Good Times

My niece, Devin Williams

My new dumpling maker :)

Blake holding the ball for Stephen

Stephen holding the ball for Blake

We were surprised this week with an unexpected visit from my youngest brother, Randy, and his wife, Jodi. Along with them came my little niece, Devin. She just turned 4 years old. She is a sweet heart and our kids love to see her. Sometimes I wonder if all of our kids overwhelm her since she is an only child, but she always fits right in. They stayed for two days and we enjoyed every minute.

Before they left,  Maleah and I sent them off with a home cooked meal of chicken and dumplings. This is about the only time that I do use white flour in the house. I have tried wheat dumplings before and let's just say that they did not go over very well! I thought Maleah did well for her first time baking. She did end up eating most of her dough. Yuck! But, she seemed to like it :).

We also had a great Thanksgiving over at Larry (Keith's older brother) and Rhonda's house. They have two very sweet children as well. Blake and Leah. Blake is a teenager and Leah is 11 years old. I was so thankful for the time that Blake took up with our boys. They played football and wrestled and played hard outside. Joshua and Stephen love him to death. Leah also made all of our girls feel very welcome and they all played together for hours. We had fantastic food and it just turned out to be a very relaxing day. Later we all talked about the gift that it was for us. I told the kids before bed to please be sure to thank the Father for such a blessed day.

Yesterday, we worked and worked in the house. All of us together. We are getting ready for Papa and Granna to come in tonight. Papa will spend the night and go to church before leaving to go home tomorrow. The good part is that he is leaving Granna behind! She will stay until the baby is born. It will be a blessing to have her here. She is so good with the kids and they all love her so much.

Our time together as a family has been something that I do not ever want to take for granted. Even when our sour attitudes try to get in the way and spoil everything... my prayer is that we can all overcome our selfish natures and learn to love and serve each other. These are precious memories and I am very thankful for them.

Nichole