The weekend report - snowy with a side of thankfulness

Well another three-day holiday weekend has come and gone, and if the worst thing I have to complain about is the hour and a half of my life I lost watching The Smurfs with the kids for family movie night, then I'd have to say it wasn't too shabby. (I'll never get that hour and a half back though, never!)

The highlights of the weekend:
-  It lightly snowed on and off all weekend long, not enough to really stick and cause road problems, but enough to ensure maximum kid excitement.
- Russ and I started season one of Gold Rush on Netflix and are now up to episode 9 (will they EVER make the money they need to climb out of the terrible financial hole they dug themselves into?!!)
- We watched a couple of really good movies to make up for the smurfawful one (in particular Moneyball, which we reaaally liked, and The Help, which Russ hadn't seen yet and totally loved, even though he made fun of it for the first half hour solely because he feels the need to do this any time I make him watch a period drama)
- We had our TWELFTH annual family prayer day with Russ's family.


(Sings in head: Traditionnnn, tradition! Tradition!)

The kids all went first, sharing either something they were thankful for or an answer to prayer they received during 2011, and then they shared a prayer request for 2012. (Cutest request: my eleven-year-old niece Debbie wanting better time-management skills. Preach it, sister!)

Then us adults shared our many praise reports and blessings received during the past year and our few requests we have for the new year. We write them down each year so we can look back and remember how good and faithful the Lord is to us, year after year, after year. And as my brother-in-law, Tim, pointed out; looking back at the problems we faced years ago that at the time felt so big or hard, and realizing how they worked out one way or another and are now nothing we even think about, really gives you good perspective for current problems we may face.

Bottom line: It's a wonderful annual tradition for many reasons, not the least of which is that my mother-in-law feeds us all, and her cooking is amazing.

(What is not wonderful: getting an annoying tune like "La la la-la la la, sing a happy song..." stuck in your head for hours on end. Ugghh.)