'm going to keep my distance until my symptoms clear up some. Archer is another one who came down with this bug, but so far, he just has a snotty nose. He coughed one time when he first woke up this morning. Hopefully he won't develop the cough that he usually does when he gets a cold. 

I hope the rest of you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as I did. Always remember to find something to be thankful for and not take our abundant blessings for granted!

Ps 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (NKJV)

Time for Fun!

 Dare I say it? Our house is finished (for the most part). There is still a little trim work to finish up and the sliding barn door to do, but for all practical purposes, we are DONE! It feels so good! We are loving our new carpet. The odor was very strong at first (gave me bad vertigo), but the weather was so nice, we just opened the windows for a few days to let it air out. It has been fun watching Archer on it! He'll throw himself down on it and just roll around. Haha! Here are a few pictures of the finished product:

master bedroom

living and dining room

other end of living room

As most of you know, Frieda went into the hospital on the 12th with an intestinal blockage...her second one in 4 months. She ended up having to have surgery on the 18th. She is still struggling a lot in her recovery. The last report I read showed her making some significant progress. Hopefully she has finally turned a corner in her recovery. It has been a long hard road! Please continue to keep her and her family in your prayers!

As far as my crafting goes, I finished my winter rag quilt. I have it stored away until after Thanksgiving (still using my fall quilt until then). I only have one more rag quilt left on my "to-do" list...my warm weather one. I'll probably put it off until January. This one makes me 11 for the year. I sure am enjoying making them!

I also made a "chenille" pillow cover. It didn't turn out like I had hoped, but maybe it will continue to fray as it "ages". It is supposed to look like chenille, but it doesn't. Oh well, it was fun to try!

I have started doing on online knitting course, through Craftsy, and am learning a lot! Before I had taught myself using the book "Knitting for Dummies". The best that I could manage was knitted dishrags, though. I LOVE knitted dishrags, but I also thought it would be nice to be able to make more than that. So far, in my course, I've made some fingerless mittens and a waffle stitch cowl. I'm really enjoying it and learning a lot more about the process. I'm hoping my skills improve to the point that I can make a large project. Right now, I'm working on a scarf to match my mittens...just kinda "winging" it. I think my next class project will be a cap.

cowl

fingerless mittens

We hosted our 5th Sunday potluck this past Sunday. I had some hunks of meat that I usually use for making jerky that I needed to use up, so I ground them into hamburger and made up a big batch of chili. Everyone else brought "fixins" to go with it. We had a small group, but we really enjoyed the day. Between Andy and Sherry and Thiess and Gina, there were many interesting and lively stories told!

The next morning we got up and packed and headed north to Hochatown, OK. The weather has been quite chilly, which we are really enjoying! Tuesday morning we drove the Talimena Scenic Byway. It was a beautiful drive. The colors weren't "prime", but they were nice...much more color than we've been seeing at home (which is pretty much nil). We had lunch at Little Italy in Mena, AR. It was really good, and we had plenty of leftovers to bring back for another meal or two. Then last night we drove into Beaver's Bend State Park to look for deer. We weren't disappointed! We did a quick drive through, then went back this morning to go through the museum and drive around some more. We went down to Broken Bow for lunch and did a little shopping. Among some other things, I found and bought my new favorite coffee mug! 

pond where we are staying

one of the deer we saw at Beaver's Bend

cypress trees along the river

small cascade in BBSP

our cabin

Beaver's Bend Lake

We plan to pack up and leave in the morning. It has been a fun and relaxing trip, but as usual, we are missing home...especially now that we have it fixed the way we want it! We have the Highway Meeting and a baby shower for Kacey to attend this weekend, too. It's amazing how busy we stay for a couple of old retired folks!

Enjoy this wonderful fall weather and the everyday joys that come your way!

Ps 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: (NKJV)