Reasons to be Thankful

Lynn and Abigail left in November but Gail stayed on in Kansas for the holiday season. She began her re-acclimation to the USA in 50 degree weather and it was down hill from there (in a good way:) Thanksgiving brought Brian, Will's directly older brother, his first completed marathon and Gail's first snow in a long time. It was just a dusting but made everything sparkle. The Colorado Reno's were in for Thanksgiving so we spent most of our time at Alan and Fran's eating and doing puzzles. Jaycee is in the green hat making her cool dude pose.
Despite having an unfortunate bout with the flu, Thanksgiving was a time to be thankful. I am lucky to have be part of a new, very loving family. I am thankful that Will and I were able to be married and that the Lord continues to provide for my needs. I have struggled during the holidays with the seeming unfairness of our short marriage. I still and will continue to struggle with loosing my best friend, but I still have a home, heat, family, friends, can worship freely and I have a job where I am able to make a living. There a many things for which to be grateful.
While Gail was here she learned that art of biking around Olathe. She opened a bank account and established residency in the USA in order to get her driving permit. We took many trips together to the store and my new favorite place: the chiropractor. Seems with all the lifting and pulling done at work I have altered a few connections in my neck, there has not been a noticeable difference yet I am still hoping. Gail became proficient in the little Nissan 300ZX Fran and Alan (my in-laws) loaned us. There were 3 cars in the driveway since my Honda and Will's Toyota are manual. Gail and I figured we would tackle one thing at a time! She took many a 12 hour day while I was at work to study for the SAT II's. Gail did well on the regular SAT's but has her sights set on Berkley so needed a little extra to make them look her way. Maybe I should send them the photo below of our outing to 'Penguin Park' where a homeowner down the street has tuned their yard into a maze of over 40 large inflatable Christmas decorations, most of which are penguins. We did find the army Santa below. The house is overwhelming due to the sheer number of inflatable figures. The second, third, and fourth snow storms where a bit more substantial allowing Gail to make an impressive snowman. We decorated the house in hundreds of flashing colored lights. I used to like the white lights until Will and I began decorating together. His love of color and fast movement have rubbed off on me making our house this year look 'like Vegas' as one close friend pointed out when they first saw the staircase.

The smell of fresh pine and the fireplace were enjoyed through December. Most of our time out was spent visiting down town KC which is really festive during Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Plaza begins it's light display on Nov 22cnd and lasts through January and they have an outdoor ice skating rink which was a blast!

There was one attempt to sled during the second snow which was more like a mudding and ended unfortunately for the below green sled. Gail continued to try to find somewhere with a hill (Kansas is relatively flat) that did not dump her into a busy intersection. She did find one successful area at the local high school which we will have to try after we get some new sleds!

As the snow began to melt then came the ice which encased power lines and lined roads. We never lost power but did plenty of tip-toeing down the sidewalk. Above is a photo of the Reno's, Gail, and I as we did Christmas baking. Susie has a beautiful kitchen that could fit all of us working together. I will but a disclaimer on my culinary skills but I can still be helpful when it comes time to decorate. Other than that November and December have been months to be with Gail and friends from church, whether it be at the rotating restaurant in on the twenty something floor of the Hyatt or at the local dog park. People continue to be around to love and listen as I continue to learn what it means to live as a widowed child of the living God. He is still alive and isn't that what the season is about.

Merry Merry Christmas to all!