Good Friends, Turkey Day, Life and Death

What an emotional week this has been! I love how the holidays bring us all together. It sounds so cheesy but really, holidays have given us an excuse to come home, and excuse to say I love you, and an excuse to be unnecessarily happy!

So, I'm pretty bad about picking up the phone and calling my family. I mean, REALLY bad. I have about six weeks left in my pregnancy and had yet to call my Grandma Johnson and tell her that I was expecting. She had found out through the grapevine that I was, but I know it's not the same as hearing it from the horses mouth. It seemed like something was always getting in the way and the longer I waited, the more guilty I felt that I had waited so long, so I would wait even longer..... yeah, it sure does make a lot of sense, right?! Anyway, I was hanging out at my mom and dad's on Wednesday when my Grandma came down from Rifle to spend Thanksgiving with our family. One of the things I love best about Grandparents is that they ALWAYS love you, no matter what mistakes you've made. They are the true definition of unconditional love. Well, Grandma walks through the door, looks down at my 8 months pregnant belly and says "You horses' tit!" and throws her arms around me and gives me one of the best hugs of my life. I can't explain the relief that I felt that she could laugh about how ridiculous I've been.

This Thanksgiving was one of the best I can remember for a long time. My parents bought a new dinning room table, one that's big enough for all of us to sit around at once! Our family has grown to the point that most get togethers we have, we all end up spread around the kitchen, dinning room, and living room with our meals. It was so great to be able to sit around the table and see everyone faces, and have ONE conversation instead of 5. My heart was so full, and the food was so great that my stomach was also full.... to the point where it's not even fun to be that full. LOL. We spent the rest of the night playing games, planning our route of attack for Black Friday, and laughing.

The next morning my sister, Jen, and I woke up before the butt crack of dawn to head out to get the good deals. She picked me up at 3:30am and we finished up around 1:30pm. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day....my back and feet were killing me. My head was writing checks that my body was not able to cash. It was a great time though! Jen and I had a great time laughing and shopping without the kiddos. I'm really glad that she went with me!

Like I said earlier, the holidays always bring people together. One of my best friends has been living in Provo, UT for a while now and we've been trying to meet up when I head out there or when she comes home but were not having any success. Until yesterday!! Cammie was home for Thanksgiving and we were able to meet for dinner last night! Jon and Gavin came too and we all had a great time eating good food and catching up on what life has thrown our way in the last 6 months.

Over the last few weeks I have found out that a girl I went to high school with, as well as one of the Coach's/Teachers I had in high school had both passed away very unexpectedly. Both of them left this life long before they should have. I found out a few more details of one of their death's today and found myself feeling really down in the dumps and overall just sad. I was poking around on Facebook today and found a link that one of my friends posted. It was a song that he had written. I listened to the song and it made this pregnant lady burst into tears. It was the perfect song to put me back into a good mood. His song talks about telling the people that you love them before it's too late. Wanted to share the link with you all and also tell you all that I love each and every one of you. My life would not be the same without each of you.
http://www.garageband.com/mp3player/artist/mattgriffith