I know this is a little late, but better late than never...

Happy Thanksgiving to all! The truth is, every day should be Thanksgiving day...We are a truly blessed people, and most of us take it so very for grantedl Even I tend to take the many daily blessing for granted, failing to realize how truly blessed we are.

I got the very special opportunity to visit my baby sister, Mary Beth, in Pennsylvania. I have never had the opportinity to visit her, or spend time with her family, since I left home at the age of 19. She lives on a 33 acre farm in Wattsontown, Pennsylania. They have 3 cows and a dozen chickens...3 wonderful sons and an old farm house that she has decorated to look like you step right into a country decoration magazine...Just oozes with country charm. I finally got to spend some time with her beautiful 3 sons ranging from 5 years old to 12. Fine looking, well behaved boys. She is a good wife and mother...I am so proud of her.

She even told me that if my son deploys this upcoming year, i was very welcome to come and stay with her. As I have mentioned earlier, I come from a really grossly disfunctional family... My baby sister, Mary is the sweetest spirit in the bunch, and the most well adjusted. That is because she is the youngest, and saw the least abuse. She has a very sweet spirit, and a wild and crazy sense of humor...lots of laughing around her. We had a really tasty Thanksgiving dinner followed by a wild game of Thanksgiving Bingo...she had this big garbage bag full of prizes...crazy stuff like a box of prunes, a little toilet deoderizer, a box of Fleet suppositories, a fruit cake, a bag of soldier guys, a chocolate santa, multiplication flash cards...you just never knew what would pop outta her Santa bag! We laughed and laughed...

Yes it was a long, long drive, 14 hours, but truly it was worth it. Mary and I have spent no one- on-one time since I left home at the age of 19, and I am 51 now...you do the math...I took lots of wonderful pictures and can't wait to download them onto my computer...

I hope you all had as wonderful holiday as I did, and have the best year ahead ever! Thank you for taking the time to read this...Peace! and God's richest blessings on you all!