Exciting News of Thanksgiving

Did this title spark attention?

No, I'm not pregnant...I guess my news isn't that exciting!*wink*

So, let's talk about the weather...

The weather has been downright gorgeous around here!  As I mentioned in a previous post, Fall has finally arrived in Northern California.

I'd much rather stay outside all day more than anywhere else right now:)

This pretty little river lies just North of our town and it's simply breathtaking this time of year.  We head over to see the Salmon spawning every mid-November.  For those who don't know, Salmon return from the ocean, up the river to their place of birth to lay their eggs before they die.  Yes, they travel upstream for many miles.  It's amazing! New salmon life emerges and the cycle starts all over again.  It's always a great science lesson for all of us:)

We can actually see the very large salmon this close!  Grandma and Grandpa went a long this year.

 Grandpa loves to be the teacher of skipping stones:)

This was one of those precious, thankful moments, for sure!  Time together with family is a real treasure that I appreciate more and more with each passing year. 

...And speaking of thankful…I am feeling incredibly blessed to be going on a pilgrimage very soon….To Rome!

That's my exciting news! Can you believe it? I have never been to Rome (Or any part of Italy, for that matter) and I'm just beyond excited!

Giddy, really:)

The exciting part of this whole thing is that it wasn't even a thought or a plan. It was one of those opportunities that presented itself at just the right time…A God-thing for sure.

  To be honest, we don't have the money for traveling of any sorts right now.  Ironically, our oldest son is just finishing his UD Rome Semester and it took a lot out of us to get him there, scholarship and all.  Many people asked if we'd go visit Rome while he was there and the answer was always: "Nope, can't afford it!"  We were just grateful that he had such an amazing opportunity through his university.

  So, the funny thing is that my husband and I had just been chatting about my love of travel and dream to "someday" visit the many holy places of our faith, not to mention Rome!  Since I started homeschooling 10 years ago, I have loved reading and learning about the lives of the saints.  It fascinates me to think about visiting their real life homes and countries.   I also have this (kind of silly) desire to someday be a Catholic pilgrimage tour guide:)  But I still have so much more to learn!   Dream, dream, dream...We can dream, right?

The very next day after this conversation, the Rome pilgrimage trip was announced at church!  Then, just 2 days after that, we were given a very unexpected monetary gift. My husband insisted that it was meant-to-be that I go!  To make matters even better, one of my dearest friends, Kim had a similar experience and we quickly became instant travel companions.  The whole thing is just incredibly exciting for both of us!

Our only sadness lies with the fact that we had both hoped and dreamed of going to Rome with our husbands.  For now, that isn't in the cards for either of us with young children at home...  

 These are 7 of the 8 kids between us and both Firefighter Dads are well-equipped to take on the challenge. I'm sure there will be some fun going on while we're gone! (At least we hope so:) 

It's all happening the end of January and that will be here before we know it!
To say that I'm feeling Thankful is an understatement…Grateful beyond words, is more like it:)