Heart of Thanksgiving.

     We got to experience Thanksgiving through Sophie's eyes this year.  At 2 years and 4 months, she can really express all she is absorbing and enjoys all the frilly festivities of decorations, parades, and family gatherings.  She had been talking about Santa coming to town since she woke up and squeals of delight filled the room as Santa's float indeed came to town.  In true Petersen fashion, she jammed along to all the broadway performances, pre-parade.  She even wanted to watch the dancing again when we got home last night!  We, of course, enjoyed cheering on our friends who were performing!  Every year, we seem to know more and more people that are performing and it's fun to celebrate our friends success, as it is a sort of cool and legendary thing to get to perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Our excitement must of rubbed off on Sophie, cause she had a ball watching it.  Hmm.  I may have that backwards.  It was Sophie that rubs off on us!  Any bit of rigidity or callous that the world puts on us is brushed away with her genuine and easy happiness at the simplest things.

     We were a bit worried when we came here to NYC.  Worried that Sophie wouldn't understand not having a yard, her room, her toys, or just a little space to call her own.  Well, she really taught us something.  Once I told her that this was going to be our home for a while, she accepted the fact with such ease that you would never know she had known any different.  She loves her Tinkerbell Canopy Toddler bed here that we decorated with purple lights.  The head is in the closet and it sticks out into the bedroom.  To make it not feel sterile and awkward, we put wall decals from home all around the bed and moved some furniture around to make a little nook for her.  It actually looks really sweet and most importantly...she loves it.  Her adaptation to a new environment reminded me that we have the most important thing...each other.  We said from the beginning that we felt the most important things was to be together and have experienced that above all things... togetherness is the single most important ingredient to our family's happiness.

   

At this time, Eric and I have two very sick family members.  This serves as a reminder to us that life is short and every day we have is given to us by the grace of God.