a few days of thanksgiving

I went hiking with my sister this morning. Which left me feeling grateful for so many things. For family. For healthy bodies. For conversation. For desert beauty. For fun. For fellow friendly hikers. For views from on top of a mountain. For good shoes. For bottled water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"week" of thanksgiving

I was going to try to do a "week of thanksgiving" and post one thing each day that I am especially feeling grateful for right now. Seeing as we are now three days away from thanksgiving, I am grateful for flexibility to my own plans and the gift of grace for myself. Because it is now officially "a few days of thanksgiving".

Without too many words, except to say that my heart swells with gratitude and joy for these things, I give you a few things I am grateful for today:

Book clubs and their good conversations with "my kind of people"

 

Layla's made up songs (especially her Jesus songs she sang for me to comfort me when I started crying during a movie)

 

Perry's smile and laugh

 

Laughing with Kacin and watching Kyler's eyes light up when he is excited about something

 

family walks

 

this man who works so hard to support our family and is patient with me and all of my shortcomings and who will sometimes dance in the kitchen with me 

 

cousin twins

i took Layla shopping the other day. that sweet girl just won't stop growing no matter what i tell her. i ask her to stay little forever and she tells me but then she won't be a mom and i won't be grandma so she needs to grow up. and don't worry because we can still love close to each other.

so she keeps growing and we had to go shopping.

as soon as we saw a row of skirts on clearance, she begged to buy cousin macie a matching skirt to wear when she came over to play while aunt jacqui was busy.

i love when these cousin twins are so happy together.

god bless america

just like everyone else, election 2016 made me sick. i am thrilled it is over. not thrilled with the outcome, but happy to move on and go forward in this great country of ours.

i loved that we got to celebrate veterans day just a few days after election day. i am sooo grateful for all those who serve and have served to protect our country and our freedoms.

Layla's kinder class had a parade around their school in honor of our veterans. there can't be a more  pure and upstanding sight than a group of five and six year olds wearing their red, white, and blue, waving those american flags, and singing the national anthem. we love the usa! 

thanks to all of our veterans and God bless america!

thirteen years

thirteen years ago.

 

we were just little babies back then. 

we thought we knew so much.

we didn't.

but thirteen years of life experience together teaches you things. 

(namely, how much we still don't know.)

but also how to take things in stride and how marriage, while never easy, is absolutely ordained of God and is the best way to get through life. 

we can tackle any of life's challenges side by side, working together.

I'm so glad we took that leap of faith and were married in the temple all those years ago.

case in point: one of those things we still don't know--how to make 13 on our fingers, instead of 31.

these days

Each week Layla and Macie go to a music theater class. Layla loves it! She loves the singing and the dancing. They had a parents visiting day and it was so great to see her in action during class.

The boys started piano lessons again. We found a guy who will come to our house. Oh, how I love this arrangement. So our house is filled the sounds of the piano keys again. Oftentimes, it is Layla who I find singing and playing on the piano. She has asked me a couple times now when she can take lessons. I'll have to sit down with her soon and give her some lessons of her own.

We had a hearing check at a new otolaryngology clinic. Now we have to make a decision about surgery or not to correct the mild hearing loss. Kacin wants the surgery done because he thinks it will mean he doesn't have to wear ear plugs when swimming anymore.

Kyler participated in the wear sunglasses to school day. But he refused to get in the school spirit when it was Toga day.

Layla and I got serious about finding a kitchen table and chairs. She loved being my model when I sent pictures to Eric.  

After considering price and immediate availability, we decided on this one.

Another great selfie by Layla. 

I picked this stud up for lunch one day.

Goofy!

It was Kyler's turn to join me on a night out to Hale theater. He clearly did not want to pose for pictures before we left. There was definitely a "mom go away, I just want you to take me out to dinner like you promised" feeling. 

He picked cafe rio and we had a great evening out. He wasn't so sure that a play entitled "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" was something he wanted to see, but he was pleasantly surprised and it was a fun night out.

I scheduled us to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children. I was so hopeful that it would be a fun service project for all of our family to participate in.

Perry had been there with his class and did great. But that day he decided he wanted nothing to do with that hair net. We tried everything, but he just ripped it off over and over again. This meant he could not go back and participate in packing the meals. Eric and I took turns out with him. To make matters even more exciting, our little 5 year old was not feeling particularly cooperative that afternoon either (which looking back we realized she had not eaten her lunch like we thought she had). She also rotated in and out between helping and time out with one of us.

Overall, we did what we could and still participated in helping a great program.

halloween, part 2

We went to dinner at my mom's house the day before Halloween so everyone dressed up again.

The older boys and I worked hard on creating a haunted house for all the younger ones to go through. Grandma was the witch that guided them through the haunts and spooks. 

We took the kids two at a time and these girls were a little nervous about what was waiting inside to scare them.

I took pictures with the lights on so we could remember our haunted masterpiece, but everyone went through in the dark with just a few candles lighting the room.

When they walked in the room, the witch offered the kids a snack. They put their hands into the bowl and she told them not to worry because it was only worms (cooked pasta).

Then they walked through the "bat cave" and stopped in front of the spider and its web (and the trapped skeleton). While the witch was telling them about it, Kacin popped out from behind with a flashlight casting on eerie glow on his face.

Next the witch told them not to wake the sleeping man and that they should tiptoe to sneak by them. Of course, as they were walking by "sleeping" Eric woke up scaring them half to death and growled at them.

The witch then showed the kids her collection--of heads!

She led them along and told them just to step over the blood on the carpet.

Finally, the witch told the story about the famous man in the picture--who apparently haunts the place.

The little girls were terrified the first time, but it must have been a good terrified because they asked to go again and again. I think they went through four times! They took care of grandpa on his first time through.

Perry and Logan did not love the haunted house like those girls did. They survived once and then they were both done with that scary room.

We attempted to get a cousins picture in costumes before all the adults went into rooms and the kids went door to door trick or treating.

On actual Halloween, the costumes changed once again. We took Gandalf, a Disney World tourist, a pirate, and Optimus Prime through our neighborhood in an attempt to meet some of the new neighbors. Only a few streets have finished houses here so after we went to our neighborhood, we met up with a friend so the older boys could go trick or treating by themselves. 

We came home with a frightening amount of candy. 

I had to laugh at Perry's stash of candy when I found where he was hiding it all.

Happy Halloween 2016!