Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I know, I've been a terrible blogger... one of these days I'm going to catch up! :-) But until then, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. I trust you will take some time today to give thanks for all the blessings God has given you (us) over the past year. Here are a few of my Thankful Things:

1) An AWESOME God who created me, knows me, and loves me anyway!
2) Jesus Christ, who died on Cavalry to pay my sin debt... and I have accepted that gift of salvation and eternal life in Heaven one day
3) My wonderful husband who also knows me and loves me anyway... and man, does he put up with a lot from me! (I'm working on getting better...)
4) My family ~ both of them (my in-laws, too). I am truly blessed to have wonderful families, even though we, as any family, have issues! :-) I so wish that I could spend time with them over the holidays, but that is not to be this year.
5) Our church & our pastor - our pastor had a quadruple bypass heart surgery 4 weeks ago yesterday. It is a miracle that he is even alive! But God spared his life, and he is doing well. Also, our church staff is amazing, and I am so thankful that God brought us here.
6) My friends... such a blessing to have iron-sharpeneth-iron friends.
7) My house ~ after moving so many times in my life, it is nice to have a nice place to call home... at least until God moves us again (which I kind of hope isn't anytime soon!) :-)
8) Facebook! Silly, I know, and I spend WAY too much time on there, but it has been great to connect with old friends and acquaintances, and to see that most of them are still busy serving the Lord.
9) My job... Yes, I still have one! I love my kiddos, and am so thankful that God has placed me here and allowed these two little boys to sort of fill the void in my heart for a baby of my own.
10) This is a hard one, but since the Bible says that I am to give thanks IN EVERYTHING and FOR EVERYTHING... (this prompted by THIS POST by Angie) I am thankful for infertility. (No, I'm not FEELING it right now, but faith is not based on feeling, nor is obedience based on feeling.) I know that I have 9 babies in Heaven with Jesus right now, and a void in my heart and arms. However, I know that God has something BETTER planned for Chris and me. I'm thankful that this circumstance has drawn me closer to the Lord and to my husband. God is good, ALL the TIME!

Have a great Thanksgiving! "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thessalonians 5:18

Thanksgiving...

I know this is rather late, but I wanted to post anyway. We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year. We were able to get together with some friends that we hadn't seen in over 5 years. We met them working at Northland Camp, and found out via Facebook that they had recently moved to Lexington, KY, which is about an hour&1/2 from us. We had a great time of fellowship and of course, good food... compliments of Beth. I didn't have to cook, other than a sweet potato casserole, so I was VERY happy! Here are some pics from the day:

Chris dishing out mashed potatoes
Beth sitting down to her meal

Chillin' out... Beth on the phone with her mom, and Chris and Kevin enjoying a football game and some fellowship
Chris and I
Beth, Silas & Kevin

Beth & Silas

Silas & Kevin
Chris & Silas playing hockey with golf clubs
Chris&Heather; Beth, Silas, & Kevin

STAN MITCHELL FAMILY PICTURE FROM THANKSGIVING

Back row: Chris Mitchell, David Fox, Kathy & Stan Mitchell, Jon Mitchell, Tim Mitchell

Middle Row: Heather Mitchell, Kim Fox, Tiffany Mitchell, Julianne Mitchell, Sandy Rhodes, Cristina Mitchell

Front Row: Kailey Mitchell, Nathan Mitchell, Kimberly Mitchell, Tron Rhodes, Tynan Rhodes

Not present for picture: Burt & Julie Mitchell, Tyson Rhodes

THANKSGIVING TRIP TO PENSACOLA - SATURDAY

Saturday morning, we all got up and got ready to leave. We took a few pictures of Sandy and the boys, then said goodbye to them. Chris and I took Julianne back to campus, then met our friends Rob & Emily Hazewinkel for breakfast at Granny Cantrell's Restaurant. After spending some time with them, we headed back to PCC's campus to say goodbye to Jonathan, and my brother, Nathan, and his fiancee, Caroline. From there, we headed home to Indiana. We had a great time with family, and miss them very much.

Dr. Pepper 23 & Cocoa the bear

It's hard to see on this picture, but this is Cocoa the bear. She has a cup of cocoa on her paw. My dining room has a "coffee" theme, but I don't drink coffee, only hot chocolate. I saw this bear at Cracker Barrel back in April, and loved it. I thought it would be a great addition to my decor, but didn't have the money to get it. While we were at Cracker Barrel, I saw it again, and showed it to Sandy (who also has a coffee theme in her kitchen/dining room). When Sandy, Chris and Tron came back from shopping, Sandy had bought me this bear. THANK YOU, Sandy!

While we were at the mall on Friday, Uncle Chris bought Tron a Dr. Pepper. Tron went to open it, and it exploded. Tron loves "Dr. Pepper 23", as do I! The reason he calls it "Dr. Pepper 23" is because of the new add campaign that says that 23 flavors make up Dr. Pepper. They also have a "23" on the label now. Tron showed me... "See, Aunt Heather, it has a 2 and a 3 and that makes twenty-three. So it is Dr. Pepper 23." ANYWAY... it was a mess. Then, when Chris, Sandy, and Tron went shopping while Tynan & I took a nap, they bought some Dr. Pepper 23 to drink later that evening. By the time we got home that night, we didn't end up drinking any. Sandy said that Chris and I could take it with us on Saturday for the trip home. Saturday, when we were loading the vehicles, Chris walked out with the full 6-pack of 20 oz. Dr. Pepper bottles. Tron turned to Sandy and said, "Mom, Uncle Chris is taking all the Dr. Pepper 23's!!" Since he was so distraught over this, we left one with him to take on his trip. On our way home, almost every one of our Dr. Pepper 23's exploded (or almost exploded) in the car. I'm not sure what that was all about!

THANKSGIVING TRIP TO PENSACOLA - FRIDAY AFTERNOON

After we said goodbye to everybody, Chris, Sandy, Tiffany & I were trying to decide what to do. Tiffany didn't have to go to work for a while, so we had some time "to kill." First we headed to the mall to the Florida/Bama store (since Tyson, Sandy's husband, loves Florida State, she was looking for Christmas presents for him). After leaving the mall (unsuccessful at finding a gift there), Tiffany took us on a "wild goose chase" to find Bayview Park, which is located on the bay side of Pensacola. (DUH!) We finally got there, and had a good time playing. Tron hiked up his pants to "highwater" level to walk in the sand, and the boys enjoyed playing on the playgrounds. Then we headed down to the water and the dock. Tron&Tynan love to go fishing and play in the water (typical boys.) Uncle Chris let Tynan down from the edge of the dock to put his feet in the water a few times. Then they went and played along the water's edge, "fishing" with sticks and a small piece of fishing line they found, then resorting to just throwing handfuls of sand into the water. After succeeding in getting dirty with sand and wet, we took Tiffany back to campus for work, and then went back to the hotel for Tynan and Aunt Heather's nap time.

THANKSGIVING TRIP TO PENSACOLA - FRIDAY

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TO KIM!!!
Friday morning, we all got up and met at Cracker Barrel for brunch before Mom&Dad Mitchell & Kim&David left on their long trip home to Las Vegas. Jonathan & Julianne weren't able to come because of classes and work responsibilities. The kids enjoyed "playing" checkers while we waited. Mom, Sandy, and I browsed the Cracker Barrel Country Store. Sandy found Tyson's Christmas gift from her, and Chris found Tyson's Christmas present from him. Tiffany was watching Tynan in the store, and Tynan found a dancing Christmas tree that mesmerized him! When we finally all sat down to eat (at 2 tables b/c there wasn't a table big enough for all 15 of us! At the small table that we were sitting at, Tynan discovered that there was a hole in the table (why it was there, I don't know) big enough to drop the pegs to the triangle game through. When Sandy and I noticed what he was doing, I slid my hand underneath the table, and pushed the pegs back up through the hole after he dropped them in. He thought that was pretty funny. He then put his finger in the hole to keep the pegs from coming up, while he tried to push another peg through. Smart kid! We went from pegs to crayons, then Tynan figured out that he could stick his finger up through the hole from UNDERNEATH the table. Uncle Chris then started grabbing his finger... all in all, it was a pretty fun and funny game that passed the time quickly until we got our food! After we finished eating, we said goodbye to Tim&Cristina and their family, as we would not be seeing them again before we left. Back at the hotel, we said goodbye to Mom, Dad, Kim&David as they headed out for the long ride home.

THANKSGIVING DINNER & MOM'S BIG SURPRISE

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!! Thanksgiving Dinner was served in the fellowship hall of Tim & Cristina's church (their house isn't big enough for all those people!) Their pastor was very gracious in offering it to us to use. We all headed over to the church after the game, and finished fixing dinner. When dinner was served, we called Chris' brother & sister-in-law that couldn't make it, and had them say what they were thankful for. Then each of the adults took turns saying things that they were thankful for... mostly for their mom and what she means to them, and how thankful they are for her sweet example of a Godly woman. The last person in line was Sandy, the oldest girl, who is the one that came up with the idea of giving Mom her mother's ring. The ring was custom made by a friend of Chris' dad who makes jewelry for Tiffany's in New York. Anyway, Sandy said what she was thankful for, and then presented her mom with the ring. Mom was incredibly surprised, and of course, there were a lot of happy tears shed. We then ate our meal, and had so much food left over that we were able to make take-home plates for a few college students that didn't get a good Thanksgiving meal (including my brother and his fiancee.) It was awesome to be a part of this incredible gift to Chris' mom. I am so thankful for my great in-laws, as well as my own family. God has been incredibly good to us!

THANKSGIVING TRIP TO PENSACOLA - THURSDAY

Thursday morning we all got ready and headed over to the campus of Pensacola Christian College for their "Turkey Bowl." This is the championship soccer game between the intermural collegians. Chris' brother, Jon's collegian was playing in the game. The teams always make a big entrance. This year they were complete with a helicopter landing on the field... TWICE, along with police escorts and limosines... a hummer limo and a VERY long van limo. Then during half time, they had a parachute troop land on the field. It was pretty cool, and best of all, Jon's team won 5-0. I was also able to see my brother, Nathan, and his fiancee, Caroline, for a little bit. From there, we headed to Tim & Cristina's church for dinner.

THANKSGIVING TRIP TO PENSACOLA - WEDNESDAY

Wednesday, we took our time getting up and ready. Chris&I shared a hotel room with Chris' sister, Sandy, and her boys, Tron&Tynan. Chris' sister, Kim& her husband, David, had the room next door, which they shared with Chris' brother, Jon, when he chose to stay off campus a couple of nights. Everyone congregated in our room to enjoy the free entertainment of a 5 year old and 2 year old... pillowfights, jumping from bed to bed, etc. Who needs TV when you have kids?!?! :-) Anyway, Wednesday mid-morning, we headed over to Chris' brother, Tim's house. Tim&Cristina live in a small town on the outskirts of Pensacola with their 3 kids... Kimberly(5 1/2 yrs old), Kailey (3 yrs old) and Nathan (2 yrs old). The ladies helped Cristina with making pies for a little bit, then Chris, Kim, David and I all had to go to campus for haircuts. We then met at LongHorn Steakhouse for dinner (all 17 of us). We had a good day just spending time with family!

THANKSGIVING TRIP TO PENSACOLA, FL - TUESDAY

Nathan Chromy&Caroline (soon-to-be Chromy) LaChance
Chris&I were able to meet up with Nathan&Caroline on Tuesday for lunch before Chris' family came in. It was nice to spend time with my family (and soon-to-be-family - June 30, 2007) :-) as well.












SURPRISE!! Joke's on you, Mom!
Chris' mom was prepared to surprise her 3 youngest kids, but was surprised herself when she looked up to see Chris, Sandy, and Kim, along with their families. She sobbed! :-)

Chris&Heather Mitchell

Kim& David Fox

Tron & Tynan (Sandy's boys) have a pillowfight with Grandpa

Uncle Chris & Tron - Chris was already sitting like this watching TV, and Tron crawled up beside him and copied him.

THANKSGIVING TRIP TO PENSACOLA, FL - MONDAY

Kathryn Hazewinkel
Steven Hazewinkel
Heather Mitchell & Kathryn Hazewinkel

Over the week of Thanksgiving, we took a trip to Pensacola, FL. The purpose of this trip was to surprise Chris' mom by having all of her children together during the time of the holidays. Unfortunately, one of the children and their spouse were not able to make it, and another child's spouse was not able to make it either. However, MOST of the family was able to make the trip.

Chris and I were able to head down to FL on Monday. Chris was able to get off work earlier than expected, so we made the 8 hour 45 minute drive and arrived in Pensacola around 5pm. We were able to catch up with one of Chris' co-worker/friend from when he worked as a Graduate Assistant, and enjoyed the time over dinner with her. Then we spent the night with our good friends, Rob & Emily Hazewinkel. We were able to meet the newest addition to their family, Kathryn (Katie), who is now 6 months old, and play with her big brother, Steven, who is 2 1/2 years old. We had a good time catching up with them as well.

THINGS I LEARNED IN SCHOOL TODAY

DID YOU KNOW? Today in music class at school (where I work) we sang the song "Over the River and Through the Woods." Now, I have always sung this song at Christmastime as a Christmas song. However, today I learned that it is NOT a Christmas song... it is a THANKSGIVING song! Here are the lyrics (for 3 verses):

Over the River and Through the Woods


Over the river and through the woods,
To grandmother's house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh,
Through the white and drifted snow, O!

Over the river and through the woods,
Oh how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes, and bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.





Over the river and through the woods,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ling!"
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day, Hey!

Over the river and through the woods,
Trot fast my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground,
like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day, Hey!



Over the river and through the woods,
And straight through the barnyard gate,
We seem to go extremely slow.
It is so hard to wait!
Over the river and through the woods,
Now grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

I also learned that the Physical Therapist is a Christian, and she was a huge blessing and encouragement to me. Another thing I learned is that if you have a very quick special needs child that loves to grab things and loves to eat candy, you need to keep him FAR AWAY from a "Lollipop Tree." (Pictures will be posted later... of the tree, not the child.) We were able to save the tree, but this child was very intent on stealing the lollipops off the tree. He ate 7 lollipops within less than 5 minutes on Halloween! Talk about a sugar high! :-)