Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving has come and gone, I feel a need to give thanks for all of my many blessings.

1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ- Lately, with all the changes and debates going on in our country over moral issues and who is the best person to lead our country, I am so very thankful for the knowledge I have of what is right and wrong. I am also thankful for a leader that is not chosen by the people, but by God. It was such a refreshing difference between all the debates and speeches we have been hearing from our politicians and the talks we heard from the brethren at General Conference. I am grateful for a living prophet who leads us and inspires us. I am thankful for the scriptures and I am thankful for prayer. Without them, I could not receive my own personal knowledge of the truth of this gospel. I am grateful for the knowledge of who I am and what is most important in this life. I am grateful for the knowledge that I can see my parents again some day and that my family, generations past and generations to come will always be a family.

2. Family- I am grateful to my parents who raised me up in the ways of the Lord. They taught me the gospel and they taught me how to love and laugh. They gave me a great childhood which has prepared me for a great adulthood. I am grateful for my brothers and their continued friendship and for my new sister-in-law. She fits in so well with our family and is a wonderful addition.
I am thankful for my husband who puts up with me and can't be praised enough as a husband and father. I am thankful for his family. Especially his parents who have acted as wonderful parents to me with the loss of mine. I can't relate when I hear stories of not getting along with the in-laws and I am grateful for that. I am very blessed to have them. Tim's brothers, and sister and their spouses are always a pleasure to be with and talk with as well. I am grateful for the sisters his family has provided me with. It is fun to be the big sister in his family while I am the little sister in mine.
I am thankful for my wonderful children. As they grow older they become less work and more friends. I know this will probably change in the teens but I hope not too much. They bring so much joy to my life. Of course there is opposition in all things, but from those occasions , I learn valuable lessons of patience and understanding so I am grateful for those moments too.



3. Friends- What would life be without friends? I am thankful for my life long friends that I have way back from my school days. I am thankful for the ones I have made in my adulthood, on my mision and with my new family. I am so grateful for the support they lend me as a parent. It is so nice to have someone to talk to who can say, "No you are not crazy, because I have the same problem." At least I am in good company with my insanity right? I am grateful for the friends my kids have too.
Friends make the hard times easier and the good times even better.


4. Books- I love a good book. I love it's ability to put me in someone else's shoes, in a different place, a different time. I love the knowledge that if I have free time I know exactly how I want to spend it.





5. My home- This includes my neighbors, my ward, our kids school, our yard and the rec-center and park behind us. I have lived in this home for a year and two months and I love it as much if not more now for all of its hidden pleasures. I love everything about it. It is when I am with the people in our ward that I feel the most like this is home to me. What a group of wonderful people.

I have many more things I am grateful for but these are my top 5.

The Last Cookie

Sometimes being a peace maker means you are willing to eat the last cookie so no one else has to fight over it. It's tough to be a mom.

4 of my Greatest Blessings

Notice how all blessings have their light and dark sides? :)

Kids and Kittens

And I had to add this one we took today. You put the kid in a shirt and tie and suddenly he is Mr. Smooth

By Demand Part 2: Indoor pictures

Entry Way and living room

The Kitchen

The Living room

The Library

Dinning Room(above) TV room in basement (below)

By Demand

My sister in law asked me to post some pictures of our house she has never seen. . I better oblige. I will post some pictures of the inside some time too.

The Downfall of Autumn

I love this picture. I love all the leaves but even more I love the look of dismay on their faces. I am guessing it has to do with the leaves.
When I think of Autumn, I think of leaves, then my hands get sweaty and my heart starts to beat a little faster. That first leaf I see on the ground at the beginning of fall brings to mind the Psycho theme: "CHING CHING CHING!!!" Don't get me wrong, I love Autumn I love autumn leaves too. . . If I don't have to rake them. How big of a deal can it be you ask?
Take a look at this picture.



Look at all the leaves my kids are playing with, and then look at all the leaves that are STILL on the trees and are yet to be raked up!!! We have three of these willows. I love the trees. I love that they give beautiful green shade in the summer and lose their leaves in the winter to give plenty of light to our house. I don't love the in between so much. There are TONS more leaves at the side of the house, and in the back of the house. Not just from our trees but the trees behind and beside our back yard.

I admit, I love the bright orange and red ones, even as I am working hard to pick them up, they elicit wonder and awe as they are very beautiful. But by the 15th bag I fill with them, they are less wonderful and more awful. I imagine as the kids get older and can help more and more with this process and as I get a system down, I will learn to loath it less and less. Tim is helpful when he can be, but it is dark by the time he gets home from work and the weekends we would all rather be doing something else than raking leaves all day. I only have last year to remember and all I remember is intimidating piles of leaves calling to me, telling me I need to put them in bags before they blow all over the place again or kill the grass they are piled on.

With all this work and toil comes blessings however. It is a reminder that all beautiful things require work. The work itself brings blessings. Here is an example of one of those blessings.My kids are working together!!!! This gives us all the opportunity to work hard and learn its value. Is this not a blessing? How about the satisfaction we feel when we are done? Doesn't the cocoa taste a little better and the fire a little warmer when we have just finished working hard outside? We know we earned it! It also forces us to be outside in the cold when we might otherwise be inside. We get to see the beautiful colors of fall and feel the crisp cool air of the approaching winter. Lets not forget the great exercise we are getting.

Last year, I had just moved in to the house and I didn't have the same appreciation for our trees that I do now. This fall I am going to try harder to be grateful for our trees. They bring so much beauty to our lives the whole year round. Even in the Autumn.

Counting Down

I am excited about the new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" coming out this Friday. I am even more excited that my husband and I are doing a big group date with our friends on Saturday to see it as a matinee.

I have my concerns that I might not like it as much as the last one. Last time I was pleasantly surprised because I am usually not that big a fan of James Bond movies. I wonder what the difference was. . hmmmm. . I am guessing it had a little to do with the casting. Seeing the vulnerable side to James Bond was a nice change too. Usually James Bond movies aren't romances. Now I have higher expectations they may not be able to meet.

It may be a little disappointing, but I doubt it will be THIS bad.

Confessions of a Torn Republican

I have torn feelings at the end of this election. I voted for McCain but only because his ideas more closely agreed with mine. I didn't think he was the best man for the job either. I don't know a lot about Obama's positions on things but I know he has some very radically liberal ideas. I know there are a lot things he believes in that I do not. He doesn't have a lot of experience behind him either.

At the same time I can't help but be very happy for him as a person. I don't agree with his political views but I don't think he is another Hitler or a person who hates America as I have read so much about on the internet. I realize I don't know what results will come of his election. I may come to wish I never wrote this blog entry but for now I chose to be optimistic.

I can't help but feel very happy for what his election stands for. President Bush put it well in his speech this morning when he said that his success represents the American dream. This means a lot to a lot of people. I was teary eyed listening to Obama's speech last night and to President Bush's this morning. Politics aside I feel proud to be an American and excited about the historic step this country has taken in voting for an African American as it's president.

I've been Tagged

What Wallpaper do you have on your desktop right now? It says a lot about a person. Describe it or show the picture. Tag 6 other people. My kids begged me to take this picture of them. I could have done so much more with it I know. I thought it an appropriate picture for this week.
I tag Lis, Heather, Heidi, Sarah, Amber and Eileen and Rebekah. . . I know that isn't 6. Too bad!

My Motley Crew

Here are the kids in their Halloween Costumes. Joe is a Magician, Elisabeth is Nancy Drew, Lincoln is Indiana Jones and Sam is a Ghostbuster. This is after all their Trick or Treating at the mall and Trunk or Treating at our Ward's party so they are a little sloppy. They sure had a lot of fun and sure HAVE a lot of candy! What do you think of Elisabeth's expression in the second picture? We are in BIG trouble!