HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We've had a very fun day being together. The "day" started out challenging yet exciting...after 5 days of no city water, we heard the pipes singing at 2a, so we abandoned our sleep to start filling up buckets of reserve water and do a couple of loads of laundry which had certainly piled up! We're so glad we did this because by 6a, there was no more water (and it's been off again all day). We have no idea of the schedule (if any exists) for these water and power outages...very random!

After a few more good hours of sleep we started off the day with a great breakfast and then later put Jonathan and Lael down for naps...then Kelly, Tori, Timothy and I shared a sweet time of thanksgiving conversation. It was so wonderful to hear the kids list all of our family members by name. It was also a special time this year to hear Tori read from her new Bible from Psalm 95.1-2! I was so proud of her and later on tonight, before going to bed, she agreed that it was fun to read the Bible out loud to everyone. We also memorized Philippians 4.8 from her NIrV version which says:

DON'T WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING.
TALK TO GOD ABOUT EVERYTHING.
ASK AND PRAY.
GIVE THANKS TO GOD!

With some fun hand motions, Tori and Timo practiced it throughout the day...it was fun to hear Timo trying to teach Jonathan as they went to bed at the same time.

We finished preparing our Thanksgiving lunch while the kids enjoyed all the new Christmas decorations that we have put up in the last couple of days....it's a very festive place to be! My Mom had recorded the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from 2005, so I thought the kids would enjoy watching it today....they were more intrigued by some Mickey Mouse Christmas DVD (so much for being traditional). It was after 1p before J&L both got up from their naps and we tried for a few pictures (somewhat successful...see below). Then we enjoyed a great feast of chicken, dressing, green beans, and corn casserole (Aunt Becky's recipe was a big hit!!) We saved our traditional Thanksgiving dessert for later when our friends and missionary colleagues here in town, Josh and Virginia Hamm, came over (see below).

As is tradition to inaugurate the Christmas season, Tori broke out the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." We all had a great time watching it...Tori especially enjoyed it because we started late and she got to stay up until it was over...well after 10p!

Once the kids were in bed, I fast forwarded to the end of the Macy's parade where Mom had also recorded LAST YEAR's Thanksgiving Day Dallas Cowboys' game. I had totally forgotten how it ended up, so it was fun to watch it and hear all the references and commercials to Thanksgiving Day and the upcoming holidays! (We'll do anything around here to put us in the Christmas spirit!)

The power was off again from 6p to just after 11p...it is a challenge, but we are SO thankful for our generator which helps us get through the hot days!

We are so thankful for all of our dear family in America....in DC, FL, and of course TEXAS! We miss all of you so much. We are grateful for our spiritual family...so many friends who share the love of Jesus with us. We are blessed to be sent to Benin with the generous support of the Richland Hills Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas....blessings to all of you this holiday! And we thank God for all the special relationships here in Benin, West Africa.

We are so grateful to God for His abundant love for us, His grace, His Son, and His constant abiding presence with us wherever we are! Thank you Lord!

We share our hearts of gratitude with all of you this Thanksgiving....enjoy the rich abundance of our God!

-Randy & Kelly
Tori, Timothy, Jonathan & Lael