Weekly Update: 11.30.24
Funny how this all looks different
But it feels the same
Like how life never stops changing
But some things never changeSo fill your plate and fill your drink
And fill this house with family
The kind of love that all these years can't wash awayBen Rector, "The Thanksgiving Song"
This week slipped by like whisps of steam over a cup of coffee. We could barely breath the moments in before they were gone. Life is as busy and hectic as always, but the days were made meaningful with simple sweet moments. Meal prepping in the wall tent with all the ladies. Making dinner rolls with my mom in our bunkhouse kitchen. Sitting around our work-bench-turned-dinner-table for Thanksgiving dinner.
I've spoken a bit about our efforts towards a more healthy lifestyle over the last months. We broke with some of our Thanksgiving food traditions this year, opting for Paleo and gluten-free versions of our favorites. The only real cheats where the breads, which several of us skipped. I was impressed, as most dishes were as delicious as ever.
The holiday took up most of our time this week. We meal prepped Wednesday. We celebrated Thursday. We deep cleaned on Friday, in preparation for decorating for Christmas this weekend. We did find a little time to work on the bunkhouse. Grace, Levi, and I finished siding the last living room wall. Levi and Jeremiah both worked on their respective rooms. Our dad trimmed one of the living room windows. The men also worked on installing our chimney.
We had another family of cats join our homestead this week. Last year, a black and white cat brought two kittens to our place. Those kittens grew up to be Gandalf (our grey cat) and Arwen (our black cat). The mother of the kittens left, though she has appeared now and then throughout the year. This week, she came back with a litter of four -- this time mostly black kittens with white paws. We cannot keep them, so my nieces and nephew are doing their best to tame them all so we can find them proper homes.
Grace has continued to have so much fun with her little Milly. The pup seems to grow both in size and energy every day. She definitely keeps us all on our toes.
Spending less time on the bunkhouse was a nice change of pace this week, but I am looking forward to easing back into our regular routine after the weekend. But before we get back to weilding nail guns and working miter saws, we will be celebrating the first Sunday of Advent tomorrow. We plan to attend church and then spend the afternoon decorating our wall tent. It's my favorite time of year, and though it has arrived more quickly than I expected, I am ready to embrace it. No matter how crazy life is, there is always enough time to worship, and that is what Advent calls us to. And so -- come, let us adore Him.
