Thanksgiving

As I sit here in a nice warm home with the rain coming down outside and after eatting a really great Thanksgiving meal, I can't help but reflect on how blessed I am. I am really lucky to have the many things that I have. I would just like to write about a few of them at this moment:

• God


• Family


• A loving husband


• Friends


• Country


• Jesus


• Home


• Freedom


• modern transportation


• I can be a stay at home mom


• my husband has a job


• food


• clothing


• a bed to sleep in


• my body


• my name


• shoes


• computer


• blogs (although more people blurk than leave comments)


• education


• books


• humor


• laughter


• love


• microwave ovens


• all kitchen appliances


• flushable toilets


• showers


• toothbrushes

I could spend all day writting things, because there is so much to be grateful for.

We are all so lucky to have what we have, hopefully I can always be grateful for everything big or small!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Weeks Events

This week was full of all kinds of things. We had Visiting Teaching, Home Teaching, Parent Teacher Conferences, helping at school with the book fair, helping in the Kindergarten class with all the Thanksgiving crafts and feast preparation, and cooking a turkey for the Thanksgiving feast (for my first turkey I have ever cooked it turned out great).

The new look for J. I think it looks pretty good on him.

Friday was wacky hair day at school. The kids were very excited about this!

Tyler's Thanksgiving feast at school.

Yum, Yum!

Adventures!!!

Now that the weather is cooler, but still quite warm and nice it is time to put on the hiking boots, grab some water and some snacks and get out and explore the vast desert.

We love a good adventure so on Veteran's Day we decided to check out some places that weren't too far from our home. We headed south west of town in our Trooper and talked about what a Veteran was and why we celebrated Veteran's Day along the way. We are so very grateful for all the brave men and women who have fought for our freedoms.

MJ and TJ are checking out an old mine. The person who owned this mine actually built a home around his mine. It is all gone now but you can see where the home was. I couldn't get a good picture of it from close up and forgot about getting one further away.

This is a train tunnel that is in the middle of no where. I believe the trains come from Trona. There is a switching station on the other side of the tunnel.

The boys are checking out a tarantula. That was the most fascinating things for them on this trip. We ran into some bikers and they said that it was actually a trap door spider, but it's part of the tarantula family. I don't care for spiders so I just stood back and took pictures. My kids are very brave. In fact, MJ's happy for the day was that he got to pet a tarantula.

This is another old mine that MJ and TJ practiced their mining skills on. Dirt was coming down on them everywhere. From here there are a lot of Trailers and campers that are grouped together. We didn't know it but we were on private property and people still have gold claims out there and quite the equipment that they use in search for their golden treasures.

Here are my handsome adventurers with our mode of transportation through the vast dry desert. We really had a good time. I really didn't know that there could be so much to see in this desolate part of the world. We are so glad that we are able to find some adventure and fun here in the desert.

As for the rest of the week: Sunday we had Stake Conference. It was so good, I especially liked the Adult session from the night before. Monday we spent a good part of the morning and afternoon at the park playing with friends. Wednesday-Friday were minimum days and we had Tyler's parent teacher conference. He is doing really well in school! Wednesday our garage door had problems again and one of the spools flipped off because the tension cord had come loose and so the whole door shifted to one side. Scary! Anyway Justin was out of town so I fixed it myself, ha..ha. I called the garage door guys and had them come and fix it. I am really tired of that garage door. I think we are cursed because this is the third time since we had it replaced that we have had a problem. Craziness!

Today is a new day and maybe we will go on another adventure, who knows!!

What Makes Me Happy

Every day at dinner we talk about what makes us happy through the day and it got me to thinking (I know dangerous pastime) about writing down the little things that make me happy. Maybe then when I am in a slump I can take a peek and instantly be happy, okay so maybe it won't be that easy. Here are the things that make me happy:

1. Singing in the shower
2. When my kids do what they are asked to do - the first time.
3. Hearing a great song
4. The out of the blue "I love you" from my family
5. Hugs and kisses (especially from my hubby)
6. Phone calls from friends or family to just say "Hi" or see how I am doing.
7. Surprises -- especially if I don't find out about them before hand, which seems to always happen.
8. Chocolate -- my favorite being Dove Dark Chocolate (because then my hubby won't eat them)
9. Doing things for others
10. Seeing my children laugh and play (and treat each other kindly)

There are so many more come to think of it, but I won't make everyone read them all!

Happiness Quotes
But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads.

YES ON 8 --TODAY!

Today is the day -- election day. We have all been waiting for it to come and be over with. I hope all will vote with a clear conscience and make the right choices especially concerning Prop 8. Remember YES ON 8!

Reasons Yes on 8 is so important to me:

My children

My family

Those who want to adopt through religious agencies still will be able to.

My religion

Obedience - we have been asked by the Lord to vote Yes on *

It is just the right thing to do.

Marriage is a powerful bond, and it should only be between a man and a woman as God intended it from the beginning.

I so appreciate those who have walked miles, made endless phone call, and stood on corners rain or shine. Thank You for fighting for our cause and expressing our freedom of speech. May we all be blessed for the efforts of many.

Halloween

This week of Halloween was so different for us. We didn't have preschool or Joy School so Halloween Parties were only on the day of Halloween this year. It was kind of nice, but sad at the same time. It was a very fun week all in all. Tyler's class went to a Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday. It was at the Calvary Church and they read stories to the kids, let them pick out a small pumpkin, make a craft, color a picture, play a game, decorate a sugar cookie, and walk around and see all of the different pumpkins. The kids really enjoyed it especially because they got to ride to there on a school bus.
We also did our pumpkin carving this week. The boys were good to get all of the goop out of the pumpkins and Mackay attempted to carve his own pumpkin. They turned out pretty good, but we forgot to light them on the night of Halloween.
Friday, Halloween, was a busy day. We started with a full morning of a parade and party for Tyler's Kindergarten class, then headed back to the school after going out for lunch for Mackay's parade and class party. They had a great time at school today. After a break at home for the afternoon we had a dinner of Jack-o-Lantern cheese burgers, finger fries, grape eyeballs, and ogre toes (carrots). We toped that off with witches brew, complete with worms. The boys went trick or treating around our neighborhood and then we headed to the church for the trunk or treat. To top off the night we did a little more trick or treating. We have way to much treats now.
I forgot -- Justin had his annual work costume contest. He went as a rocker dude and he actually won the contest. All they gave him was a trophy, last year the person who won got a $30 gift certificate.
I dressed up as a witch but because I am the only one who every thinks of taking pictures, there is not one of myself. I totally forgot about that. Mackay was Indiana Jones and Tyler was Dash from the Incredibles in the morning and changed his mind for the evening and was a muscle man, as he called it.
A little wisdom from Tyler in closing. As we were driving to the grocery store this week, Tyler out of the blue said, "Mom, Satan tricks us and Jesus gives us treats. The treats Jesus gives us is love." Very profound eh! He learned that in primary come to find out.