MANY MANY MANY THANKS!!!!

Wow what a weekend! We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving Feast this year at my parents home. It was a HUGE party with about 60 family members all in one place...can you believe it! It was big and it was Fun! Thank Heavens the Rain took a break so we could enjoy our day outside!

I thought it would be fun to share 5o things I am thankful for... Sit back, get comfy and enjoy my Long List of Thankfulness as I document this years Thanksgiving Day! 1. I am thankful for this HANDSOME Man...My DAD! I love him like crazy and because of him, I was lucky enough to be asked to be the OFFICIAL THANKSGIVING PHOTOGRAPHER. Sure Dad! I love to take pics and YES PEOPLE THEY WILL BE ON MY BLOG :) SMILE!!! Really though, my dad is a wonderful guy and I am so proud to be his daughter. He has taught me so much and is a great example to me and my family. LOVE YOU DAD!!!

2. I am Thankful for this beautiful Lady...My Mom! My mom is one Special Gal. I am thankful for all she does for our family. Her faith, example, love and kindness are some of the things I admire about this Amazing Lady. Thanks mom for Hosting this Big get together! it was worth all the hard work! Great Memories :)

3. I am Thankful for my Sweet Husband Leonard. He is my Best Friend! I love him to pieces. My life would not be complete without my Lenny! I love how we are on the same page in life. Our Goals are the same and we work hard together. Thanks for all you do for me and our kiddos. I love you!!! Dang we look GOOD! :)

4. I am Thankful for Blakey Boy. My little man is such a joy in my life. I love having a boy. You are so loud and the trouble you get into blows my mind sometimes. But I still love you and you make me happy :)

5. I am Thankful for my Sweet Carly. You are such an independent girl. What a great quality to have. I love your hugs, Love Notes and your beautiful smile. I am thankful to have you for my daughter. I love you Carly :)

6. I am Thankful for my Miss Kaitlyn. You are growing up too fast! Stop it!!! :) I love how responsible you are. You are a great helper and are fun to talk to. I love your Love Notes and your thoughtfulness of others. I am proud to be your mother. I love you Kaitlyn:)

7. I am Thankful for my Sister Ann & Her Hubby Mason. Ann is a talented lady. She gives amazing Hair Cuts...That is why I look so good :) j/k She is an Amazing Seamstress and She is a Book worm. She has given me many great recommendations of books I should read. Through her suggestions, I have found some of my Favorite Reads :) Mason is gonna be a dentist in a couple years and I am thankful to have a Dentist in the family! SWEET!!! Keep up the good work Mason :)

8. I am Thankful to finally get a picture of my niece Ethne. She has been avoiding me... But HA I win and she is a cutie. I love her Pink Cape. Grandma has fun dress up clothes hu?

9. I am thankful for my niece Claire. What a cutie! She and Carly are best buds! They are the same age and they both have big imaginations. It is fun to watch them play!

10. I am Thankful for Cute Blue Eyed Babies! Van, my nephew is the cutest ever. He gets to wear this helmet for 10 weeks & is still happy about it. He is the smiley-est little guy ever. His big grin will just melt your heart :) Love you Van!

11. I am thankful for my sister Celeste and her hubby Matt (the guy on the left) and for their friend ? (can;t remember his name...oops) for being great sports and smiling for the camera. Thanks for humoring me guys! But really. My little sister Celeste is a great gal. Happy to have her as my sister. She is a fun girl and is so beautiful. She also makes people look great with her MAD HAIR-DO skillz. Lucky me...2 Hair Stylist in 1 family. You are all jealous right :) j/k. Matt is a funny guy. Cracking jokes and hard working commercial real estate guy!

12. I am thankful for my Brother Jacob & my sis in law Melissa & their 3 little Girlies. Janie, Ella & Molly. They have their hands full! As you can see. These 3 kiddos are so cute! Melissa always has a great story to tell about the adventures in motherhood. Jacob is a great artist and loves MOVIES.

13. I am Thankful for my Brother Michael and his FANTASTIC Homemade Root beer. You rock bro! My little bro is 18, over 6 foot tall and is fun to talk to. He is an eagle scout and working with my dad as he earns $ for his mission this coming summer!

14. I Am Thankful for Aunts, Uncles And Cousins. They Make life so much fun! I am blessed to have a pretty big family I'd say and it was great to catch up with them all and give hugs, visit, reminisce and best of all take their pictures to remember this Thanksgiving day. This is my Aunt Betsy and Uncle Bob from Utah and half of their kiddos. L-R Derrick, Tiffany and her Hubby, Kendrick, Bob & Betsy. I love aunt Betsy, my dad's sister. I am thankful you always let our family come stay with you when we'd come to CA! I looked forward to your toe pinching wars and Uncle Bob's Donald Duck impersonations.

15. Thankful for great Turkey Cookers... Aunt Cindy & Uncle Richard (my dad's Brother) We love having these guys at all our family get togethers. They are so supportive and we sure love them both!

16. Thankful for The Love Connection People.... Uncle Tom & Aunt June... I will always have a special place in my heart with these folks cuz through them I met my AMAZING HUBBY! Love you guys :) Thanks for loving Elder Zito and making him feel at home and having a relationship with him so that eventually I had the chance to meet my Leonard! I am thankful for you!

17. Thankful for Cool Accents...My Cousin Heather and Her Family. Wayne is from New Zealand and I Love his accent. I need to think of more things to talk to him about so I can hear him talk. Heather and I go way back to the good ole days of cousin slumber parties and New Kids on the Block. We loved going to SunSplash and getting "Tan", even though we seemed to only get burnt to a crisp! ahh the days! Heather & Wayne have some stinking cute girls. Taelor, that chunky cute baby & Haylee she is a fireball. I love her red hair!

18. Thankful for Scrapbooking Connections....My Cousin Erika & Her Family.Hubby Ryan is a jokester and is fun to visit with. Erika is fun and works at Scrapbooks Etc. No fair!!! They have 3 adorable kids...L-R Mackenzie, Zayne, & Madison.

19. Thankful to meet new people...This is my Cousin Aubrey and Her Man! So good to see you cuz! P.s. - I missed getting a picture of my Cousin Josh & His wife Meesa. They came late and the camera was put away by then. Sorry, but I am glad you made it :)

20. Thankful for Tongans...My Cousin Lisa & Cuz Lopa. I love these gals like crazy. We have had some great times together. I love when we scrapbook together :)

21. Thankful for Knowledgeable folks...like my Cousin Alex, He always has an opinion. & Lisa's Baby Girl Fatai. That little sweetcake girl is so stinking adorable.

22. Thankful for photogenic people...Lisa's Paita is so photogenic. She loves to get her picture taken. She is posing with cousin Janie. So Cute! I love her long hair. She is a doll! And a Little Diva too ;)

23. Thankful for The Turkey Friers.... WE need these guys :) Leonard, Richard, Dad (Jim) & Troy...Lisa's Hubby. I never did get their whole family together. RATS!!!

24. Thankful for set up crews and great cooks...Uncle Rex & Aunt Kay... My Mom's sister joined in the fun this year and we love when Aunt Kay comes! She makes the Best Apple Pie and her Rolls are DELICIOUS! Thanks! Thanks Uncle Rex for helping set up tables and chairs :)

25. Thankful for 2nd backup hair stylist & neighbor practically...My Cousin Rachel & Her Fam. Rachel is a gorgeous lady, at least i think so. She is also a talented hair stylist and fun to visit with. Her Hubby Dave is a nice guy & i need to get to know him better:) and Sweet Carsyn is adorable. I love her hair bows. Always looks too cute! We need to get together! we live across the street practically!

26. Thankful for Sporty Folks...My Cousins Paul & Barbara. The Tall Cousins. And Very Sporty might i add. Paul is a Baseball guy and Barb is a Basketball gal. Very Talented people. Love them!

27. Thankful for polka dots...really I LOVE Polka dots and So Glad Kalopa could help me remember my Love for polka dots! Lopa is the sweetest girl! So happy to have her apart of our family! love ya Girl :)

28. Thankful it is FINALLY TIME TO EAT... yummy!

29. Thankful for Choices...I love Carly's Face in this pic, click on it to make it bigger. Looks like she is thinking real hard about all the many choices to eat today. Love it :)

30. Thankful for Cheesball...Delicious Appitizer and a Holiday tradition. Great job Ann :)

31. Thankful for all the Fixings....Mashed Potatoes, Gravy & Stuffing. You CAN'T have a Feast without it!

32. Thankful for Turkey Friers.... 20 lbs of Turkey in 45 Minutes...oh yeah! We had 5 Turkeys this year, crazy hu? We all got to bring a little home.

33. Thankful for Roasters...Keeping all that Delicious Turkey Warm!

34. Thankful for Kids who can serve themselves.... Carly looks happy with her "choices"

35. Thankful for Yummy Food...Kaitlyn's Plate is making me HUNGRY!!!

36. Thankful for Homemade Pecan Pie... Yes, I feel domestic making a pie for Thanksgiving. I seem to stick to the tradition of making Pecan Pie every year. And Every year I make it I forget how i need to tweak the recipe. This is pie #2. I totally burnt the first one :( I Think i have it figured out though! note to self the bake time directions and temperture on my card is correct!)

37. Thankful for Pie Time....Wow, Look at ALL those Pies. Only Half got eaten so guess what that means? I got to bring my pie home all to myself. How Evil! I love Pecan Pie but it doesn't love me :)

38. Thankful for Father & Son Bonding time watching.........

FOOTBALLL on the Big Screen. Can;t be Thanksgiving without some Football :)

I love this pic of the Boys watching the games. All the Dad's were hoping the love of the game would get passed down to their youngens. Leonard is hoping and praying Blake grows up to be the size of Uncle Michael. Over 6 ft and solid. He can smell the dirt on Blake's Football Jersey! :)

We will see :)

39. Thankful for my Great Sister Ann. I have already said I am thankful for her, But I REALLY AM! I love this girl :) cute pic sister :)

40. Thankful for pictures that turn out GREAT!... Me and K look good :) Thankful for Sunshine too!

41. Thankful for Smiley Kiddos... Molly & Blake like to play together.

42. Thankful for Mothers & daughters.... aren't mom's the Best? I think so :)

43. Thankful for my little Model....Kaitlyn loves wearing this poodle skirt at Grandma's. She loves when I blog about her and is always coming up with good blogging ideas :)

44. Thankful for Pals....These little models also LOVE to pose for pictures! Cracks me up :)

45. Thankful for Dirty Boys too.... Give Blake a couple hours, A cup of Rootbeer and plenty of dinner plates laying around and you get this..... Happy Dirty Blakey Boy. He even got dirtier than this!

46. Thankful for Curious Kiddos... I found Janie & Blake picking the leaves off the plants and playing in the dirt. Aah HAA! CAught you in the act!

47. Thankful for TRAMPOLINES...The kids loved jumping together. They especially like me taking their pics as they were showing me all their tricks. Too Cute!

48. Thankful for Little Drummer Boys.... Little Zayne was so cute with this Drum. He was pretty shy when it came to getting his pic, but at last I got a cute one :)

49. Thankful for for Creative Ring Leaders...only the good ones like Claire & Carly. These two organized a "Parade" and wanted all the adults to come watch. We did get quite a crowd gathered and it was a riot!

Here we have a Cousin Kick Line going a mini version of the Rocketts.

50. I am Thankful for Grand Finales..... Here our performers end the parade with a triple splits combination! I'd say we had a GRAND Thanksgiving this year and glad to be the photographer so we could have all these memories to share and remember. I am also Thankful to be finished with this Super Duper Long Post! Thanks for hanging in there! Til Next Year! Thank Heavens :)