This Thanksgiving

Last Thanksgiving I was sitting around the Thanksgiving table at my friend Tracie's house in the Deep South. It was raining and 85 degrees. In between bursts of thunderstorm, my kids went swimming with Tracie's kids. We ate southern favorites along with Thanksgiving traditionals. We called out extended family to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. We did not know that we were heading into a month filled to the brim with difficulty.

In early December, Sunny began to spiral into the depths of her mental illness. We quickly realized that in order for us to continue parenting her, we needed to take some drastic measures to protect our family and get more help. The day after Christmas, we made the hard, hard decision to move back to the Pacific Northwest in order to be close to the love and support of family.

Y'all, it has been a HARD year.

• Psych hospital stay for Sunny in April
• CPS investigation of our family in May due to false allegations made by Sunny
• Our house on the market for 2 1/2 months
• Purging/packing for a cross country move
• Changing churches
• Saying goodbye to many dear friends
• Moving nearly 3000 miles with 6 kids, 3 dogs, and 2 cats
• Adjusting our family to new home, state, climate, culture
• New schools
• Career change for Matt
• Pepper diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder
• Snapper, Pepper, and Piper diagnosed with PTSD
• Psych hospital stay for Sunny in October
• Car accident for me (I hit a deer) in November, resulting in a torn rotator cuff and soft tissue damage to my neck and upper back
• My brother incarcerated
• Impending surgery to remove and biopsy a large cyst in my knee
• A crapper of an election

In the midst of the difficulties, God showed Himself--as always--to be faithful. This Thanksgiving Day I have SO MUCH for which to be thankful!

• Friends who remain dear and true across the miles
• An outstanding team of professionals who are devoted to my special needs children and who are fighting to make sure their needs are met
• The joy of living within 10 miles of almost all of my hubby's family
• Unfailing love and support from my mother-in-law
• A beautiful home, almost too good to be true
• My kids getting to grow up on a farm
• WONDERFUL new friends
• A new church home that is probably the best church we've ever been in
• My hubby's new job that he loves and is excelling in
• Great medical and car insurance
• Homeschooling Pepper and loving it
• Amazing teachers and schools for the other kids
• Sweet Pea growing and developing so beautifully! (Can you believe she's 2 1/2?)

And so much more.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!