We ARE Family

As we have experienced our holiday family experience in Virginia and vicariously shared all of the experiences of our children through the wonder of our families blogs, I am deeply impressed, again, about how important family is and how incredibly blessed we are to belong to this family. Thank you, each and every one of you, for who you are and what you bring to our family. Love you all.

Thanksgiving

We started the morning with quite a startle from our Thanksgiving visitor. This is a Sandhill crane and they are very loud. He made it quite close to the house before letting out quite a squawk. David ran screaming. The kids quietly crept outside and attempted to feed it grapes. It squawked a few more times and looked at us like we were stupid. Then walked away. They don't eat grapes. Note to self.


Enjoyed a little post dinner walk and fish.
Who doesn't love a little beach time on every holiday?
Oh, now that is just cute.
Now that is a family! Happy mom!
Grilled to perfection. Oh, yeah, I said grilled. Never going back.




We enjoyed making everything together and having a semi quiet dinner. Everyone had specific items to make. Collin made pumpkin bourbon cheesecake (thank you James), Ethan made Marshmallow almond key lime pie (umm, best key lime pie ever!), and Chloe made a cherry pie. Never made pies from scratch without the aid of sibling or parent. They actually worked! Who knew? Don't forget April who wowed us all with some fantastic rolls. We were happy to spend it just us, but missed family. Can't wait for Christmas!

The Holiday

Happy Thanksgiving, my wonderful family.

You know, I never feel so lonely and distant from all of you as I do on holidays. I think that, growing up, we were always pretty independent as a family when it came to holidays because we lived so far away from all of our extended family. It was as though we were ingrained with the understanding that we were all we had, and somehow that leaked into my adult life.

I am grateful, ever so grateful for the family that I head in this little corner of the world, but my heart is pining, even after more than a decade after its creation, for my parents, brothers, and sisters that all have their own corners of the world. I kind of wish our corners could be more like niches in the same log or at least short spokes around the hub of a not-so-large tricycle wheel. I know, however, that we're in the right place at the right time, and I trust that all of you are, as well, so our corners we maintain in happiness and peace.

In other news, we've finally scheduled Joshua's baptism for Saturday morning. We've been waiting for Grandma and Grandpa schedules to align with ours, and they still might not, but we just can't withhold from Joshua any more. You are all, of course, invited for the 10 am service.

Happy Thanksgiving, from our family to ours.

Yes, I meant to do that.

Intermountain Healthcare celebrates kidney transplant milestone | ksl.com

Intermountain Healthcare celebrates kidney transplant milestone | ksl.com

All things Family

So....I started a new blog and I know what your thinking. No one knows better than me how truly pathetic I am at blogging. I had the feeling this last conference to start a blog on families. Maybe it was just my inner spirit dying to sit on my own soap box for a while or maybe it's more than that. Either way, here it is. That said, I would truly love your thoughts on my blog. Feel free to be critical or overly accommodating...which ever you prefer. I can handle both. :) I really do want to know what you think so I can make it better. I appreciate your love and your help. Oh yes...and I may use some of you in my blog. If you are entirely opposed to that you should let me know. You can find my blog at http://defendfamily.blogspot.com James I would love to add this to the family blog...how do we do that? Lots of love!

A little post summer fun!

I just got back from the pool. It was great. The kids were swimming and I was reading. I love me a little sun!

We will be spending Thanksgiving alone this year. I think it may be a first for us. I think small and simple will be o.k. We are assigning all dinner items out to the kids. Except the turkey, which Joe will be grilling this year. So cool. We are going to do an outdoor movie Thursday night and go to the beach Friday. I can't think of a better way to spend Black Friday. Yes, we are doing a little shopping, but the items I want go on sale Thursday night at 10. I get to avoid all the electronic crazies!

Great Quote

My new friend was over and we were talking about how to budget and other fun things. Yes, I love talking about budgeting. So, we were talking and they use a cash system, so I asked if at the end of the week if they are out of cash do they still go on their date. I absolutely loved her reaction and had to share it with everyone. In a very matter of fact way she said that of course they go and that it doesn't have to be in the cash budget because "going on a date is much less expensive than marriage counseling!"

LOVE IT! LOVE IT! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Yes, dad they are people after your own heart. Thank you for teaching us well!

Oh, and here is another great one. This one is just for Michelle. . . .

We were in the car and James asked Michael if he was croaking. He had to ask a couple of times before Michael could understand what he was saying. Once he finally figured it out Michael replied, "No, I'm not a frog."

Well, there are my fun quotes for the weekend. I hope you are all having a great weekend!