"Knowles Thanksgiving Celebration"

We were delighted again to host the "Knowles Thanksgiving Celebration". Sue as her brother has labeled her is the Knowles Matriarch. Marquis Memorial UM Church, where Sue works is gracious enough to let us hold the Celebration there as we are such a large family to seat this many at a table in our house would be impossible. This year there were 33 present. Each year there is a different group of people here because each year, some are able to come and others are not. This is due to the circumstances in their lives, such as where they are living. For example, this year we find our niece Denise & her husband Jimmy & children Jackson & Luke living in Michigan where her husband has accepted the position as Assistant District Attorney. Denise's sister Kim and husband Drew who not long ago had a sweet baby girl Anna moved to England. We missed them. They were all in our thoughts and prayers and included in our prayer before our meal as well as Sue's brother Larry & wife Janet and all our other relatives not with us. Maybe in 2010 when we have our next "Knowles Thanksgiving Celebration" these family members will be with us. We will see you then!!!


Our son's wife Tara was able to bring her grandmother and aunt. This was so special. Her grandmother told Sue that since 1949 this was the very first year she didn't prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Sue felt so honored that she came and spent Thanksgiving with us. Imagine how it was for her not to fix Thanksgiving for the first time in 59 years. That must have been bittersweet. We can't imagine how she felt, but Sue was so honored to have her and Tara's Aunt with us.



Eric and Holly also joined in with the children. Entertaining them with their talents too. They showed them how to give "piggy back rides" and even gave them rides. Then they showed them how they give each other rides! They were great with the children. The adults got a big kick out of watching them. Aunt Sue almost had a heart attack when Eric showed Sue how Holly dismounted.


There were 6 children somewhat close to the same age that had a ball playing together and renewing there friendship. It was fun to see them playing together and looking forward to seeing each other again. They toured the church, played hide and seek and just enjoyed being together.



This year we had our niece Stephanie and her very soon to be husband, Cliff. Also Cliff's mother, father, sister and brother from Arizona! It was great getting to know them. Sue was able to chat with them while eating. They were very nice and so gracious. Such a wonderful family! And Cliff, wow, what a wonderful husband he is going to be! He jumped right in with Stephanie and they joined Donna, Eric, and Holly and kicked Sue out of the kitchen after the meal. They dove right in and did the entire clean up! That was a trememdous job and they did it all! What a crew! They did a super job! We can't thank them enough. This was Stephanie's first time coming to the Knowles Thanksgivng Celebration and she just dove right in and helped. You are all such a blessing!



Bob and Robin also brought Robin's son Jose. It was great to get to know him better. Ben another of Robin's sons was also there. We were so sorry we didn't get the opportunity to visit with him one on one. I hope he will forgive us. We were so happy he did get to be with us and hope he will come again and give us to opportunity to get to know him more.

Rick and Donna, came with Eric and Holly. It was wonderful to have them all here this year. They are always such a help with clean up and it is so great to see them. We need to get together more often. Let's try. We don't see each other near enought! We miss being with you. Let's make more of an effort.


The people that came as visitors are now family and are expected to come again to our Knowles Family Thanksgiving Celebrations. We hope to see you next time!

We can not tell you how delighted we are to host these Celebrations. The Social Hall is empty, the dishes are all packed away, the crock pots are all stored and linens are tucked away. As we reflect on all the fun and fellowship, the work that went into getting ready was nothing but joy in preparation for our every other year "Knowles Thankgiving Celebration". See you all in November 2010"

Autumn

We have enjoyed so much the wonderful colors of this fall. I can't remember a fall when the leaves have stayed on the trees so long. We have had several opportunities to take drives not just for pleasure but out of necessity but the plus side was the wonderful scenery we were able to witness. God's beauty was all around us. It was such a blessing. Each time we remarked how much it made the journey more enjoyable.

As we prepare for family to come for our Thanksgiving Day dinner we are again reminded how blessed we are to be a part of such a loving family. Even the family that find themselves distanced this year and not able to be here are blessed. They are in these areas with new and exciting jobs, and have exciting new homes. One is in England, how exciting is that? Experiencing an new country with a new baby. One lives in Michigan and her husband is Assistant District Attorney.

At the same time we have "new family" coming. One of our nieces is preparing for marriage. We are excited that she and her soon to be husband will be coming and his family is going to be joining in the Thanksgiving celebration. Now that is an added blessing! We will miss those that find themselves away this year, but they will be close in our hearts. They are being blessed everyday, and will continue to be blessed we know! We will also be blessed with meeting children of our brother's wife we have never met. We are looking forward to meeting her son's she is so proud of.

Then we will get to see our brother and sister and their chilren that live in SC that we don't get to see near as often as we use to. I don't think we have seen them in a year. Wow that is awful!

There is a brother in FL that has never been able to come either with his wife. One day we are hoping that his circumstances will change and he will be able to join in our day. We will also keep them in our prayers this day!

God is so good! We know that there are many people who are not as fortunate as we are, and we pray a miracle for them. We for one will be giving to our local food pantry in hopes of helping that we can reach out to a few during this Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sue sees the increasing numbers every day in need of help at her work, it is so difficult to witness the struggles and not be able to help each one.

She also realizes the only way she can help them all is through prayer, asks that we all keep the hungry, cold and homeless in your prayers. God bless all of our family and friends this Thanksgiving season.

Election Day

Well today is an historical day in our country. Either we will elect our first African American President or the first Female Vice President. It will be exciting to see how it turns out. I pray that whom ever is elected, will lead us well. Our country is certainly going through hard times right now. We need strong leadership and we need leaders that will prayerfully consider the majority of people in their decision making process.

The most important thing we can do is exercise our right to vote today. No matter who is your choice in this election, please make it be known by exercising your right to vote. Remember if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the outcome!

I know no matter what the outcome, we will be praying for our leaders and asking for wisdom and guidance in all their functions as they serve our country.