Thankful

As a kid, I used to say that thanksgiving was my favourite holiday and my favourite time of year. The only reason was my birthday is October 11 and it usually fell on, or very close to, thanksgiving. But this weekend, I realized I love it for more reasons than that. To be honest, if it weren't for the 10 text messages I received Friday morning, I would have forgotten it was my birthday all together.

Although, I hated the cold, the rain and the fact that the Horsman Bocce Tournament was cancelled this year, I still loved this past weekend with my family.

Every year for the past 10 years (?), the Horsman families and our close friends pack up clothing for all types of weather, and head out for the long drive to Bronte Creek Provincial Park. (That is sarcasm. It literally is 15 minutes from my house). You never know what kind of weather you are going to get. We've had years where we wear shorts and flip flops, years of snowsuits, years of raincoats and rubber boots. It is unpredictable. Almost gives you an adrenaline rush. You never know what you're going to get.

But there are some things you can be sure of when camping with my ever-growing family. You can guarantee that you will laugh a lot. You can guarantee that you will learn something new, whether its a fun fact, how to play a new game or, something you never knew about another person. You can guarantee to wear at least a sweater at night. You can guarantee you don't want to sleep in a tent. You can guarantee to eat baked goods and junk all day, and have an amazing dinner in the evening. You can guarantee that you will be up late at night and won't sleep in past 9:30. You can guarantee that you will have one short period of time that you are grumpy for whatever reason (most likely lack of sleep). And you can guarantee you will get suckered into pushing kids on a swing at least once all weekend.

I am so grateful that for the first time in 3 years, I spent the entire weekend with my family. I never went to other thanksgiving activities. I just spent time with the people that matter so much to me.

I am thankful that I have lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin-in-laws, second cousins, and family friends. I am thankful that I have an amazing mom and dad, 4 awesome sisters, 3 super brother-in-laws, 3 handsome nephews and 1 darling niece. I am grateful that all these people love me no matter what. No matter how unfortunate I may look while camping. No matter what I am wearing. No matter what I say. And above all else, I am grateful that all these amazing people, love the LORD.

I am thankful that little Evelyn could come for an afternoon with her momma. I am thankful that my Grandma Evelyn could come for dinner last night. I am so thankful that the LORD blessed them with the strength, despite their illnesses, to visit us, even if it was only a short period of time.

The LORD has been so good to me the past year. He has pulled me closer to Him than ever before. Sometimes I feel like He is literally right up in my face saying "Woo-hoo Jenna! I am right here!" It has been amazing. But that is a topic for another blog post, coming soon :)

And to end of this blog post, here is a funny story from the weekend:

I don't remember what I was talking about, but I accidentally let a "bad word" slip from my mouth in front of my niece (3 years old) and nephew (2 years old). The bad word was "stupid" (Oh! The horror!). Levi looked up at me and said "Gasp! That's a bad word!" and Jaeda said, "Ya Jenna! That's a bad word! Next time I am going to wash your mouth out with soap!"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Count your blessings. I can guarantee you have a lot to be thankful for no matter what you're going through.