Gratitude Day #20

Today I'm grateful that when we are in a certain calling, the Lord blesses us to love those we serve in a very specific way. I don't doubt that I would love these little children in our ward anyway, but being in the presidency is different. I know that when I was set apart I received very specific gifts to love these children. And I can feel it each week as I get to know these little personalities. I love these children. I love them and want to protect them and want them to feel Heavenly Father's love for them. They are strong little spirits. They know what is right and they want to do what is right. I probably don't show my love for them as well as I should and I know I get impatient with them sometimes, but these kids are so great.

So, for all of you parents in our ward, you are doing a great job at home. They come to primary and they know all the answers. They are eager to share their thoughts and testimonies! And they want to learn! Thanks for letting us teach them and spend time with them, and also learn from them!

Gratitude Days #18 & 19

This counts as two days. I'm grateful for the temple. We left yesterday around noon, got to the hotel, had some dinner, then I went to a session while Dave put the girls to bed. Then this morning he went to a session while the girls and I hung out at the hotel.

It's been waaaaay too long and I just love the peacefulness of the temple. I love being able to think and reflect and renew myself. I love the motivating feelings I get to do better and try harder. And I love the reassurance that, even though I make mistakes, I am still loved. I love that I can tell Emma I'm going to the temple and she realizes that it's SO important to go that we would drive such a long ways (she reminded us of the length of the trip quite frequently!) and stay in a hotel. Oh, and the QUIET! I forgot that a place could be so STILL. I love it. And we'll be making a better effort to go more before we move, so anyone that's up for a trip let me know!

p.s. I'm also thankful for 65 degree weather today. seriously people. awesome.

Gratitude Day #17

I'm grateful for the "magic" of Christmas that gets better with each passing year. Let me demonstrate:

Last year:

This year:



Setting cookies out for Santa:

Opening presents:

This is the doll that I was SOOOOO excited to find for Bree. She's been giving it tender loves all morning!

We love lots of little pet shop pieces!!

And the cameras are a HUGE hit-these girls have been fighting over Dave's old 35mm camera for a looooooong time. And whenever we bring our cameras out they want to play with them. So we figured it's time they got one of their own.

And now I'll leave you to go listen to the fighting over toys that began after the wrapping paper came off. Oh, the magic :)

Gratitude Day #16

Okay, yesterday I was grateful for our "family" away from family. We celebrated Christmas Eve with our friends here, and I know we all needed to feel something while we were away from family, and I hope they got what they needed! I know I did! Good food, good laughs, funny kids, Christmas carols, the story from the Bible, and Once "Upon" a Snowman (at Bailey's request), with everyone's participation. What more could we ask for?

Thank you to our "family" here. We couldn't make this journey through dental school without your friendship, support, and great times! For those of you away from us, we miss you!


And those are Bree's red jello hands at the bottom of the picture. The girl had SIX servings of potatoes and kept sneaking back to the table to snake the big jello spoon out of the dish and lick it...after she ate all of Cole's jello and a bowl of her own. After everyone left I spent a significant amount of time with Resolve carpet cleaner and a rag!

Gratitude Day #15

I'm grateful for my siblings...ALL of them (in-laws included). I've been soooo fortunate to have brothers and sisters that complete my life. I learned lessons when I was younger and I continue to learn lessons from each of them. And through marriages (on both sides) new people have come into my life that are unique and have a perspective that I've never encountered before, and I learn even more from them. I love talking to each of them-the conversations are different depending on who I'm talking to. No matter who it is, though, I know I can trust them to love me despite my weaknesses. I feel "safe" with all of them. I know I can go to them with questions or needing comfort or to share my happiness and excitement, and they will listen with sympathy or share my joy. I love the acceptance and support and encouragement. I love the advice and comfort. I love laughing with them and creating memories with them. I love their kids! I know that these people have been put into my life for me to learn from them. I hope they all know how much I love them and appreciate their influence in my life.

(hey lathams-we need to get a family picture sometime-I have NOTHING!)

Gratitude Day #14

This will be short. Today I'm thankful for heat-in my house and in my car :) I was especially grateful for it when my car was registering the outside temperature at 9 degrees...and that's BEFORE windchill!

Happy Snowfall to EVERYONE! Seems like most of the country is getting blasted with it right now. Hope you were able to get on a new flight Von!

Birthday Celebration

We finally celebrated Bree's birthday last night. My friend Lauren had this awesome idea for a birthday sign, so I made one too-I LOVE how it turned out, and it's one we can use over and over!


I made some pink "cuppalakes" (Bree's pronunciation)

and she got a couple presents! Allan & Kris-the money you sent went towards the book thing-she loves it! (They both actually love it-can you say "contention"?) And she got a little bubble maker, which they also love!


The book thing we got plays a song (which you'll hear) and we were cracking up at Bree's version of dancing. Here's the clip-sorry-it starts out turned to the side before Dave figured out that you can't film that way on the small camera :)

If...

If we were to send out Christmas cards this year, this might be the picture you would have seen on it.


And I probably would have "cutesied" it up with my crazy digiscrapping skills :)

And we would probably tell you that it's been a really fun year with lots of visitors and fun trips and great times spent together.

But printing and postage just wasn't in the budget this year...especially after the grinch who didn't leave a note (see posting here).

But we do love you all and wish you a VERY MERRY Christmas. We're so blessed to have so many friends and family who bring us so much happiness. And we're grateful for the opportunity we have to reflect on the birth of our Savior, who gave us the greatest gift of all. I hope that, even through the struggles many of us are facing right now, we are all able to feel the love of our Savior and extend that love to those around us.

Gratitude Day #13

I'm grateful for my in-laws. I've heard some pretty bad stories out there, but I cannot relate to ANY of them. Not only do I love them, but my entire family (seriously-Grandma and Grandpa too) loves them too. The second I met them I fell in love with them. You know the movie While You Were Sleeping? Well, Dave wasn't sleeping, but I still fell in love with them and knew I wanted to be a part of that family. When I met them I just knew that they would take me as I am. And that's how they are with everyone. They will welcome you with open arms. What's theirs is yours. They are so generous, so kind, so welcoming, so forgiving, so funny, so non-judgemental. I love that whenever I'm with them we can talk about anything! They are people I trust with my deepest fears and feelings and they are people I go to for advice.

I admire the lives they have led. They aren't "in your face" members of the church-they are quiet stalwarts who are examples of the Savior to everyone they meet. I love how they treat me and make me feel about myself. They are always telling me how grateful they are that I married Dave and what a good mommy I am. I love the example they were and still are to Dave-he is who he is because of their example. And he treats me so well because he has learned from them. And they are sooooo loving to our little girls. Allan has the best time ever with all his grandkids! He is so silly with them. Emma calls him Grandpa tickle button. And the kids love to snuggle with Grandma Kris. They make such an effort to be a part of our lives even though we're so far away. We appreciated so much when they came to visit in May. We spent a lot of our time talking and watching the girls entertain us and make us laugh!

I love them so much and I am SO SO grateful that they are a part of my life for forever!

Gratitude Day #12

I'm grateful for my parents. I have a lot more appreciation for them now that I'm a parent. I think that's the way God planned it :) I think I went through all the normal stages when it comes to my parents-wanting all their attention, becoming more independent, thinking they didn't know anything (teen years!), then relying on them more, etc. I like the stage we're in right now. They are still my parents, but we're a better team now.

I'm grateful that they are both strong in the gospel. I think my gift of never wavering came from them. They taught me all the gospel principles, and those principles and values make me who I am. I am who I am because of those principles, not only because I'm a member of the church. I think people misconstrue that sometimes. They think we are defined by our membership in the church instead of being defined by WHO we are and the way we live our life. Not all members of the church live good lives, and not everyone who lives a good life is a member of the church. I'm grateful that the church guides us to hold these principles close and dear to our hearts, and I'm grateful that my parents taught me those principles and taught me the importance of keeping those principles. It's not always easy-it's downright hard sometimes! It's easy to lose hope. But I have watched my parents endure some pretty crazy things and they have kept true to those values throughout. The best lesson I've learned in this regard is that ultimately, Heavenly Father is in charge, so I can talk about something and think about something till my eyes pop out of my head, but it won't matter until I go to Him in prayer. And He will always answer those prayers-not always in the way I think or want, but I will receive an answer!

They have a genuine love for and interest in other people. It's not hard for them to make friends and have a good time! But once you come into their lives, they will be concerned for your well-being and want you to be happy. They are loyal friends. That's such a good quality.

I'm grateful for the lessons they taught me about working hard. And I don't mean work like a "job" type work. I mean putting forth the best effort in EVERYTHING you do. You will never see either of them doing a half-baked job (unless it's Mom's 20th paper due that week-haha! welcome back to school Mom!). It's a little bit of a catch-22 because I find myself going over the top on things that aren't necessary, but at the same time, I like how I feel when I've gone over the top sometimes :) And some things need someone to go over the top on them! hee.

I could go on and on about them, but I'll just mention a trait I've gotten from each of them that I'm thankful for. I got my dad's "passion" for things. You can always tell when he's excited about something because he gets really passionate about it and likes to talk to you about it, and I'm JUST like that. And I LOVE how I feel when I'm passionate about something! It's a great feeling! I feel hopeful, confident, excited, smart. Sometimes I get a little overbearing when I am passionate about something, but if what I am passionate about helps someone in any way, then I'm okay with people thinking I'm overbearing. But Dad is the same way-and the things that he knows are always helpful to others. I love knowing that what I'm feeling when I'm passionate about topics is probably the same way Dad feels, and that makes me feel a little more "bonded" with him :)

And from my mom I got my ability to create and my drive to make the things around me look beautiful. I went through a little spurt where I was concerned that my desire to make things around me look good was superficial and shallow and materialistic. But I got over that real fast :) My mom can make ANYTHING look good! She is sooooo talented with creating-fabrics, pictures, food, furniture, stories, memories, am I missing anything here? Out of all the siblings I think I'm the one most like my mom-the one thing that puts me over the top is the sewing-nobody else does it! But Mom and I have sewn things together that will NEVER go into the donation pile or trash-doesn't matter if I'm not using them anymore! That time together means too much to me. And Mom always made the things in our home beautiful-I don't mean that she spent all the money in the world. I mean that she has an eye for things that pull a room together so you feel like you're "home." Ann-Marie totally has that gift too. I'm not saying I'm good at it, but I LOVE to think of things to do that will brighten and liven up a room or the space around me (the bulletin boards in Primary are getting a facelift!).

So, there are just a few tidbits about my parents. I love them, respect them, honor them, and wish I was closer to them! A huge shout out to them-Mom started back at BYU this last semester and Dad will be joining her this upcoming semester. They are doing things to better their lives, even though that's a scary step!

I LOVE YOU MOM & DAD!