Thanksgiving with Bella and Stephy

We had A LOT to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! Even though Billy's cancer diagnosis and treatments were scary and challenging, we are thankful for the experience. We have learned so much, our faith has been made stronger, and we have had the honor of being used by God for His purposes. We were faced with a situation that we could not imagine was in any way for our good (Romans 8:28), but then God showed us that it was not about our good this time. This was about Him using our situation for the good of others. I cannot describe how cool this felt! And then we experienced such an outpouring of love and generosity from those we know and those we do not know. I don't think either of us would change the events of this year. (Well, I would not like to see Billy so sick and in pain.) The cancer ended up blessing us more than a multitude of "good blessings" could have. In the end, we gained so much from the whole experience and are better off than if the cancer had never happened.

As far as the actual holiday, it was one of the best Thanksgiving weekends I've had in a while. Stephy and Bella came from Norfolk and stayed until Monday. Having Bella in the house was such a joy. We all went through Bella withdrawals within an hour of their departure! Steph and I had many laughs and got to enjoy a rush-free weekend together. Although, there was one particular moment in which I thought we would both fall to our death trying to bring Christmas bins up from the basement. I learned that you should never laugh hysterically while trying to carry bins stacked three high up a very steep set of basement stairs! Poor Steph, she was on the lower end of those bins and just about had her head knocked off by them. I don't know how we came through that one without any bruises.

We also got to get some photos of Bella. We have tried since that baby girl was born to get some shots of her smiling her sweet smile, but could never capture it. She would end up sucking on her bottom lip (we have affectionately dubbed this her "Bucky Beaver" pose) and playing with her eye lashes (which I find extremely adorable). Since I am still an amateur at my photography passion, I am always looking for subjects on which to practice. Steph has been so very patient with my ideas for pictures. A few of the shots are below!