Thankful Thursday

 1. Cheri and I attended a Point of Grace and Jason Gray Christmas concert on December 5. It was amazing. I knew it would end up being my favorite Christmas concert of the year. 

2. All of us (except for Nadia) met most of the Towfighis plus Toby for pizza and a Christmas show at a church near where Jenna and Toby live on December 6. Brendan made use of the free nursery service. 

3. The kids enjoyed attending a Christmas party at the Seiberts house on December 7 while Cheri and I attended a Christmas candlelight concert at Bucknell.

4. Nadia enjoyed attending a Christmas dinner for the employees at the kennel where she works. She also was very grateful for the Christmas gifts her boss gave her, especially the $100 gift card. 

5. Our family plus Cheri attended a Christmas concert at our church on December 12. 

6. Nadia enjoyed watching her friend perform in the Nutcracker on December 13.

7. Nine of the Towfighis met us at Great Wolf Lodge on Monday. We spent time in the water park on Monday and Tuesday.  They spent the night at our house on Tuesday night and attended a homeschool roller skating party with us on Wednesday morning. We started the annual tradition of going to Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate Ian's birthday in 2018. This was our 6th time we visited GWL; one of those trips was in May of 2023. In December of 2023 and 2024 we went to the indoor water parks at Kalahari and Camelback. I think the kids enjoy these experiences a lot more when we invite friends (which we did last year) or cousins (May 2023 and this week) to join us. They love their cousins very much! Paul and Joe played two games of chess inside the water park on Tuesday. Paul was the only one who never wore a bathing suit on this trip. I hug

8. We watched Cooper while the Seiberts were at GWL last week, and they watched Milo for us for a little over one day this week while we were at GWL. It's so wonderful being able to swap dog sitting with them. Unfortunately, it won't work for Milo to be with them over Christmas. Praying that he'll have a good stay at the kennel next week. 

9. We usually have the thermostat set between 68-70 degrees in the winter. Thanks to our "smart" thermostat, it read 49 degrees when we came home from Great Wolf Lodge. We wore our winter coats while we ate our tacos. Thankfully, the pipes didn't freeze, and it only took two hours for the temperature to rise to where we wanted it to be. 

10. The kids attended two Christmas parties yesterday - one with homeschoolers at the roller-skating rink in the morning and with the youth group at night. We gave Faith and Xandir a ride to the roller-skating rink in the morning, and they spent the afternoon with us until it was time to go to Bible quizzing. Faith and Nadia baked cookies that they took to the youth group party. Ian and Xandir played games and went on a long walk with Milo. I'm thankful the kids have good relationships with friends and also cousins!