Giving Thanks!

We are so thankful to have had a wonderful Thanksgiving - and we hope you did too! Here are a couple pictures of the festivities including a 6 point buck that my cousin Jason got - his first buck on Thanksgiving morning. He was so excited and we were excited for him!

Below also is our "Christmas Letter" - sent on Thanksgiving.

Yum!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On this day, I thought I'd change up my traditions of doing an email Christmas letter to an email Thanksgiving letter. The timing seems to be better, and since we're in a season of expressing gratitude, there's no time like the present to update you on our blessings this year. I'll keep it short since most of you have been tuned into our blog, Facebook, etc. Brandon and I continue to enjoy our home, new lodge, and our jobs.

We put all home improvement projects on hold this year as we started the lodge in April. We're hoping next year to do some landscaping and we're considering new windows (which we've been putting off for years). We have one more bathroom that is in dire need of a remodel, but it continues to go to the bottom of the to-do list. What's the saying about a cobbler and his shoes???

We've had many parties, celebratations, and moments of great entertaining already in the lodge. It provides us with an area to enjoy the company of other hunting folk! And my friends too as we've had scrapbooking, stamping, and spa parties out there already. For Christmas we will have all celebrations in the lodge, which is where I'll put my real tree and get a smaller tree for the house.

As for our jobs, I continue to do the marketing for Monarch Community Bank and made big strides this year in introducing social media. The bank has a blog, Facebook and Twitter page. I continue to be amazed at what you can do with so little. I took a course on goal setting this year and I loved it! So much so that I'm now teaching a course to another organization. I'm making strides in the banking industry and although it's not the easiest thing to market, it's providing me an opportunity to grow and learn. Brandon is still with M & K Plumbing and Heating, he made an attempt at his Master's Exam this year, but will need to take another attempt in 2010. It's a tough exam!

Our families are doing well, and again we're blessed to be surrounded by love and support. This week marks the 2 year anniversary of dad's death and we continue to miss him each and every day. Grief doesn't end after a month or a year - it's a longing that I still struggle with. This year, as every Thanksgiving, we are gathered together at my mom's with extended family and Brandon's family. It's our favorite holiday because we don't have to "pick" who's family we're going to be with.

Brandon and I have some wonderful things on the horizon for us this year and I'm excited to see what it brings. With the turning of "30", it puts a lot of things into prospective. I don't want to be boastful but I also don't want to pass up a great moment of gratitude; we are thankful for our family support, our loving marriage, our warm home, our fulfulling jobs, our faithful friends, our free country, our dedicated troops, food on our table, and love in our hearts. Our prayer is that you have the same this holiday season.

Take Care and cheers to 2010!

Courtney and Brandon