Taking it down a notch!

Happy Birthday, Sam! Have the best 13th year ever.

I'm not going to number the gratitude posts anymore because I can't ever remember which number it should be and I have to go back and check and also because it feels like more of a chore. I'd rather this be something I don't HAVE to do.

Christmas was a fun day and having Eric home for the two week break is wonderful. That's the best part of his job! The kids have been really good. We haven't done much, but we have seen quite a few videos.

I'm grateful for family, home, precipitation, and warm socks!

Gratitude Thought 38

Ethan and Ryan are such nice boys. I really love them.

#38: Today I am thankful that we found Connor's glasses. I went to work and while I was gone, Eric took the kids a bunch of places. When they got home, Eric realized that Connor's glasses were gone. They searched the van and found nothing. Eric pulled out the seats and found nothing. He had the boys look downstairs, in our room, Connor's room, and the kitchen. They searched under his high chair. They looked on the driveway and in the snow around the yard. I got home and did the same thing. Eric and I had given up hope, put the seats back in the van, and pulled the cars into the garage. I looked around the driveway one more time and guess what I found? Yes, Connor's glasses! I must have driven over them because they were a bit bent, but he can still wear them. Thank heavens we found them!





Ethan wants to say, "dgfvtnhgdfdghdsf"

Gratitude Thoughts 35, 36, 37

This is a picture of Sam and Eric up in the canyon one year while we were looking at the fall leaves.

#35: Hot water is one of the best modern conveniences there is. I cannot start the day without having a hot shower. It's ingrained in me. Doing dishes without hot water pouring from an indoor faucet would be an even bigger pain than it already is.

#36: Basement family rooms are a good thing. If you have a nintendo like we do, it would be awful to have that upstairs where you really would know how much they play it.

#37: Family friends. We have one particular family friend who is the best example of selfless service I have ever seen. That person is always doing something for someone else. I honestly don't think this person sits down without doing something edifying. Thanks for all you do for our family.

Gratitude Thoughts #33, 34

I think this picture is so funny. I'm opening my mouth much wider than Connor is. It was his first birthday cake. I remember that he really liked it.

#33: I am so thankful for people who drive carefully in snow conditions. I had to do a lot of driving around town today and saw some idiots and some geniuses. If you're in a hurry and the road conditions are bad, too bad. Thank heavens most people are careful.

#34: Nice neighbors are always a good thing. I got home from picking up Connor from preschool and my neighbor to the south was almost finished shoveling my driveway. He did the whole thing! It was a very nice thing for him to do. Thanks Jon!

Gratitude Thoughts #31, 32

This is Ryan and his friend Zach after making a huge tunnel in a huge snowball. They were pretty proud of themselves.

Wow, I have now made it past the one month mark! I have to admit it's getting harder to come up with stuff that makes sense.

#31: I am thankful for snowplows. It snowed today and the roads were terrible, but then I watched a snowplow drive by and wanted to cheer because it made the road much better.

#32: New tires are also great. We got new tires on the van before we went to St. George last month and I only slid once today. That is really good for me since I am a lousy snow driver!

Gratitude Thought #30

Today I'm grateful for my king sized bed. Eric and I do not like to touch or share blankets at night so we totally need a big bed. I've been tired all day long so it will feel so good to get in under all my cozy blankets and fall asleep watching the news. Thank goodness for my bed!!!

Ryan is the smartest, most handsome 11 year old boy in the world!

Gratitude Thoughts #28, 29

Ethan told the story of The Little Match Girl in his class the other day. He is so expressive. He did a great job!

#28: I was just complaining to myself how cold I am. It is blowing snow, but not the nice kind of snow. Just a little bit of snow with a lot of wind behind it. Then I thought how cold it would be without walls and a furnace. So today I am thankful for my home.

#29: Today I took Ryan and Ethan to the choir practice for our ward's Christmas program. The kids in the senior primary will be singing a song during the program. The practice was scheduled to be short so I just sat and waited for the boys in the chapel. I love Christmas music. I'm not sure why it touches me so much, but the Christmas sacrament meeting program is my very favorite of the year.

Gratitude Thought #27

A lot of Connor's toys are stored under his crib. He got underneath and played for a long time the other day!

#27: We just got home from Sam's band concert. Her band did really well, but I marvel at the patience of her band teacher. He is a great guy and he gets mad at the kids sometimes, but he keeps coming back. Band teachers are people to be thankful for.

Gratitude Thoughts 22-26

Doesn't Angel look cute? I captured this moment while she was investigating the Christmas decorations.

These will be quick!

#22: Food. This time of year the quality of food goes up and I love it!

#23: Ribbon. I have discovered that I actually adore ribbon. Not the big kind, but the little kind. Roberts has lots and I'm having fun finding use for little ribbon.

#24: New couches. Love them!!!

#25: TV's that live downstairs. We moved our family room tv downstairs to make room for the new couches. It has been much quieter and the kids are actually finding other things to do. Although the first morning was rough when Connor could not figure out why he wasn't watching Sid the Science Kid while he ate breakfast. He kept saying, "Show? Show? Show?"

#26: Relief Society women. I took cookies to the church today for the luncheon after the funeral of a lady that used to live in our ward. It was awesome to see all these women taking care of food for total strangers to eat after the funeral of a total stranger. That is a great example of kindness.

Gratitude Thoughts #20, 21

Connor and Eric got a chance to "stop and smell the roses" at the St. George temple during Thanksgiving vacation.

#20: Today I got back some pictures of the kids that we had taken for Christmas. The photographer did a great job. I thought there was no way any of them would turn out, but we had several to choose from. So today I am thankful for Cheri Rodas and her awesome skills! Thank you!

#21: I'm thankful that every once in a while I get a creative urge to try and make something. I made a wreath to go on the front door for Christmas. It is definitely not the "normal" kind and I got the idea from Better Homes and Gardens, but at least I got a chance to be a little right brained.

Gratitude Thought #19

Today's gratitude thought is truck videos. My 2 year old is crazy about trucks. (Sometimes I think he is just crazy) When I really need some peace or I need some extra time to get something done, I pop one of those videos in and Connor is mesmerized for 30 minutes. I try not to abuse this, but let me tell you- those 30 minutes are precious!

My grandparents from Georgia visited last night. We only get to see each other about once a year. They are wonderful people. Love you.

Gratitude Thoughts #16, 17, 18

Connor was very tired!


Wow, I am having a hard time keeping up. Who knew gratitude would be so easy to forget?


#16: My new couches are coming next week. It makes me feel materialistic, but I am grateful that we can afford to buy something nice for our home. It really isn't intrinsically important, but sometimes it can show people that making company comfortable is important to us.





#17: Ethan came up to me last night and said that if Santa could bring everyone food that needed it, he (Ethan) didn't need anything for Christmas. He was very serious with tears in his eyes. Sometimes I forget that my kids know what is going on in the world. I told him we would for sure be helping others this Christmas and that we would let Santa know about Ethan's wish. He was very excited to go food shopping for the food bank this weekend. I'm grateful for Ethan's sweet and giving nature.





#18: I'm also grateful for school teachers. I get to volunteer in two of my kids' classes during the week and it always amazes me to watch these teachers. They have total control of their classes and they are nurturing up to 30 kids at a time. Thanks Miss Udy and Miss Knowles! You are awesome.

Gratitude Thoughts #13, 14, 15

We can't wait for Christmas!

We were gone for Thanksgiving so here are thoughts 13, 14, and 15.

#13: Even though I know we are polluting the earth every time we drive them, cars are really cool. We went down to St. George for Thanksgiving this week and I thought (as I always do while driving through most of Utah), how did the pioneers do it? A lot of Utah is desolate. Not a lot of rivers and most places don't naturally have leafy, green trees. We are so lucky to have cars so we can hurry through the rough parts!

#14: I have some amazing in-laws. I have some sisters-in-law who are so funny! They always make me laugh and feel at ease. Not everyone is so lucky. My brothers-in-law are pretty cool, too.

#15: Granola bars are a great invention. Not all of them are really much good nutritionally, but they are compact and taste good. Hopefully we're getting a little fiber when we eat them. Connor ate quite a few on our trip which made traveling in the car with him much easier.

Gratitude Thought #12

This one is an easy one. I had to go pick up some things at Target today and when I came out of the store the air was so foul I could hardly breathe. It made me realize how precious clean air is. I hate to think of our lungs having to take in all that filth. Hopefully a breeze will come up and blow all the gross stuff away.

Tiger couldn't be any more comfortable than he is right now!

Gratitude Thoughts #9, 10, 11

This is a picture of Sam dressed as Dr. Who for Halloween this year. No one knew who she was at school, but she still had fun.

Three gratitude thoughts is a lot for one post, but I'll give it a try.

#9- I'm thankful for Beyonce's song "If I Were a Boy". I'm not a Beyonce fan, but this song is really good. I'm not sure what is so great about it, but for now I'm listening to it a couple of times a day. It made cleaning my bedroom and bathroom a lot more fun!

#10- I'm thankful for treadmills. I hate to exercise and I hate to feel like people are watching me exercise, so a treadmill has done good things for my "exercise program" (the only thing this entails is walking at least 30 minutes 3 times a week). Hopefully I'm prolonging my life and health a little bit.

#11- Thank heavens for preschool teachers. Connor's teacher is a great teacher and he has learned a lot the past few months. His speech has gotten much clearer and his vocabulary has exploded. Without his little two year old preschool class, it would be much more difficult to get him to practice talking. I'm so glad there are people out there who enjoy working with little kids.

Gratitude Thought #8

I'm especially grateful today for my husband. He's not around a lot because he works full time plus a second job two nights a week. Whether you have a partner, a spouse, whatever, it makes life so much easier to know there is someone to help you when you need it, who loves you no matter how grouchy you are, and who cares what happens to you. When Eric is around, the rating score of my life goes up by five points at least!

What a sweet picture of a boy and his dad!

Gratitude Thought #7

Today Connor and I were walking home from dropping off our van to get new tires when Connor fell while running after a cat. He skinned his knees a little bit. This made me think that I am very grateful for skin. It is so amazing that we have this stuff that covers our bodies and can regenerate (most of the time) if it gets torn, cut, burnt....Skin is wonderful!

This is a picture of Ryan fishing up in the Uintas this summer. I'm pretty sure he let the fish go after the picture was taken.

Gratitude Thought #5 and 6

I missed yesterday, so here are two thoughts.

1- Friends are an important part of our lives. Without friends we wouldn't know what we were really like. Friends are able to tell us or show us how we're doing. Friends are people we can complain to and they won't think we're crazy.

2- Grocery stores are great. I can't imagine all the time and energy a woman of the 1800's had to put into keeping her family fed. It's so nice to go to one store and pick out so many different types of foods. I really like my grocery store, Smith's, because it's so close I can walk when I want to and the people that work there even know Connor's name.

The pictures are of Ethan riding Lizzie with some help from Uncle Brian. The other is the front of our house this last summer.

Gratitude Thougth #4

Today's gratitude thought is about older women. Now that I'm 35 I can really appreciate the women who have experienced all I have been through and even more. I got to talk to my grandma in Georgia today who has had cancer twice. She loves each day and I get the most positive feeling when I am around her. Also, I went visting teaching today to a woman who is in her 80's. I love to listen to her talk about when she had kids and how it really was basically the same for her as it is for me. These women are (to me anyway) largely untapped sources of advice, compassion, and life experience. Wow!!!

The picture is of my handsome boys on the first day of school 2008. Connor thinks he's going with Ryan and Ethan to school so he was very disappointed when they said goodbye that morning.

Gratitude Thought #3

This is a picture of Sam at my brother's wedding reception. Doesn't she look pretty?


Today's gratitude thought is sunshine. It's starting to be the time of year when sunshine can be scarce. But today it's beautiful. It's a good day to go outside and get some vitamin D!

Gratitude #2

My gratitude thought for today is family. Think how lonely we would be without each other. Each person brings something different to our family and I wouldn't change any of them.

This picture was taken at Disneyland. It was raining really hard!

Gratitude Thought #1

Gratitude #1
I am grateful for indoor plumbing! It's starting to get colder and I am very grateful that I don't have to go outside to use the bathroom. Also, I can't imagine having to clean out chamber pots when I hate cleaning a nice porcelain toilet. Hooray for toilets!

Isn't this a cute picture? Connor fell asleep at the foot of our bed while the big boys and I watched a TV show.