Thankful Thursday...on Friday

So. I wrote this yesterday and then forgot to actually post it. :)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was quiet and lovely and full of gratitude.

1. We were all together. So thankful that my sons all ended up at Colorado colleges, making holidays together so much easier. Micah had the full week off from classes but stayed in Boulder to work and came home Wednesday. Asher still had classes Monday and Tuesday and came home Wednesday also. Thursday, we had a lazy day of food and new games. Noah got this one, called Wyrmspan, for us to play...

It took a good while but was pretty fun (and the artwork was gorgeous)...definitely had a bit of a learning curve, though. :)

2. We decorated. Noah had to work Friday and the other two met up with friends. We also had some time together watching shows and playing games. On Saturday, Micah and I went climbing then we all put up our holiday decorations since we won't be together again until almost Christmas. (I know my years of boys being available are limited so will be thankful we were able to still all decorate together in the first place.) Boys decided our stockings should be hung in order of our scores from our first Wyrmspan game, lol. So, from last to first (and left to right): Nathan, me, Noah, Asher and Micah. 

We also put up our now traditional tree of lights on the climbing wall...

We also took some photos. Some people cooperated more than others, lol. And then Asher and Nathan made sure to promptly hang the hammock back up. ;) 

Here's how it looks at night...

And I love that it still looks "tree-like" even when the lights aren't on. We bought new lights last year after the holidays and used them for the first time now. See? The strand of lights looks more like a tree...

Gotta say...though a part of me misses picking out a tree and setting it up and everything, I'm really digging this climbing wall tree these past few years. It's so much easier and is definitely "ours."

As has become usual, we didn't put out a heap of other decorations. But the ones we do display are sentimental and make me smile and I'm thankful for that and for the memories they bring each year.

3. I've been walking more. A couple years ago, we painted a bunch of rocks. As I've been walking more, I've been trying to remember to take some along and scatter them in the common areas for the kids to find. I saved these for December...

It makes me happy to think about a little kid finding one and being excited. :) Thankful, too, for the joys of walking more...knowing it's good for me, enjoying the (mostly) lovely weather, appreciating our neighborhood and town, and wonderful conversation time (when I walk with someone, obviously). 

4. My dad would have been 75 on Monday. I didn't mark the occasion by handing out his favorite candy bars this year (Sam's Club was sold out for two weeks and, well, it's getting difficult to find enough people to hand them out to who don't look at me suspiciously, lol). My mom and siblings and I traded old photos and memories of him and missed him dearly. He's been gone more than 17 years now and I'm so sad for all he's missed. I'll direct you to these old posts here and here. (There are plenty more but I don't feel like going to find them all and reminiscing just now.) I'm so thankful for the time I had with him and for the foundation he set for our family.  

And that's my list for now. Somehow it's already December. Hope y'all are off to a great one!