This Thanksgiving....

is a very special one for us. We, as a family, have been so blessed. This experience has given us a real appreciation for what we as Americans should give thanks to the Almighty God for on this day. We miss all of you, our family and friends back in the U.S. We are happy that we all have the opportunity to gather together, to eat and share each others company, to give thanks for our many blessings, no matter where we are in the world. We look forward to seeing you soon. We just want to thank everyone who looks at our blog, who makes comments, who sends us emails and cards, mails gifts for Nolan and Meredith, and for thinking about us. We are so appreciative of everything that you have done for us. We are grateful to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving, here in Italy, with our American friends in our Church, and also our Pastor and his family (from the U.K.) on Saturday. We want to wish all of you a Happy and safe Thanksgiving Holiday.

Love,

Matt, Courtney, Nolan, & Meredith




Nolan Matthew Richards, Age 3; I'm Thankful for: Marco, Daddy, Meredith, Mommy, Gaia, Michi, Lloyd, Butterflies, Chocolate, Tractors, Candy, Matteo, Carola, Pumas, Federico (the little one), and Italian School.



Meredith Grace Richards, Age 1/2; If I could talk I would probably say that I'm Thankful for: Life, Prayer, Doctors, Mommy, Nurses, Daddy, Home, NuNu, Nolan, NuNu, Being Naked, Toes, Warm Baths, sleep, peeing on dad.



Courtney Elizabeth Richards, Age 30; I'm Thankful for:
God for blessing me with this life I am living, my mom and dad, My wonderful, supportive, loving husband who I am blessed to be going through this crazy adventure called life with and for blessing me with two wonderful children(and counting..), my Nolan, sweet little Meredith, doctors, nurses, lots and lots of prayers, my brothers Jordan and Alex, my little sis-Syd, my sweet, soon-to-be-sister in law Karen, Alex's long time girlfriend-Maria, All the Hoovers', Uncle Billy and Uncle Steve, My wonderful in laws Kathy and Paul, my sister in law-Laurie of course and my brother-in-Law Paul, my first little nephew Burke, my brother-in-law Ryan, small favors, big favors, close friends, our moms for staying with Nolan when we were in the hospital, our little cafe on the corner, meeting Jane at our little cafe on the corner after we drop the boys off, the guy at the copy shop who speaks English and his sweet mother, Jane, Paul and Daniel, Debbie and Larry, Debbie for teaching me how to make pies one day before Thanksgiving, Irene, Georgio, and Lara, Irene especially-how do I even begin to thank you?, Nolan for just "being Nolan", Lino and Lucy, Pastor Dyfan, Caroline, Megan, Sian, and Lloyd, the Chamberlins, Lydia, Gaby, Gaia, and Carys, my "Vera" bags, Lydia for the MILLION things she has done for me since we met. Jane for teaching me all the in's and out's of living in Avigliana and for always being 2 minutes away when I need her, my Italian midwife-Gaudi, Orietta, Slingbox, SURVIVOR!, cloth diapers, air drying clothes in the Italian sun, Italian pizza, Gelato, color guard, Fairfield Manufacturing and everyone who works there, Brian McMasters, Helen, Roger,and Grace, Gino, Giovanna, Carola and Federico, Italian markets, The McCleans, our church family, Robert, Carmella, and Manualla, Joy, Michael and Family, Jane again for everything she has done for us since Meredith was born, Christiana and Marco, having the opportunity to live and drive in a foreign country, the opportunity to travel around Europe, The Strimel Family, The Schoons, The Wogomans, The Eastons, The Fain/Laytons, The Sorensons, The Dubes', The Arnetts, LaPorte Hospital(where I met my hubby), Arnett Clinic and and my friends/co-workers there, Rosemary Chapman for giving me my first "real job" even though I had a cast up to my knee at the time, The Butt Family, Italian Chocolate, Dr. BuonTempo, La Leche League, Skype, The Shidlers, The Windlers, all the people who have served our country, the United States of America, Andrea and Tiziana, The Moran Family, our old neighors on Fernleaf, Barbara, Alberto, Matteo and Frederico, sleeping children, Meredith's smile, being able to breastfeed both my children, my Medela breastpump :)- my baby carriers, sitting in front of a warm fire(can't wait until Christmas for that), being blessed with good health, the good health of my family, that fact that when I wake up in the morning and look out the window I can see the Alps, the quietness of our town, The Mumfords, airplanes and pilots to take us home to see family and friends, American food, Target, the weekends home with my family, the opportunity to stay home with and teach my children-thanks to my husband again, a roof over our head, food in our bellies, Matt's ENTIRE Family-there are alot of you!!, all the people who prayed for us when Meredith and I were in the hospital, the fact that my brother is getting married to Karen in a few shorts weeks, Meredith's life, Stacy and for dealing with all our "stuff" while we are gone, knowing people now from all over the world, and of course everyone who has every done anything to help out our family, we are eternally grateful, the fact that I have so much to be thankful for, everyone and eveything that I didn't write down-please forgive me, I am truly blessed this Thanksgiving...



Matthew Paul Richards, Age 31; I'm Thankful for: God's Mercy, My wonderful wife who, for some reason, decided to marry me and be the mother to my children, Answered Prayers, Doctors, Nurses, My little girl Meredith's life, Wrestling my son Nolan, Every morning that I wake up, My mom and Dad, Sundays, My sister Laurie and my brother Ryan, My new nephew Burke Matthew Penziol, my brother-in-law Paul, My In-Laws Jim & Lynn, Jordan, Alex, Sydney & Karen, Maria, Stacy, Nolan telling Courtney that his glass of milk was full like daddy (still don't know what he meant, but I appreciated it), The Hardestys, The Spoors, The Richards, Nolan's and My Barber, The opportunity to come home, The Arnett's, Grandpa Erne and Grandma Richards, Prayers not answered, Teachers, Bill Schrader, Dennis Buuck, I have a job, A Warm fire, The Tuckers, The company I work for, High School football games, Being asked to read at my brother-in-laws wedding, The Alps, Cheese Cake, Being able to give, NBC News with Brian Williams, The Morans, The people I work with, The Pahl's, All of our families back home, Diesel Engines, The Ernes, All of our friends back home, The Word, All of the new babies amongst our family and friends, A baby girl who looks at me and smiles in complete silence, All of the Penziol Families, Irene, Georgio & Lara, My health, A good pen, The quiet of our little town at midnight, My Wife and Children's health, Airline Pilots, Cutting wood, Playing golf with my dad, The Strimels, Bacon, The entire Tonagel Family, People who speak English, Lydia, Gabriel, Gaia, Carys, iTunes, The guy who washes windshields at the stop light on Corso Francia, Our War Vets, The Fains/Laytons, Slingbox, Living Abroad, The Sliwas, My Football Coaches, My Baseball Coaches, Anyone who has raised 7 or 8 kids, Most Definately Christmas with our family and friends, Our Pastor Dyfan and his wife Caroline and their children Megan, Lloyd, and Sian Williams, Snow, Paul, Jane & Daniel, My drive home from work, JC & Erin, My Country, Robert, Carmella & Manuella, A Baby who sleeps through the night, Anyone who's ever prayed for us, The McMahons, Andrea & Tiziana, My Education, Our church family, The McLeans, Our friends and people that we've met from Italy, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, France, Kenya, Switzerland, India, Russia, United Kingdom, Scotland, Whales, Netherlands, Argentina, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Romania, Korea, China, and some others, my pocket knife, The Chamberlins, The Eastons, The Mumfords, The Schoons, anyone who has ever done anything for me or my family, whom I never properly thanked, all of my teachers and principles who disciplined and put up with me, there is much more, my life...undeserved.