Happy Thanksgiving...

Since I probably won't get around to it tomorrow, here's wishing you all a delicious and Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. As I'm sure everyone does, I have times where I am unhappy or angry with things going on in my life, but I know it could always be worse. I know that I am very lucky for the life that I have and like every year, I have much to be thankful for this year. Here's just a few that I could come up with off the top of my head:

For these things, I am thankful:

*First and foremost, my beautiful, healthy little boy Lincoln.

*My health, home, freedom.
*Having a wonderful family, and the best friends I could ask for.

*2 adorable dogs.
*Waking up each day with the opportunity to live how I want that day.

Sadly, this is the first Thanksgiving without my Papa. I miss him dearly, and know he's looking down on us all. I'm thankful to have had such a wonderful Papa. :) Miss you Papa, and love you forever.

Lastly, I want to take the time to remember a dear friend of ours, Shannon Jacob Smith, who 6 months ago yesterday was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. We miss him dearly and as we celebrate this Thanksgiving, we are thankful for having this wonderful man grace our lives. He was so special to us, as he was a member of FarmHouse Fraternity with Scott (along with brothers Spencer and Steven) and Shannon lived with us on 2 occasions when he started at P&G. He was such a wonderful friend and such an amazing person. We will think of him as we cut into the turkey we will be preparing, because it actually was Shannon's turkey from his freezer. The turkey was given to Scott by Shannon's family, when Scott went to help clean out Shannon's Iowa City home in the weeks following the funeral. Part of me doesn't even want to cut into it, because it was supposed to be Shannon's Thanksgiving turkey this year. :( It will be so bittersweet. Shannon, we miss you, love you, and thank you for the turkey.

Returning after a long hiatus...

Hi everyone. When I started the blog, I was pretty good about updating it. I had gone on a trip to see one of my best friends and the day after I got home, I went to be with my Papa and my family at the hospital for the next 3-4 days until my Papa (my mom's father) passed away. He was very special to me. I always knew that when I had a son, the middle name would be after my Papa. Papa was (it's hard to say 'was') "John David", and Lincoln is "Lincoln John".

Lincoln and Papa had a very special bond between them. I loved seeing Lincoln interact with his Papa when he saw him. I was fortunate to have my mom babysit Lincoln for about a year. My mom happens to live with my Nana & Papa, so Lincoln spent many days of every week while I was in school with the 3 of them. Lincoln would sit on Papa's lap and get cookies, crackers, & puff popcorn from him. He loved playing in Papa's room with Papa's cars that were on his shelf. I didn't smiles come often from Papa over the years, but when Lincoln I'd walk into the room with Lincoln, I saw one...everytime.

Right after Halloween last year, I purchased a mailman costume online for Halloween this year. Papa used to be a mailman. He was the oldest ever employed by the Cedar Rapids post office. I took it over to show Papa and he just grinned. I think he forgot about it after awhile. This year, I decided a month in advance to take it over to Nana & Papa's to have Nana & Nonie (the name the grandkids have for my mom) look at it to see if it would need altered. Lincoln ran into the living room in full USPS mailman attire and Papa's face just lit up. I said "look Papa, Lincoln is YOU for Halloween!"

I'm so glad I decided to do that, because a week later, Papa was gone. I will miss him very much, and I will tell Lincoln about his Papa, how his middle name is after him, and about the special bond they shared. :)

IN LOVING MEMORY OF:

John David "Papa" Reader

February 23, 1925-October 5, 2009

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS