Doubly Thankful!

To Al: Philippians 1:3 "Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart."
Well, if you know us, you know why we are so thankful today:

Three years ago, we downsized and moved to a cottage-style home. The housing market was booming and we knew it would not take long to sell our old 3600 sq ft. house. To make a long, long story short, to this date, it has not sold. We nor our realtors can figure out why. It is a great "family" home. The master is on the ground floor with two bedrooms and two bonus rooms upstairs. The bonus rooms are great playroom/tv rooms/billiard/game rooms for a family with children. OR one bonus could be used as a bedroom with the other a playroom. In addition to those two rooms, there is a 24' X 24' family room with a fireplace. It is in the country on a circular street with no main streets entering into the neighborhood. Children can ride their bicycles and skate or skateboard with no fear of traffic.

All that was said to say this: for almost 4 years, we have had two mortgages and therefore, all our "play" money has been going toward these mortgages. We didn't know when we would ever get to go to Brazil again to visit Kris and Demps.

Fast forward to about 6 weeks ago when Kristy called me and asked if she were able to get Friends and Family passes for us to fly, would there be any possibility we could come. My first response was, "no, I don't think so." Then the more we talked, the more excited I got and we thought "well, we might be able to work this out." Fast forward again to today...WE ARE GOING tomorrow. We are meeting Kris and Demps in Rio, spending a couple of days there and then driving on to Belo.

I am thankful for Kris' friend who is always so generous (this is the second time we've flown on a pass).

I am thankful for the opportunity to take Maggie.

I am thankful for the opportunity to be with Meg on her 10th birthday.

I am thankful for the opportunity to see, up close and personal, "Christ the Redeemer" statue in Rio.

I am thankful for 2 weeks with family.

I am thankful that Tim could get vacation time.

Today I am just PLAIN THANKFUL.