Kentucky Thanksgiving, Santa and The Jail Ministry...

We hauled our new camper down to my parents home in Kentucky for our Thanksgiving Holiday. We set it up and decided to keep it there for the winter. That will give Brian the assurance that he will indeed be able to hunt some more this year and It'll give me the assurance that I will be able to see my mom and dad quite a bit also.

:-)

Brian cooked up a storm this season. He loves to cook, as some of you may know. He wanted to be a chef before he took up his engineering career. We had Ham and Turkey, pumpkin rolls, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, real mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, rolls and much more! He's such a great guy! :-) We were surrounded by children, 9 to be exact. Our little nieces and nephews and our boys were all over the place riding the 4 wheeler, swinging on the huge tree swing and playing board games. "The Land" is a magical place where time stops. Kids realize what it is to play outside and adults remember why we love the country so much.

There's a tradition in our family. Every year at Thanksgiving Santa (Brian) comes to visit after the big meal. All of the kiddie cousins get to sit on his lap to tell him what they want for Christmas. Before the visit is finished Santa gives each child one gift. This year was a hoot! As the kids grow they begin to realize just who Santa is. They don't spoil it for the younger kids. They sit on his lap, give their list and smile for the camera. During just such a scenario our little son Daxx (2 years old) walked up to Santa with an ink pen in his hand and exclaimed, "Here Dad!" as he tried to give Brian (Santa) the pen. The room lit up with laughter from every corner!



There is another tradition that Brian and I have begun. My father is a jailer in Kentucky. He founded a ministry in the Jail for the inmates. They have preaching, singing, and musicians. As a result of this Brian and I have an added blessing that arose in our lives. This is the second year that we've been able to take pictures for the men to send to their families. The men there do not have anything to send to their families for the holidays. Some of them haven't seen their families for years, due to the distance they now live from their homes. It was a humbling experience when I realized that they can't even let their spouses, children or parents see what they look like. At least they can once a year now.

So that was our Holiday in a nutshell.

I hope yours was filled with as much love as ours.