Thankful

We are so thankful for the families we've been born into and the friends God has put in our lives. We're thankful that modern transportation technology has allowed us to visit those special people easily (horse and buggy? railway across America? no thank you!), and for the money and schedule that can make it happen.

Matt's grandpa passed away the day after Thanksgiving. He had been sick for some time and was being cared for in the hospital. We were blessed to have him with us for the Thanksgiving feast for 3 whole precious hours. I know he thoroughly enjoyed being home with his family (and 10 of his great-grandchildren) because he never stopped smiling.

Here, we are re-introducing Kent and Lincoln to him. They crawled around his feet and played with the knobs, the foot rests and the wheels. Gus laughed.

Here's Gus' view of the shenanigans happening around him. There was so much activity with 10 kids!

Gus was a very special man. He will be missed so much. Matt had spent many summers working at the farm and Thanksgiving was always there.

The day was filled with talking and laughter. We ate and visited with each other and ate some more. Lots of pictures were taken.

Fred and Kent discovering a new toy together.

 Grandma Pat making faces at Kent!

 The football game was on the whole afternoon.

Then we visited the cows in the barn. It was close to 60 degrees out - so warm!

 Afterwards, Kent opened more birthday gifts and posed for pictures before the cake.

 First a couple of pokes and tastes of the pumpkin pie slice.

 He decides he loves it!!

Here's the full video. As you can see, I'm very eagerly watching him to see what he'll do with it. He's never had that much food on his tray at one time, and the flavor was totally new as well. I expected him to throw it (or rub it around his tray) or make a grimace or something.

 This was Kent's view of his audience as he ate his slice of pumpkin pie.

 All the kids together - more cousins not pictured were missed!!

What a wonderful family gathering. The most memorable, I'd say. Rest in peace, Gus.