Dan Gould

Tag: Thanksgiving

  • Thanksgiving

    “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1     (NLT)

    Well here it is, in less than 5 hours Stephanie and I will have eaten our first home made (our home, by us) turkey and shared a meal together as a family with my Dad joining us.  This year is different for us in many ways. Typically we are in MO seeing my side of the family and then traveling to see Stephs side of the family.  It typically includes a lot of food, a visit to the farm for a tractor rides, and yes, the forced family picture that no-one really wants to take.  But this year we are home in Texas because we will travel to MO in December for Stephs brothers College Graduation.

    But being away from the norm or tradition sometimes helps put life in perspective.  We have all heard it said that we take things for-granted.  Many times we don’t realize what we have until it’s gone or we miss out on something we are use to doing.  So today, make sure you tell the people closes to you how thankful you are for them.  As they say in the UFC be first, don’t wait for someone else to say something before you.

    Today, let’s not just eat a bunch of food and gather as family and friends without letting the people in our lives know how thankful we are for them.  They may never know how you really feel, and you may never have the opportunity to share how special they are to you again.  So be thankful!

  • Thanksgiving Rewind!!!!

    We had a great Thanksgiving with our family.  As we drove from place to place it gave me some time to think about all the things I am thankful for.  So here is a short list of the things I am thankful for:

    1. Jesus – I am not trying to sound super spiritual here but I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for Jesus. At a young age giving my life to Christ was something I did because I wanted to go to Heaven.  At 18, when I learned more about what it truly meant to be a Christian changed my life forever.  Today, I am so thankful for His grace, mercy, and blessings.  Every time I look at the things in my life I am reminded of how good God is!
    2. My Family – I can’t imagine life without my family of 4.  It has been a challenging year with Jackson being in and out of the hospital with really non-related things, but to be honest, we are so blessed and it really could be much worse.  Seeing Stephanie smile and hearing her laugh still lights me up on the inside like it did the first day we met.  Josiah is growing so fast!  Watching him look and experience new things in life helps me remember what it was like to be a kid and experience things all over again!  Jackson has a way just to brighten any situation.  From his laugh to his babble, when I look at him i see the miracle of God and am reminded just how precious life is and how faithful God is!
    3. My Extended Family – Stephanie and I come from very different families.  Our families have played such a huge role in developing us, caring for us, and helping us succeed in life.  It’s always good to come home, and sad to leave because the time goes by so fast.  The boys have had a blast with the family over the past couple of days.  We are so blessed and the boys are so spoiled because of them.
    4. Our Church Family – We have been humbled and blessed by the generosity of our church family.  Words can’t even explain the feelings of gratitude we have.  To be loved on in such a big way spoke to the depths of our hearts.  All we can say is thank you!
    5. Our Friends – We have great friends around the nation.  Your prayers, time,  and words of encouragement have been a blessing to us.

    What about you, did you take time to think or talk about the things you are thankful for?  What would your list include?

  • Another Thanksgiving Meal, Family Portrait, & MU Football

    Today started early with a nice appointment to the Chiropractor.  While adjusting me the Chiropractor said “You really needed this didn’t you?”  I guess was a nice way to say, “Man, you are messed up!”  After about 10 minutes she was done and moved on to Stephanie.  Visiting the Chiropractor seems to be the family stop when we are in Salem.  I have no idea why, that’s just the way it goes.

    At noon all the family showed up for another Thanksgiving meal.  This time we had ham instead of turkey.  The food was so good.  I think I have gained 15 pounds just this week!  We took tons of pictures!  It seemed every time I turned around someone was snapping a picture.

    Sadly, Mizzou lost to Kansas today in Football.  It was an exciting game and KU played good.  Sad day for MU fans but a great way for KU to end the season and hopefully get a bowl game.  Yes I said it, that’s for you Mike and the Cunningham’s!

    Here are some of the pics from today.

  • Tractor Rides, The Farm, Christmas Gifts, B-Day Cake

    One of the things that has become a tradition for Josiah when we visit Nana and Papa’s house is to go on a tractor ride with Papa.  Today, he got to do that; and boy was he excited.  Also one of the things that has become a tradition for all of us now has been going to the farm and having Great Papa give us a ride behind his big tractor.

    Today we did things a little different!  Instead of being pulled behind a tractor, we just piled in the back of Great Papa’s pickup and went for a ride through the farm.  Both boys had so much fun and Stephanie’s Grandfather loves to do it.  We saw cows, drove through the creek, went past the old barn, and saw more cows. Doesn’t sound like much, but the fact that the family was all together and the boys loved it, made it so worth it!!!  To top it off, the weather wasn’t to bad either, it has been colder!!!

    Afterward, we all came back to the house for some good ole BBQ Pork Steak!!!!  It was so good!  The night was capped off with Christmas Gifts for the boys.  Nana and Papa said, since this is the only time we will all be together lets do it tonight.  However, Nana said something about coming to Texas over Christmas.  After the opening of gifts, we celebrated Rachel’s Birthday with an Ice Cream B-Day Cake.  It was sooooo good, and I don’t even like ice cream that much!

    Today was a lot of fun. Here are some pics of our adventure.

  • Nana and Papa’s

    We made it!!!  After eating a ton of food, playing with, better yet, being worked over by kids, and getting my rear kicked by my nephew in Madden 09 football, we packed up, left Nixa and headed for Salem MO.  We got in at about 8:15 last night.  Some exciting news . . . we bought gas last night for $1.57 and saw it for $1.41 on our way here!  We are excited to be here and will celebrate another Thanksgiving feast on Saturday.

    Here are some pics from yesterday:

  • The Gould Invasion has begun!!!

    Well after getting a later start than we wanted too we left McKinney last night at 7:15 and arrived at my moms house (AKA – Grandma Sheila) at 2:30 am. The boys slept most of the way, and of coarse when we got here, they both woke up and didn’t want to go back to sleep.  I think everyone finally fell asleep around 3:30am.

    So today, we tried to sleep as long as Jackson would let us, but both boys decided that both Steph and I needed to be up a 7 this morning.  So needless to say, neither of us got much sleep.  However, today was a good day with the family.  This morning I hooked the router up to my mothers cpu so we could have Internet, a process that took much longer than it should have.  But we have connection now, thanks to the AT@T service guy.

    When we come to Springfield there are always three places we want to eat,

    1. Mexican Villa – my favorite Mexican Restaurant
    2. Lamberts – Just plain good food and family fun, if you can catch a roll being hurled your way!
    3. Chinese Food – Springfield style – It’s much different in Springfield than anywhere else in the Nation, I promise!!!!  I miss it so much!

    Today for lunch we ate at Mexican Villa.  This place is like no other Mexican restaurant I have been too.  If you know me, you know I don’t like Mexican food; but this is one place that is to good to pass up.  Grandma Shelia joined us for chips and salsa and my favorite dish a Sancho enchilada!  It’s so good.

    Tonight my sister and her 5 kids are coming over for dinner.  Stephanie is making her famous Chicken Noodle Soup.  My favorite.  I am sure its going to be a fun evening, especially since there will be 3 kids under 2.  I’ll let you know tomorrow if we survived!

    Here are three pictures so far.  The room all of us are staying in while at my mothers house, my plate at lunch and Stephanie posing with her plate at lunch.