My heart is so full of happiness, gratitude, love, and joy. It is truly the best time of the year and Drew and I were fortunate enough to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year in Richfield. Although we were only able to spend a little over 24 hours up there because of our jobs, it was well worth it!
Thursday morning we started our Thanksgiving day off right with the traditional "Pie for Breakfast" get together with my mom's side of the family!
We showed up to Grandma Micki's in our pajamas and stuffed our faces with delicious pies ranging from fruit, to cream, to chocolate peanut butter! It was delightful!
Later that afternoon we got back together for the big feast. Almost the entire Hansen/Gardner side of the family was present! [Well, all except for Queen Alex and her husband Chris-- they were greatly missed.]
We had the privilege of writing something we were thankful for on a paper cut-out of a gold dipped feather or leaf. We then tied them up onto a garland that my aunt had made for decor-- it had a specific number of pine cones hanging on it as well as an angel which represented each sibling (the angel represented their sister Keri who passed away when they were all younger). And the pine cones came from the home that they all grew up in. It was so special! After we hung up our papers, we took time to read aloud what we were thankful for in front of everyone. It was really neat.
After tearing up and eating some absolutely delicious food, one of my aunts stood up to explain a surprise announcement to everyone. All the siblings had decided -secretly- to give the money that they would receive from my grandparents for Christmas to the Morrison family to help out with their trip to Haiti to pick up their daughter Mara. It was a huge surprise for the Morrisons and they had no idea that this was coming. Not only did everyone choose to give their Christmas money to them, but some even contributed a little bit more.
It was incredible to see both Staci and Corey's face. Everyone in the room either had tears in their eyes or on their cheeks. It was such a humbling and beautiful experience because the Morrisons have been working on getting their daughter here for over 2 and a half years now, and adoption is a very expensive process. It was amazing to see how beautiful the act of giving can truly be. And not to mention how amazing my family is for being so loving and supportive. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such incredible people!
I am so grateful that both Drew and I were able to be together for those two neat experiences. We are so blessed to have each other and especially to have family who loves us and cares about us so much!
I am also very grateful that Drew and I were able to go home for just a short while to spend time with my family. We are so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people-- my beautiful, inspiring mother being one of them!
I am also very grateful that Drew and I were able to go home for just a short while to spend time with my family. We are so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people-- my beautiful, inspiring mother being one of them!
And that is why my heart is so full.
Love,
Kate
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