blessed

thursday was a great thanksgiving for me. we went to my dad's parents and spent the day up there. it was us, my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my other uncle and aunt and their son. it was fun looking at old pictures from when grandpa was in the navy and my dad was a baby. my other uncle got to spend the holiday in hawaii, but he called in and talked. we had perfect weather and got to go to the park down the road. my cousin is 4, so he enjoyed racing down the slides. of course i had my camera with me and took some pictures of our little man having fun.

he was making funny faces while he talked to angie.

grandpa plays trumpet, and it's kind of a rite of passage for the grandkids and great grandkids to get to blow in the trumpet. 

my aunt and cousin. (this is the aunt everyone thought i belonged to growing up. we look crazy alike)

first of the slide races

mother and son

me and him. 

my parents and one of my brothers. 

greg doing down the slide

julie and goph. love this picture of them.

grandpa still helps put shoes on. =]

i know i have been blessed to live relatively close to the majority of my family. holidays have always been filled with family. almost never have they been lonely or small. sure there are some family members who couldn't make it, but they had their reasons, but i still am able to see them and keep in touch with them throughout the year.

i am also blessed by my friends. the majority of them live far away from me, but thanks to technology, i am able to stay in contact with them regularly. my friend from michigan even sends me snail mail, which i love! (i'm all up for bringing back snail mail, so if you ever want a hand written letter, or maybe a colored picture haha,  just let me know) i have a small, core group of friends that i can talk to about anything.

the two best friends a girl could have. 

i am blessed by my small group as well. this awesome group of ladies have been in my life for a few years now. i've seen it change so much, but i wouldn't change it for anything. i have got more awesome friendships through this group, and it's great that they are in a location where i can still get coffee or dinner with them fairly easily, depending on schedules. they have become best friends, and i love being able to just hang out in ashley's living room for a few hours every week.