Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful long weekend and I will be posting more blogs in the next few days with photos of several special moments that we had...

Thanksgiving was this past Thursday and we spent it with tia Nena, at the house of a very close friend of hers, Mariluce, and her 4 sons. We were not sure if Nena would be well enough to go, but she was! It was only 8 days after her surgery and we were all so thankful that she felt well enough to leave her home and even eat a little with us. Thanks again for your prayers!

Jonny and I talked a lot about what we were particularly thankful for this year and here is a quick summary of 5 things, in no particular order (I don't have as much time these days to write my usual long blogs, but I do want to keep a record!):

1. Daniel: We have really enjoyed him this past year as we have watched him develop from being a baby to a toddler; he gives us so much joy - most of the time :-)!

2. Jonny's new job: He really likes it; he is so much more motivated and excited about his new project.

3. My contentment and further healing: I have really grown to be content living here in the U.S. and am completely at peace about staying here now, until God opens a new door, which only He knows when that will be and I'm really OK with that... In terms of my continued healing after losing Jonathan David, this year we have seen even more progress and this has been evident by the increase in my energy, enjoyment of work, and participation in aerobic classes at the gym!

4. Our Church: We have been attending a new Church for almost a year now and we have grown so much this past year there, in many ways... We are also so thankful for the people we are getting to know there and what we have been learning about Fellowship.

5. Our Neighborhood: We have become closer to some of our neighbors and we just feel so blessed to live so close to them.

...And there is still so much more that we are thankful for.... including YOU dear loved ones!!!

Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing us so much in so many ways this past year!

Here are some other photos taken on Thanksgiving...

Maria Helena enjoyed the dinner too! The food was so yummy, cooked by her close friend Mariluce.

Mariluce's 11 year old twins enjoying the dinner - sweet boys.

Since dinner was quite early, Daniel watched a DVD while we ate... He found this hat and wore it most of the evening (he loves hats!).



Mariluce's 4 sons have many pets: dog, cat, lizard, mice and birds! This is me showing Daniel the cute little birds...

One of the highlights of the evening for Daniel was playing chase with his papai!




Maria Helena resting after dinner, surrounded by love...