. . . simply amazing . . .

. . . richard elliott . . .

. . . one of my musical heros . . .

. . . take a listen . . .

. . . arranged and performed by him . . .

{wishing i could play this for prelude tomorrow}

. . . good king wenceslas

and tchaikovsky . . .

. . . together . . .

. . . only in my dreams . . .

. . . it's official . . .

. . . i'm a mormon . . .

{whoa . . . big photo!}

. . . you can read all about me

and what i believe right here . . .

. . . they don't match . . .

. . . beach towels . . .

. . . and christmas lights . . .

. . . do not go together . . .

{going to great lengths to avoid planting three times ~ like last year}

{we live in arizona}

{it's not supposed to freeze here}

. . . one more grad . . .

. . . really excited for . . .

. . . and so proud of . . .

. . . our favorite daughter-in-law . . .

. . . way to go, jess! . . .

. . . she's spent the last year

finishing her bachelor's degree

from asu . . .

. . . while living in provo . . .

. . . which means she's really:

•organized

•motivated

•dedicated

•disciplined

. . . and best of all:

. . . D•O•N•E . . .

. . . congratulations! . . .

{she's not technically finished "educationally" yet.

her full-time job now is to cheer drew on

while he's still in school.}

. . . through thick and thin . . .

. . . on this

~ the final day of *nablopomo ~

i want the world to know

that i am grateful

for my many, many blessings . . .

. . . i sometimes {a lot of times}

post about silly & frivolous stuff . . .

. . . and then i'll hear {out of the blue}

from random folks

that they read my blog . . .

{the carpet cleaner called to say

his sister told him i'd posted about them.

i don't even know who his sister is!

but hi, sister! and thanks for reading!}

. . . so

~ while i have your attention ~

i want you all to know

that deep down

i seriously count my blessings

every single day . . .

. . . and while i don't post about him

very often . . .

. . . please know how much i love

and am thankful for this guy . . .

. . . he is truly my hero . . .

. . . i simply cannot imagine

the suffering he has endured

for the past seven {SEVEN!!!!!} years . . .

. . . every aspect of his life

has been affected . . .

. . . and for the most part,

he has remained his cheerful self . . .

. . . i have to remind myself occasionally

that he is definitely entitled

to a "down" day

every now and then . . .

. . . bless his heart . . .

. . . also ~ i hear from so many people

that we are included

in your prayers . . .

. . . please know

we can feel that strength . . .

. . . and thanks . . .

{please keep it up!}

. . . bottom line ~

through our challenges and trials,

we love the lord

and thank him daily

for everything

with which he has blessed us . . .

. . . we have awesome kids . . .

. . . they have great spouses . . .

. . . they are blessing us

with darling grandchildren . . .

. . . we live in a lovely home . . .

. . . we are surrounded

by wonderful neighbors

and friends . . .

. . . we enjoy freedoms and privileges

in this great country . . .

. . . we can {and do}

worship as we choose . . .

. . . we have {for the most part}

good health and strength . . .

. . . we've been blessed

with talents and abilities

that we can use to serve others . . .

. . . and we're entering that season

where we celebrate

the birth of our savior . . .

. . . he who gave us

the greatest gift of all . . .

. . . and we are sooooo thankful . . .

{*nablopomo = national blog posting month.

the challenge is to post every day for thirty days.

and you thought november

was just for giving thanks and not shaving!}

. . . a little behind schedule . . .

. . . this is the first year

in a while . . .

. . . that no son or son-in-law

has been living here

at christmastime . . .

{chris, brent, tyler and drew

have always been so great to volunteer}

. . . so ~ this year ~

i've been honing

my own staple gun skills . . .

{bought myself a fancy new electric model!}

. . . i am smart enough

{however}

to enlist the help

of the nicest neighbor

{thanks jeremy!}

to get up on the roof

and light the dormers . . .

. . . all that's left to do now

is figure out

the timers and extension cords . . .

. . . but i ran out of daylight . . .

. . . hoping tomorrow's the day

we flip the switch . . .

{drew [bless his heart] would have had the entire project done saturday

if not for the fact that it was definitely time to replace our ancient lights}

. . . so THAT'S what color our carpet's supposed to be . . .

. . . ewwwwwwwwwwwww . . .

. . . plus . . .

. . . equals . . .

. . . ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

. . . free advertising . . .

. . . even vintage plush carpet

is rejuvenated . . .

. . . proving once again

just how easily

i'm amused . . .

. . . genesis 1:28 . . .

. . . be fruitful . . .

. . . multiply

and replenish

the earth . . .

. . . instructions given

to adam and eve . . .

. . . and the romneys,

evidently . . .

. . . our family ca. june 2005 . . .

{there were ten of us}

. . . march 2008 . . .

{then there were twelve of us}

. . . november 2011 . . .

{now there's seventeen of us}

. . . we're ever so grateful

for our growing family . . .

. . . great kids . . .

. . . their wonderful spouses . . .

. . . and darling grandchildren . . .

. . . we are blessed . . .

. . . el = 3 . . .

. . . he's been realllllllllly excited . . .

. . . today was finally the big day . . .

. . . elliott turned three . . .

. . . and since frosting

just isn't his thing . . .

. . . chocolate chip cookies

and candles

made the perfect birthday treat . . .

. . . outtakes and takeout . . .

. . . family photos . . .

. . . first of all ~ it isn't easy

to get all seventeen of us

in the same place

at the same time . . .

. . . today the stars aligned . . .

. . . exhausting, i tell ya . . .

. . . especially when you consider

all that goes on

behind the scenes . . .

. . . and, hey . . .

. . . let's all pause

for a moment of silence . . .

. . . as we give thanks

for digital photography . . .

. . . where outtakes disappear

with the click

of a delete button . . .

. . . where there's no need to fret

over wasted film or photobombs . . .

{hi, elliott!}

. . . in fact ~ just go ahead

and laugh it off . . .

. . . and while there's no guarantee

big people will pay attention . . .

. . . you can be certain

little ones definitely won't . . .

. . . but somehow . . .

. . . someway {photoshop} . . .

. . . you'll hopefully end up

with a few decent shots . . .

{don't worry ~ we did}

. . . then after the outtakes . . .

. . . takeout

{happy meals and el charro burros}

makes it all worthwhile! . . .