Yes, I’m still posting Thanksgiving.  My life is NUTS and I am SLOW and I am TIRED and this is as fast as I can go right now.  I had all these great Christmas ideas to share.  I’ll try to remember to share them before December 14th…next year.

We went to Mississippi for Thanksgiving, to visit my grandparents and many of my cousins.  I can not tell you how much I love my family!  We have so much fun together, and our kids have so much fun together.  It’s loud and chaotic and crazy, and I love it!

Donuts are always a very important part of our visit.  We can’t visit MamaSara and Papa without getting donuts.

And not just any donuts!

Shipley’s donuts!

Papa is so good about getting Shipley’s for us (mostly for ME) every single time we visit!

I can inhale Shipley’s donut holes like a 16 year old boy!  I literally can’t stop myself, and it’s only about 20 minutes later that I regret gorging myself on fried balls of sugar.

So, I eat something salty to take my mind off of the sweetness, of course.

Oliver, Noble, and AnnaLeigh

Our family multiplies like gremlins, and it is like a busy ant bed at MamaSara and Papa’s house when we are there, and this is only a fraction of our family.  As the chaos was taking place everywhere, Papa wheeled MamaSara into the living room and pulled a chair up next to her wheelchair and they sat and watched everyone buzz around.

The girls colored and played together.

The boys played baseball of football…as they always do.

I’m sure AnnaLeigh was not in the way at all.  She probably wasn’t giving them pointers or telling them how to play football either.  MANIAC!

…A cute maniac, but still a maniac!

Beautiful cousins, Lilly Katherine and Emma-Kate love seeing each other.

And sweet little cousins Rosemary and Georgia love seeing each other, too.

Rosemary is 11 days older, and just a tad bigger.  Georgia is SO little, weighing in at a whopping 14 pounds, 9 ounces at 10 1/2 months!  I have been trying to fatten her up, but I do love her little bitty body!

And more precious cousins,Lilly Katherine, Sara-Cooper, Eloise, AnnaLeigh.

My sweet grandmother has had a hard year.  Her health has declined rapidly from 18 months ago, as she is suffering from Alzheimer’s and cancer.  Papa has cared for her constantly, loving her like I have never seen a man love a woman!  It has been the most amazing example I could ever witness, and I know that Brad and I are changed just seeing them love each other.  It is truly a special love, the kind the Lord intends spouses to have for each other.

Papa has been such an example of a giving, generous man, a leader, and a Godly man that loves his family.  He might be a little hard-headed, but that runs in the family.  It skipped me. :)

This is my precious grandmother, MamaSara.  Georgia’s middle name, Sarullo (Suh-ROO-luh), is her maiden name.  I love my MamaSara and look up to her like a granddaughter should look up to her grandmother.  I have said all of this before, but she has always been the perfect example of grace, class, and beauty to me.  She is a woman that loves the Lord with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength.  It was an honor to be able to name a child after her, and I love that Georgia has seen MamaSara three times already.  What a precious blessing to me and to my baby!

A treasured moment!

This Thanksgiving reminded me how richly blessed I am, with parents and grandparents, cousins, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews and all spouses and in-laws included.  We have a special family bonded and rooted in the most important foundation, that of Christ.  What a blessing that MamaSara and Papa taught Christian principles to their five children. Thank you Papa, for loving and caring for MamaSara!  Thank you for loving the Lord!  Thank you for loving our whole wild family!

And thank you, Lord, for MamaSara and Papa.  Thank you for Papa’s health and ability to do so much.  Thank you for his love for MamaSara.  Thank you for all my precious cousins who have worked so hard and given up so much to help Papa care for MamaSara!  Thank you for a family that loves you and loves each other!

-kate

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