I'm bound to thank you for it

this morning, at the breakfast table:

Molly: Hey everyone! Don't forget...tonight is Tree Night!

Kids: yeah! hooray! donuts! hot chocolate! woo-hoo!

Henry: Is anyone coming over for Tree Night?

Me: No, just our family this time.

Carrie: What?? But I want Daddy to be here for Tree Night!!!

Me: Uhh...he will. Our whole family will be here.

Carrie: Kids! Did you hear Mom? Daddy is coming over for Tree Night!!

(Tree Night pics, complete with the honored guest Daddy, will be posted later)

picture book, of people with each other, to prove they loved each other

Beth's main activity while here in VA (besides imbibing large quantities of Mountain Dew), was taking pics...

Thanksgiving Day leaf round-up...what a good-looking man!
Warren and Henry promised to help
Doesn't my baby look thrilled? NEVER too big to be kissed by Mom
I love this one! She's always in pink.

yesterday, they let me know you were gone

We miss Beth! It was so good to have her here for the week, and to share Thanksgiving with our family. The kids had so much fun with her, she took tons of pics (I'll be posting some of them later), and we spent plenty of time in our PJs. Its so hard to believe that Beth is already 17, graduated from high school, and fixing to start her second semester in community college! Her dreams for the future are motivating her well, and I can't wait to see what the next few years hold for the "most smartest" sister, who is also a super-creative genius. Thanks for visiting, Beth -- we'll take you back anytime!

I'll share this love I find with everyone

Thanksgiving Day was super! After prepping for 2 days (with much help from Beth), I spent all day Thursday cooking, while Dave was cleaning and getting the place ready for guests. The turkey was my main hang-up, but I was very surprised that it turned out beautifully, better than I expected! Our guests arrived late in the afternoon, and we had some time to visit before our meal. The Pippins are a family in our church, and Andre is in the middle of his 2nd consecutive year in Saudi Arabia. Caroline has been a single mom to their 3 children, and its been a tough haul for all of them (he won't be home until June). Their relatives live far away, so we asked them to spend the day with us, and we had a great time! The kids had fun playing video games and super heroes, while the adults sat around trying to figure out why we had eaten so much food. And it was wonderful to have Beth here to celebrate with us! We feel so blessed and had much for which to thank our God!

Molly loves to fold napkins for special dinners
The house barista at work (can you say "egg nog lattes"?)
Our family w/ the Pippins: Caroline, Andrew, Rachel, David (Beth was shooting, so escaped this one)
And Annie came over after for Denver biscuits and pie -- but to be fair, I think it was baby Judah demanding the calories, not her.

blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

So, tonight I'm reflecting on a few things for which I am thankful, while there are so many more that I don't have the energy to list:

*gracious provision for each and every day, from the Giver of all good gifts
*a husband who not only works hard, but tries in so many ways to serve me
*the 5 children I treasure, not just the 4 that I always said I wanted
*a rockin' 17 year-old sister who just finished helping me bake!
*pumpkin (anything)
*traditions from our families to share with our kids
*new traditions that make the SlaughterHouse unique
*an amazing heritage
*friends that spur me on to better things
*winter coming
*a wonderful fellowship of believers that we are so blessed to have
*that I can truly be thankful, really in awe of His goodness, and not just say it

Our celebration tomorrow will be joyful and abundant, yet bittersweet as we think of those we are missing. I hope that yours is rich, memory-making, and full of love!

or would you rather just mingle

Ok, I know this is a week late, but the kids were so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa here for their first trick-or-treating ever! It was great Halloween weather, and they had such fun filling their pumpkins with more candy than they have ever seen...at least since Papa last visited :-) After strolling the neighborhood, they made their way up to the Community Center for more loot, and I stayed behind to pass out candy to a million kids (felt like it anyway).

We had a black cat, Blue Power Ranger, Black Spiderman, CheerBear CareBear, and Peter Pan
She put together her costume by herself, very proudly.
Uncle Caleb, handing out more fun
Cousin Erin dressed as a Hokie cheerleader, but when her Dad would say, "Let's go to another house now, Erin", she would say, "I wanna go to YOUR house, Daddy!" But she enjoyed passing out candy with Annie.
Grandpa and the cutest little Peter Pan you've ever seen.

I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end

Pumpkin carving with Grandpa Slaughter...

Kids get the fun of watching. Some fun, huh?
Molly loves pulling out the "guts".
The finished product
Spooky Jack at night

walkin' October road

We went to Harper's Ferry , WV for a day, while Mom and Dad were here. Its a gorgeous town, with tons of history. And we were blessed with perfect weather that day! The sun was out, the leaves were beautiful, and we enjoyed walking around learning about early days in the town.

Grandma with the SlaughterHouse 5
Our crew
Peanut loves to mug for the camera
Mom and Dad Slaughter

imagining the world outside

Some fun in the beautiful fall outdoors...

Raking is serious business with the cousins.
Evidently there was important hammering that Robbie and Molly needed to do.
Dave was impressing the boys with his wood-chopping skills (I must say he looked very cute out there, swinging that ax)
Liam and Mommy strolling on the deck.

thank God for this new laughter

I managed to get some uploaded today -- hooray for me! Here are a few shots of indoor fun, hopefully soon followed by our outdoor activity.

The kids said we were boring grown-ups, just sitting around and talking.
Carrie convinced Daddy to play Winnie-the-Pooh friends with her.
Molly and Olivia making masterpieces.
Liam and Victoria stealing toys, most likely.

trouble is I'm so exhausted

I've been trying for almost 2 hours to post pics of the past week...the fun in the Poconos and Mom and Dad Slaughter's visit here. My computer is against me. Everytime I upload pics, it times out after 10 minutes or so, and I give up. I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe. I'm sleep-deprived after this nasty virus all week that keeps me up coughing all night and steals my voice, so my motivation is fairly low. But check soon, and hopefully I'll have conquered the machine.

Thanks to those who have been praying for my cousins Meredith and Matthew. For those who don't know, the 24 and 22 year old brother and sister were in a terrible car accident in Fort Worth, TX. They are both in critical condition on life support, and have already undergone several surgeries, with more to come. Meredith has never regained consciousness, and Matthew did for a bit, but is in an induced coma for now. The injuries are massive and many, too many to list here. We serve a big God, bigger than medical problems and earthly limitations, and I know He can heal them if it is His will, which is my fervent prayer. Please pray for them if you can.