What a great day. We spent the month looking forward to and getting ready to host 51 people in our house. It worked out wonderfully. Visitors started coming at 11:15 am and the last left at 10:30 pm. We had a wonderful meal, good games, great visiting, and an awesome "Thanksgiving Circle" (where we all sit in a circle and take turns sharing what we are thanksful for). I have AMAZING brothers in law and sisters in law and parents in law. They are my best friends and it was so great to listen to what everyone was thankful for, in turn learning more about each of them and the things they have been through this year. We had a lot of fun together. As soon as I can steal pictures from Leslie, I'll do that and put them on here.
I am grateful for a wonderful family. A mom and dad who have done so much for me in my life and molded me into who I am. I am grateful for their examples and influences in my life. I am thankful for a sister and a brother who are also great examples to me. I seem to always be one step (or more) behind and I'm glad I have them to look up to and learn from. I love their spouses and kids and feel very blessed. I have been blessed with amazing grandma's who still continue to teach me and love me even though I'm the crazy grandaughter with way too many kids. :) I am grateful my dad has Kate and that she loves him and takes great care of him.
Our blessings are abundant this year. We have felt so very blessed to have this home. We were sent here and know it is where we are suppose to be. Our kids are so happy in our ward and school and they have great friends. It has been a wonderful change in our lives. We are expecting baby #6 and are excited to add one more to our family. Each of our kids have such a unique spirit and we look forward to another.
I am grateful for children who continue to be forgiving of me in all my downfalls as a mom. I am grateful for a husband who has picked up my slack for more than 13 years now but especially the last three months. I've been sick, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and he hasn't complained once. He has just taken over the role of mom and dad and has been amazing. I am especially grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who helps me recognize my downfalls and gives me strength to be better and be able to forgive myself and move on.
What a great time of year!! Hopefully the Christmas season doesn't go too fast and we can fully enjoy the season and each other!!
"Gratitude is the very essence of worship."
-President Gordon B. Hinckley
Thanks Kellie.
John just finished up his jr. jazz season and Emily has two more games. They are both doing great. John won all but one game and that game, the coach was out sick. Emily's team has won most of their games too. They have been so fun to watch. They have great coaches. John's coach owns Sonics all over Utah and Idaho? and they will be having a party next week at sonic to celebrate. Emily's coach just happened to be her uncle Scott and she got to play on Julia's team. It has been a fun season and we're looking forward to the next season in January.
Today John and Emily weren't feeling well so they stayed home from church. So John and I only had our 3 little boys at church with us. They are 7, 5, and 2. It was crazy to say the least. On the way home, the three of them were in the back of John's car and there was non stop laughing and playing and being out of control. I looked at them and realized there is NEVER a moment of peace with these 3 little boys. NEVER. Even now at home they are busy, busy, busy building with cans of green beans, laughing at themselves because they think they are so funny and making lots and lots of noise. Sam has already soaked himself in the sink, threw a bag of Christmas lights and broke them and dumped out a bag of legos. It. Never. Ends.
Good thing I love them so much and find myself laughing at them often. And good thing they have such a great dad.
John, Emily, Thomas, and Jack tried out for the school play. John and Emily were called back for speaking parts. John will be Max and Emily will be Sophie. After a while we realized Max and Sophie are ours and grandma's dogs.....Max and Sophie. So they are fitting parts for them. Jack is a little bird named Twitch and Thomas is Mean Kid #6. Rehearsals start today and the play is in February. I am so glad all four kids wanted to do this and hopefully it's just the beginning of their musical school days.
Congratulations kids!! I loved being there and was so impressed at their musical ability. Thank you John for that!! :)
Emily is having Colonial Day at school today. She had to do a project, something that would be done in Colonial times. She chose to make a quilt. Even though we have the luxury of sewing machines and things to make it less time consuming, it was quite the project. Our sewing maching was having major issues and I lost it many times.....to say the least. Poor Emily at one point just sat at the sewing machine and started crying. I felt so bad. We finally got all the patchwork done then John took the morning off work, checked Emily out of school and went to Grandmas to get help with the rest. Grandma has a huge, awesome, quilting machine. They put on a back, quilted, and bound the edges. Wow. THANK YOU GRANDMA!!!! We are so so grateful and the quilt is BEAUTIFUL. What a great memory for Emily.
Today she dressed up as a colonist. We actually bought her hat in Colonial Williamsburg when she was one year old. Came in handy all these years later. I'll try and find the picture of John and Emily in Colonial Williamsburg with their hats on and put it on here.
She is having a feast at school and an all day celebration. I love celebration days at school.
One thing we LOVE about our house is all the trees. There is a climbing tree in front and one in back. Something the kids always asked for. A pear, nectarine, apple, and peach tree. It's wonderful. Until fall.....the leaves. Oh the leaves. We have raked and mowed and raked and mowed and wake up the next morning to find hundreds of apples and thousands of leaves covering the ground. Although we've enjoyed raking and jumping in the leaves and decided we'd rather have to clean up several times in the fall then not have them at all.
Everyone got in on the action one day when we made a huge hall to the dump with leaves and branches from trees and bushes we cut back. Samuel was a huge help. He'd fill up his wheelbarrow, wheel it over to the curb, dump it out, and start over. He did this for a long, long time and actually made a huge dent in our pile. It was adorable and I had to catch the moment on camera.
Thanks Sam! We sure appreciate the hard worker in you.
"If it's a boy, we're getting a fish. If it's a girl, we're keeping it."
I came home from a stake meeting and the kids were all in bed. This is when Jack said, "Mom?!" And made his announcement about it being a boy vs. girl.
John asked more questions and he said if it's a boy, we will have 5 boys and that's too many. John asked what we would do with a boy and Jack said "We wouldn't take him to the dump, we would just give him to someone else."
We let him know we will be keeping it, boy or girl.
When I was a kid, I remember my mom doing a "thankful turkey". It always stuck with me and we've done it with our kids since we've had them. This year, John gave a lesson on attitude. He talked about how so many times when we are asked to do things we "grrrrrrrr" because we don't want to do it but how we need to change our "attitude" and have "grrrratitude" for the things we have.
Anyway, we build our turkey every year and everyone makes their own feather to go on the turkey. Throughout the month, we put papers inside that say things we are thankful for then on Thanksgiving day, we open the turkey and read all the papers.
My visiting teachers saw this and told me how another neighbor has a huge piece of paper taped up on the wall and all through the month anyone who comes in is invited to write something or things they are thankful for. Then I saw this thankful tree (below) on
Life's blog. I decided I really like the idea of having the things we are thankful for be out to "see" throughout the month instead of inside the turkey. So I think the way we will incorporate this new way but continue our own tradition of the "thankful turkey", we will make a big paper turkey to put on the wall and write what we are thankful for on the feathers and add feathers throughout the month.
Do you do anything special to remember your blessings during November?
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!
Thomas was pulled out of class at the request of his teacher to have his hearing tested....and he failed. We had always thought he was just like his dad and just kind of didn't pay attention. Well, it's probably mostly that but also that the poor kid can't hear. It is such a strain for him to hear because his ears were so built up with wax that there can only be one noise at a time, otherwise it's too confusing and he tunes it all out or has to really focus on one thing.
After he failed, I took him to the ENT doctor. They suctioned, vacuumed, picked, and finally gave his ears a water bath to get all the wax out. I couldn't believe all the chunks of wax coming out of his ears. He has to go back in a year to see if it is something that will need done often or not. The doctor also asked if his ears itch a lot because it was very dry flakey skin inside. They do itch a lot. Every morning they bother him.
It was pretty cool to watch. He was given a hearing test after they were cleaned and he passed. Yeah!!!
Happy Halloween!!!
Little John spent the evening doing a little trick or treating and playing football with his friends. He wore Sam's spider costume from last year.
Emily was a punk for the primary Halloween party but changed to a cowgirl for Halloween night. She was the sweetest little cowgirl this side of the Mississippi.
Thomas was a big, buff football player. What a stud.
Jack was an elephant for the third year in a row. We have a lot of costumes. Enough that no one asked to get a new one and once again, Jack went with the elephant. That's okay though because it won't fit him next year.
Samuel was a little devil. Very fitting.
We started the evening at a street soup dinner at 4:30. It was fun to get together with the neighbors and see all the cute kids in their costumes. Trick or treating started from there at about 5:30. The kids went until just after 7:00 then came home and dumped out all their candy. They put everything they didn't want in a bucket and handed it out to the trick or treaters the rest of the night. We then watched a couple Halloween cartoons and called it a night. But yeah that it is all over! We are all excited to move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Congratulations John and Lisa on #6. A sweet little boy.
"Knowledge speaks and wisdom listens"
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"Feelings are everywhere. Be gentle."
