30 November 2010

. . . thankful #the last . . .

. . . thanksgiving month draws to a close . . .
. . . with no fancy photos . . .
. . . no funny quips . . .
. . . no sarcasm . . .
. . . just a very grateful me . . .
. . . and though some of my "thankful"s
may have seemed trivial ~
i certainly realize how truly blessed i am . . .

. . . i am surrounded by a wonderful family . . .
. . . a husband i love . . .
{and admire beyond belief for his patience and faith through this time of great trial}
. . . children i adore . . .
. . . sons- and {soon-to-be} daughter-in-law
who are just the right matches for my kids . . .
. . . five precious grandkids {so far} . . .

. . . my health . . .
. . . a lovely home . . .
. . . the best friends you can imagine . . .

. . . and {most importantly} an unshakable testimony
of the divinity of my savior . . .
{to whose birth i will now turn my attention for remembering and celebrating}

. . . and i feel extra blessed . . .


29 November 2010

. . . thankful #29 . . .

. . . what's that old saying? . . .
. . . "you don't know what you've got
'til it's gone" . . .

. . . here's what my speedometer
looked like today . . .
. . . when i was at a dead stop . . .
. . . making it a little tricky
to judge how fast
i was or wasn't going . . .

. . . so if you see me on the road . . .

. . . cross your fingers for me . . .
. . . because my appointment
to get it repaired
isn't until thursday . . .


28 November 2010

. . . thankful #28 . . .

. . . generosity . . .
. . . what a fun party yesterday . . .
. . . jessalyn was definitely showered . . .
. . . and people are so nice . . .
. . . from the hostess and her helpers . . .
. . . to the many friends
and family members who came . . .

amelia, amanda, suzie {jessalyn's mom}, me, amber, jessalyn, kalie {jessalyn's sister}


27 November 2010

. . . thankful #27 . . .

. . . assembly line . . .

. . . makin' a list and checkin' it twice . . .

. . . wedding invitations ~ done . . .


26 November 2010

. . . thankful #26 . . .

. . . black friday costco success . . .

. . . and this guy's crazy bedhead . . .


25 November 2010

. . . thankful #25 . . .

. . . thanksgiving day . . .
. . . is that redundant? . . .
. . . being thankful for thanksgiving day? . . .
. . . because i am . . .

. . . here's how amanda and i started the day . . .
. . . at the neighborhood turkey trot . . .
{or bike or skate or jog or walk or wog}
. . . take a look at just a few of the folks
who show up for such an event . . .

. . . then there's the food . . .

{i actually had really easy assignments today}
. . . my mom is such a great cook . . .
. . . we look forward to her dressing every year . . .
. . . legendary . . .

. . . but the best part about thanksgiving
is the people . . .
{proof that i was having fun? no pictures}
. . . neighbors, friends, children, grandkids,
brothers, sisters,
cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma . . .
{i missed my dad today}
. . . we caught up with each others' lives,
we laughed, we played, we ate . . .

. . . and naps . . .

. . . let's do it again next year . . .


24 November 2010

. . . thankful #24 . . .

. . . grandkids in general . . .
. . . addison specifically . . .
. . . she invited me
to her third grade play today . . .
. . . something about greek mythology/
helen of troy/a trojan horse/etc . . .
. . . she's darling and
{in my eyes}
was the star of the show . . .

{let's talk about these photos . . .
a) i was wrestling a two-year-old;
b) helping him scroll through photos on my phone with one hand;
c) and trying to take pictures with the other hand;
d) they're terrible!}


. . . thought you might want
to at least see
the nose of the trojan horse. . .

. . . addi will always be
my favorite oldest grandchild . . .
. . . i love her to pieces . . .
. . . being a grammy is pretty fun . . .
. . . so thankful for halleigh,
tate, tagg, and elliott, too . . .
{also ~ any and all future grandbabies}


23 November 2010

. . . thankful #23 . . .

. . . hearing this car in the driveway
after midnight last night . . .
. . . thankful for drew's safe arrival . . .

. . . especially after taking a look
at this forecast . . .


. . . brrrrrrrrrrrrr! . . .
. . . provo's a great place
not to be
right about now! . . .


22 November 2010

. . . thankful #22 . . .

. . . a double
~ no make that triple ~
dose of thankful today . . .

. . . number one: these little gadgets . . .
. . . i have a testimony of them . . .
. . . i decorated the tree
in the middle of the room . . .

{stuff looks prettier if you take it outside and lay it in a bed of ivy for its photo session}

. . . then pushed it back into the corner
all by myself . . .
{it's so heavy it takes two sons-in-law to carry it into the house!}

. . . number two: i'm thankful
that most of the lights came on
when i plugged the tree in ~
further reinforcing the well-known fact
that just because you buy a PRE-lit tree
doesn't guarantee a RE-lit tree next year . . .
. . . grrrrrrrrrrr . . .

. . . number three: merryandbright/redandwhite . . .


21 November 2010

. . . thankful #21 . . .

. . . today's primary program . . .
. . . and every primary program
i've ever heard . . .

{children pictured are not actual harmony park ward primary kids}


. . . truths are taught and reinforced
through spoken word
and {my favorite part} music . . .


. . . but today i had a flashback . . .
. . . kind of like on
the most recent episode of glee
where mr. schuester
was hallucinating from
some exotic strain of the flu
and after writing on the chalkboard,
he turned around to find
his high school students had shrunk . . .

{seriously, though, that mashup of "singin' in the rain" and "umbrella"
with gwyneth paltrow was amazing!}

. . . yeah ~ kind of like that . . .

. . . i went back to a time when . . .
. . . this darling cheerleader's chubby hands
sweetly signed the songs . . .
. . . and this scary witch
was more than a little bitter
because she was young for her grade,
had started junior high,
and was still in primary . . .
. . . when this tiny dancer
sang every song at the top of her lungs ~
with so much enthusiasm
the veins in her neck
practically exploded . . .
. . . and when drew
{he's the one in the pink shoes}
was waaaaaaaaaay too cool to sing . . .

. . . back to a time
when there were
literally hundreds of primary-aged kids
in our ward . . .
. . . a time
when primary music was my calling
and the children occupied all the choir seats
and half the pews in the chapel . . .
. . . and i perched precariously
{and very pregnantly}
on a rickety set of wooden steps
and gave them the universal motion
for "everybody stand up together" . . .
. . . and before they even started singing,
{that was the year i taught them "families can be together forever"}
my eyes welled up with tears . . .
. . . yep ~ just as they're doing right now . . .

. . . i had a little flashback today . . .
. . . and i liked it . . .
{mascara is overrated!}

{sunbeams are amazing!}


20 November 2010

. . . thankful #20 . . .

. . . machine quilting . . .
. . . and machine quilters . . .
. . . i l.o.v.e choosing the fabric . . .
. . . i l.o.v.e piecing . . .
. . . i l.o.v.e arranging the blocks . . .
. . . i l.o.v.e figuring out the borders . . .
. . . i l.o.v.e using up every scrap for the back . . .
. . . BUT . . .
. . . i have zero interest in hand quilting . . .

. . . so ~ my heart skips a beat when
my quilt's ready to be picked up . . .

. . . all those swirly stitches
really bring a quilt to life . . .
. . . thank you, marae . . .
. . . final reveal coming soon {maybe} . . .


19 November 2010

. . . thankful #19 . . .

. . . iGoofed . . .
. . . iForgotitwasinmypocket . . .
. . . iWashed . . .
. . . iRuined . . .

. . . iCried . . .

. . . iUpgraded . . .

. . . iThankmyluckystars
thatinseventeenyears
ofcellphonership
thiswasmyfirstoffense . . .

{"thankful" abuse today? probably . . . sorry}


18 November 2010

. . . thankful #18 . . .

. . . a little nap today . . .

. . . so nice . . .
{i'll never understand why toddlers protest this little slice of heaven!}


17 November 2010

. . . thankful #17 . . .

. . . my girls . . .
. . . we had a great time together tonight . . .
. . . dinner at el charro . . .
. . . so you think you can dance
at jobing.com arena . . .

amelia, jessalyn {yep! totally counting her!}, amanda & amber


. . . they are talented, funny,
hard working, wonderful women . . .
. . . i'm so blessed to be their mom . . .


16 November 2010

. . . thankful #16 . . .

. . . today? duh . . .
. . . tyler . . .
. . . see him up there? . . .


. . . zoom . . .

. . . no ~ your eyes do not deceive you . . .
. . . he is indeed putting up
my christmas lights . . .
. . . today . . .

. . . because they're moving soon
and he wanted to make sure
his chores here were done . . .

. . . also helpful ~ elliott . . .

. . . because someone's gotta be in charge
of eating cheerios and craisins . . .
{big thanks, too, to brent [he fixes our computers] and chris [he fixes everything else]}
. . . i highly recommend sons-in-law! . . .


15 November 2010

. . . thankful #15 . . .

. . . good health . . .
. . . a blessing i do NOT take lightly . . .
. . . especially as i've watched
people i love dearly suffer . . .
. . . for a long time . . .
. . . with really frustrating, puzzling, painful stuff . . .
. . . and still no answers . . .

. . . so it is with much gratitude
that i received my clean bill of health today . . .
. . . blood work and other {not so pleasant} testing
is complete for the year . . .
. . . and although the hour i spent
on an ultrasound table today
seemed like the longest of my life . . .
{well ~ maybe except for transition just before four babies were born!}
. . . and the really nervous week spent waiting
for a follow-up/more in depth appointment
seemed like it'd never end. . .
. . . this is definitely the box
i wanted to see checked . . .

. . . i'm certain no pounds were lost,
but i feel a whole lot lighter! . . .

. . . and very blessed, indeed! . . .


14 November 2010

. . . thankful #14 . . .

. . . missionaries . . .
. . . young men
{and women and "senior couples" as our stake president reminded us}
who unselfishly serve all over the world . . .
. . . today especially, i'm thankful for this one . . .

. . . our nephew who just returned . . .

. . . thank you, justin,
for the great example you've been
for your younger brothers
and for the blessing you've been
to your entire family ~
not to mention the lovely people you served
in the west indies . . .

. . . i'm also thankful for the opportunity i had
to be the mom of a missionary . . .
{thanks also to my husband and three sons-in-law ~ also returned missionaries}
. . . drew did a wonderful job
and worked hard in mexico . . .

. . . he continues to labor in missionary work ~
teaching at the missionary training center . . .

. . . let's just hope he doesn't teach them
everything he learned in the field . . .

. . . most of all ~ i'm thankful for
the good news of the gospel of jesus christ
that missionaries exemplify and share . . .
. . . they are always in my prayers . . .


13 November 2010

. . . thankful #13 . . .

. . . this lovely spot of earth . . .
. . . is due for an extreme makeover . . .

. . . with ceremonial shovels
breaking the ground this morning . . .
{sorry . . . photo of computer screen}
. . . paving the way for
yet another beautiful temple
in arizona . . .
. . . it's almost like living in utah! . . .



12 November 2010

. . . thankful #12 . . .

. . . accessories . . .

. . . they always fit . . .



11 November 2010

. . . thankful #11 . . .

. . . hair color . . .
. . . yep . . .
. . . i was born blonde . . .
{bald, technically. it took me a couple of years to grow this much hair!}
. . . and really serious, apparently . . .

. . . mother nature intended for me to be a towhead ~
--n
a person with blond or yellowish hair
or
a head of such hair

. . . and who am i to argue? . . .
. . . so today i'm grateful
for these little tubes of magic
and lots of tin foil . . .




. . . also a great friend/neighbor/walking partner
who knows how to use them . . .
{thanks, amanda ~ i'll be back in five/six-ish weeks!}
. . . i'm thankful for some fresh oomph . . .

. . . AND it covers the gray . . .
{win, win}
. . . mother nature is so fickle! . . .