30 days of thankful - days 8 & 9

Yesterday was just one of those days.

Ellie missed Monday at school cause of a bad cold.

Which means I got nothing done.

So I did all that yesterday and then when she came home from school,

she had 8 pages of homework/missed work.

Seriously?

In kindergarten?

Apparently.

I was watching my shows last night,

(NCIS Los Angeles...Hello Chris O'Donnell!)

and I got a text from Paige.

"So, I want to go to bed!  What are you thankful for today???"

Whoopsie!

Meesa forgatsa something...

I had planned on talking about my family yesterday.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized they deserved 2 days anyway.

I am that thankful for them.

So without further delay...

30 Days of Thankful

My Family

I have been blessed beyond blessed to be given the family I have.

I really could go on and on about every single one of them.

And how much they mean to me.

This is Mom's side

A few notes about Mom's side:

Aunt Linda is one of the best people I know.  She is kind and giving and will do anything for anybody at any time.  Plus, she makes a mean rice crispy treat. 

Since my mom died, we have become very close and she has taken on the "grandma" role for Ellie.

Uncle Wayne.  He is my go to find it guy.

"Hey Wayne!  Be on the lookout for such and such!"

And a week later, such and such is in your possession.

He also knows how to fix anything.  And is very very involved in the community.

Paige and Ken have a fantastic love story.

That deserves a post all on it's own.

And I will get to that someday.

Paige is the closest thing I will ever have to a sister and I love her to pieces.

She is my advice giver, and book sharer, and salsa maker.

She is super classy and a fantastic hostess, really knowing how to make you feel comfortable in her home.

And Ken is that person who can seriously do anything he sets his mind too.

He is also my dentist :)

And when I was a kid I had a massive crush on him.

Massive.

Andy is insane.

In a good way, but you never quite know what your are going to get with Andy.

He is brilliant and motivated and a fantastic businessman.

And then there are the young people.

A fanastic group of kids.

Nick and Tanner and Quincy and Isabella.

They are fun and funny and smart and respectful.

Spoiler Alert!

I am going to do a seperate post on my parents, so I will talk about Noonie then.

 Dad's side

Ahem.

As you can see, Dad's side is a titch bigger.

And there are a lot of people not pictured!

Now technically, have of these people are Deckmans.

And while not technically family,

they are family all the same.

A few notes about Dad's side:

Judy and Randy

They are the rock of this side of the family.

Judy's brother died when Judy was young (24ish?)

She had 2 young daughters and adopted his three children.  2 teenage boys and a 10 year old girl.

That is the kind of people Judy and Randy are.

She is the aunt I would run too when I was mad at my own mom.

She would feed me fruitty pebbles, tell me it wasn't so bad, and send me home.

I wish I could tell a story about everyone one on this side, but you see that picture.

It would be a novel.

But I can say, that when we go home, Ellie is gathered in, with hugs and kisses.  She is never forgotten, even though we live far away and she is not a part of everyday life there.

And when Dad was in the hospital this summer, almost every single one of those people pictured came to see him and keep me company.

They are fantastic in a crisis.

I love them.  And I love them.  And I love them.

My family by marriage

And then there is the family I was fortunate enough to marry into.

Chris has a younger brother and sister.

And I have watched them grow up,

cause we have been together that long.

So I have known them, like, forever.

We have such a good time when we visit.

And Ellie is the only niece/granddaughter, etc...

and is spoiled rotten by them.

We play games and they are, by far, the most competative people I have ever known.

I knew I was one of them when they hooped and hollared when they beat me at aggravation.

They are fantastic people and I am blessed.

I am thankful for my family.