Give Thanks ...

We heard from the lad yesterday. It was Thanksgiving and he called about 8am (our time - 7pm his). Not a lot to report of a military nature. He had just completed his third day off in a row. Actually, the first two days they did some maintenance of vehicles and weapons. But Thanksgiving day was just fun. He said the D-Fac was all decorated with ice sculpures and that the food had been off the hook. He had spent a little time in the gym and had gone to "movie day" all three days. He said that they had some stuff coming up that would be pretty exciting (I think that means dangerous), but that he couldn't tell us about it right now.

After 15 or 20 minutes of trying to hear him over one of the worst connections we have ever had, we said farewell ... hoping that he could get onto another phone a couple hours later. That didn't happen. As I hung up the phone I thought, "I listened to astronauts talk from the moon in 1968 with greater clarity. Why can't we get a phone that works for our soldiers in Iraq?" Then I remembered that this was Thanksgiving and that just wasn't the right attitude. I occurred to me that I had just talked to my son who was in a war zone half a globe away, and he was safe. Even though we couldn't capture what he was saying very well, we could hear him. I wondered how many parents would gladly have traded my "scratchy" connection for their "no" connection, and for those who have paid the ultimate price for Iraqi freedom, their "never" connection. Needless to say, I quickly shelved my complaint and took up the spirit of praise for which the day was intended.

What a great setting to a wonderful Thanksgiving day. We baked turkey, deep fried turkey and then ate turkey ... 37 lbs. of turkey. Now that wouldn't be a big deal if we had 40 dinner guests. But there were 8 of us. Do the math. That's enough turkey to make you gobble. Our oldest son was the deep fry master - complete with a marinade injected bird. Both of our daughters made pies. And Mom did her usual tasty, juicy bird AND a pie. It was a feast! We laughed around the table until we cried - literally. While we missed our extended families, and those far away, it was a GREAT day - concluded with our traditional movie trip. Nothing says Thanksgiving like "Bond - James Bond." As we went to bed last night I said to my wife, "We have WONDERFUL kids - all four of them." We have much for which to thank our God ... and we do!