cirlce of life, love, family

Last week, I left Oklahoma around 1:00pm to make the oh-so-familiar drive up I35 to Iowa. I have driven that route so many times in my life that I could navigate it in my sleep. And sometimes I do. ;)

Thursday was Thanksgiving Day, and it dawned cold and clear in Iowa. My mom's side of the family gathered at a local church, as we have been doing the past several years...ever since we outgrew my grandparents' farm house. We always form a {giant} circle before we eat. We count how many are there, and then we pray. It is a sweet, sweet tradition, and I know every single one of my relatives would agree in saying that The Circle is a special place with a special feeling of love and safety and family.


{my grandparents are on the left above}

This year there were fifty-five people in The Circle. I believe a few more may have come in later. This represents only my mom's parents' direct descendants. Just them, their ten children, their grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Oh, and the fifty-five people there weren't even a full showing. We're a large family.



Of course, after we pray, we eat.


{My aunt Cindy baked this delicious pie! I ate a piece before I even fixed a plate of food. Because that's how I roll. And that's why I roll...}

Before and after the meal, there are always multiple games of Rook going on around the room. My grandpa is better at Rook than your grandpa. My nine year old cousin is better at Rook than you are.



After the meal, I conducted an impromptu engagement session for my sweet cousin Anna and her fiance Michael. They braved the cold and totally rocked it for our quick shoot. It doesn't hurt that they are adorable and completely and happily in love.



To say that I had a wonderful Thanksgiving would be an understatement. I missed my dad's side of the family, because I had to get back for a wedding here on Saturday. But I did stop and see my grandma {dad's mom} on my way out of town, and she gave me a bag filled with homemade cookies and zucchini bread, to enjoy on the drive home. I love my family!!!

Hope you have all recovered from the holiday weekend. :)

~abi~