Thankful Heart

my amazing husband...three wonderful bonus-kids...stable jobs...reliable vehicles...a safe home...peanut butter & jelly...Ramon noodles (don't ask why, but I am very grateful for noodles!), my health...laughter...family...new friends...Wednesday's...chocolate...wine...car insurance...Jake's...humor...Emma's hugs...Abby's laughter...Nate's kisses...coffee...second chances...a good book...funny movies...internet...cell phones...Red Box...weekly phone calls with my Mom & sister...never having enough and always making it somehow...a husband who knows how to cook :)...a husband who is very patient with me (very, very patient!)...warm, fuzzy socks...sunshine...overdraft protection...Sunday morning breakfast...

...just a few things I am thankful for:)

We hope you are all enjoying your day! We hope it is filled with family, friendship and love...just like ours is :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

The Marshalls

Looking Forward

I love this time of year. Autumn into early winter, Thanksgiving through the New Year is my absolute favorite time of the year. And this week is the beginning of all the fun and excitement! Thanksgiving is right around the corner and this is also the week all of our Christmas preparation will begin. We have Emma, Abby & Nate with us this Wednesday through Sunday and we plan to make the most of our time together. We have so much planned and I can hardly wait for it all!

Some things I am looking forward to this season:

*all five of us spending Thanksgiving together for the first time

*having little helpers in the kitchen to get ready for the big feast on Thursday

*Leftovers!

*digging out my Christmas music and listening to all my favorite holiday songs

*decorating the Christmas tree

*SHOPPING, SHOPPING, SHOPPING!!!

*crowds of shoppers in the stores (yes, I actually do like this!)

*bringing the kids to visit Santa

*baking cookies

*twinkling lights

*singing Christmas carols together

These are just some of my favorite things about the holiday season...there are so many!! What are some of your favorite things about the holidays? Leave a comment and share with us!

Update

I just finished another HUGE update with all our pictures, stories and adventures from our trip to Massachusetts last week.

Make sure to read the newest posts:

Belated Birthday for Two

Grammy Linda's

"Ice Age"

Pajamas

Belated Party for Two

Abigail and Nathan both had their birthdays in October. Last week, we were able to gather with their Marshall/Daly family for a birthday bash in MA All of their cousins were there and they had so much! It's never too late to celebrate!

Can you guess what our theme was? Daddy's girl...
Daddy's boy...

Connor was very interested in the snacks, especially the chips...

The girls played so nicely together...

And the boys...well...they were boys!

Make a wish!

Present time!

And the best present of all? Grammy Crawley!

Grammy Crawley was fashionably late to the party and she was like a celebrity when she came through the doorway. Abby & Nate both stopped unwrapping their gifts, and all the kids jumped up and ran over to welcome Grammy Crawley! It was a heartwarming moment. Everyone loves Grammy:)

We got to meet little Spencer...

A party wouldn't be complete without sweet Beezy!

Abby loves her new cheerleader costume...

Trying out new toys...

And this wasn't the end of our fun day. Nana cooked up a Thanksgiving dinner for us all. It was so nice of her and absolutely delicious. I'm not sure how I missed a picture of our lovely meal:( Thank you, Barbara, for the wonderful meal and for allowing us to invade your home...once again!

Thank you to all the aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who came and made this day so special for Abigail and Nathan.

We love you all!

Grammy Linda's

We had a great night at Grammy Linda's house during our stay in Mass. We had dinner together, which you'll have to ask the kids about. They had a new meal called, Fricot and they all liked it!! Can you even believe it? A new food that all three Marshall kids enjoy? That's a miracle! And if you don't believe me, here is a picture of their smiling faces when they were eating... We had a chance to talk to Auntie Dee all the way in England via Skype. We could see her on the computer while we talked and the girls thought this was pretty cool. I think Abby thought she was a movie star speaking to my sister with a microphone :)

We shared lots of laughs...

And after a great meal and lots of fun, we were all a little wiped out, especially Nathan...

Thanks, Mom, for a great evening!

"Ice Age"

One of mine and Jake's favorite place to visit is Western Massachusetts. We have traveled out there many times, driving along the Mohawk Trail and stopping at little adventures along the way. One neat place we found is in the town of Shelbourne. Here, there are these really cool glacial potholes... The last time Jake and I were here, we were actually able to walk around along the rocks. It was a lot of fun and something we thought the kids would enjoy. So, we told them all about it, packed up and went out for the afternoon. When we arrived we found out that access to the potholes was gated off and we were not allowed to walk out on the rocks :( So, we just had to check it out from above which was still cool, but not as much fun.
Nathan thought it was just about the best thing ever. He kept calling the potholes "Ice Age" :) He is too cute.

And that was our afternoon adventure that turned out not to be so much of an adventure! At least we got to spend time together:)

Pajamas

Our road trips to Massachusetts over the past year have been many. The kids, thank goodness, are great travelers and have been used to long road trips all of their lives. Before we were making the trek up to Mass, they were making the trek from Mass down to Pennsylvania and Maryland to visit their Brinkley family. Jake is also familiar with long travels. I am the newbie. While I do fine with traveling and I really don't mind being stuck in a car for 7 hours, my downfall is preparing for the travel. The problem is that I come too prepared. I have the trip all mapped out and timed so that we hopefully will arrive at Nana's house before the clock strikes midnight. I bring along a loads of snacks and treats to keep everyone full. I let the kids take along all their little treasures from home and every electronic item they can find to keep them entertained. When in reality none of these things are never needed. Why? Because though Nathan has brought along a backpack full of toys, the only thing he had any interest in playing with all the way to Mass and back to Pennsylvania was a tiny, little binder clip. And though Abby just had to have her MP3 player, she was asleep after listening to it for about 5 minutes. And though Emma brought her purse filled with her favorite things, there was absolutely no interest in them once the DVD player was turned on. And though I had plenty of snacks to go around for all of us, everyone was perfectly content after just a sandwich. And though we try (every time) so hard to leave earlier in the evening so we will arrive at Nana's at a decent hour, that NEVER HAPPENS! Whether it is traffic, bad weather, a wrong turn, trying out a quicker route that turns out to be longer, a few too many unplanned potty breaks...something always makes our trip take longer than it needs to be or should be. So, I have finally figured it out. The one and only thing I need for the kids for our travel to Mass is...PAJAMAS! Because no matter how much I plan, no matter what I bring, this is always the result...

Lesson learned. Next time I'm packing light!