Day 30 -30 days of thanks

I've been compiling this list of things I am thankful for (in no particular order) throughout the day today to complete my 30 days of thanks.
my husband
my boys
my whole family, extended and in-laws
shelter
to be a stay-at-home mom
to be a U.S. citizen
food
scriptures
good friends
temples
makeup
good music
crafts
digital cameras
Internet
cell phones
to have a washer and dryer in my home
good examples
paper plates
weaves
exercise
good books
running water in my home
my kitchen
my body
my 5 senses
my health
safety
prayer
prophets
medicine that is helping Jonah's eyes
miracles
blessings
memories
soldiers
laughter
people that like to talk
friends that you can have fun with no matter what you are doing
holidays
wholesome movies and t.v.
education
clothes that fit
Oxiclean stain remover spray
crock pots
repentance
forgiveness
braces
my Christmas tree
talents
The Plan of Salvation
that my husband has a job
missionaries
modern transportation
bobby pins
nurses that make you feel comfortable in any situation
to live in a time w/ so many modern conveniences
cracking up in bed w/ Rich about silly things because we are so tired & everything is funny
hair cuts
that my sister and niece are coming to visit me in January
that I grew up doing gymnastics & it helped me in so many ways
parents that love me
get-togethers and parties
blogs that inspire or make me laugh
online banking
experiences that put things into perspective
traditions
my patriarchal blessing
love
that I didn't have any sciatic pain all day today
breastfeeding
the family unit and Family Proclamation

Day 29 -30 days of thanks

I am thankful for time I get to spend with my family. We have had the best 4 days together, this week! The job my husband currently has is horrible for family life and we are praying hard right now for a new job. With Thanksgiving, a day of being sick, a day of hooky and Sunday (his normal day off), Rich was home for 4 days with us! There was a peace amongst us all to have time together that didn't feel rushed. We got so much done and so much quality time in. I'm thankful for my family and thankful for each day I get to be with them!

Day 28 -30 days of thanks

I am thankful for lessons learned and that God has his own timetable and plan for our lives. I'm really grateful I haven't gotten many of the things I used to think I wanted so bad or thought I needed. I'm grateful that He knows what I need and knows when is the right time to give it to me. And when I've done things on MY timetable instead of His...well...once again, I'm thankful for lessons learned:).

Day 27 -30 days of thanks

I am thankful for extended family. My dad's parents had 10 kids (8 boys and 2 girls...see why boys run in the family)! Most of those kids have at least 1 kid, but some have 2-4 kids. So I have a lot of cousins. And they aren't even Mormon;)! We all grew up together. My grandparents had a big house in Somis, CA and we would always meet there for parties, whether that was a birthday party, anniversary, graduation, wedding, baptism, first communion, or to celebrate the holidays. With all of those people we were getting together very often. It was all I knew. I had a huge loud family and everyone got along and cousins were like your best friends. Everyone could watch out for each other and it was almost impossible to drive anywhere in town without passing someone in the family, on the road. In the summer time we would get a 3 story cabin at a lake and all stay there. I have the best memories of getting together with my extended family over the years. My favorite memories are of Christmas Eve, Easter egg hunts, and the lake. It was ideal! I love my family and love the memories I have with them. It makes me sad that my kids no longer live near any of their grandparents (minus my dad), aunts, uncles, or cousins. I had so many cousins and knew them all! I feel blessed that I got to grow up the way I did with all that family around! They are a lively bunch and love everyone. These memories will always be special to me! I am also so grateful that I now have more extended family through marriage and that I love them all so much too!Me, Cousin Danielle, My Sister Lorisa, and Cousin Lanea.
We were the 4 oldest girl cousins and we grew up spending a lot of time together. This was taken on my grandparent's deck which I have countless memories playing on, especially hitting a pinata. Oh, the memories!

Day 26 -30days of thanks

I am thankful for Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for really REALLY good food!

I am thankful that I have loved ones to spend holidays with!

Doesn't get any better!

Day 25 -30 days of thanks

No matter how much I whine about the pain I'm in, I am SO thankful to be pregnant! I realize that some people can't get pregnant and others never have the chance to be a mother for whatever reason. I can not say pregnancy is fun, but I do feel so blessed that I am able to bear children. I'm thankful that Heavenly Father trusts me to be a mother to some of his spirit children. There is a really long list of bad symptoms that come with pregnancy, but it really doesn't matter because it is all worth it in the end. I'm thankful that God puts his trust in woman and gives us the strength we need to bring another human being into this world. Rich often asks me questions like, "isn't that so weird to just feel this little person moving inside of you all of time?" or "isn't it weird to have a big belly like that?" Yep, it's weird all right, but I feel bad for men that they don't get to experience what we as woman do. They are glad they don't have to go through it, and of course I see why, but put all the negative aside,... having a baby inside of you is the most amazing thing ever. I already love this baby so much and feel so blessed to be his mommy. Today at the Dr.'s I saw a 2 week old baby and I found myself just staring, and oohing and awwing at it, almost like I'd never seen anything like it before. I couldn't believe how small it was, even at 2 weeks. Babies are little miracles and I can't wait to hold our baby boy! I am filled with gratitude each day that I have this angel baby inside of me. Just a month to go! It's amazing that with each pregnancy it's still so exciting and the love for each of my babies is the same. It's something you wait a long time for and sacrifice so much for, and is truly the greatest reward ever. How I love babies and motherhood!

Day 24 -30 days of thanks

I'm thankful for this cute little Indian, aka "Little Lion." He made up his own Indian name at school when they made these hats today. I love picking up Julien everyday from school. He is so enthusiastic about school and life. He loves to show me everything he did that day, and I love hearing/seeing it! I love this time that he is in kindergarten and brings home the cutest crafts and he still loves school! I'm thankful for his enthusiasm! I love my kids!!

Gotta love the cheetos in his teeth!

Day 23 -30 days of thanks

I am thankful for....are you ready for this?......I went on a DATE! :) Yeah, I did. Second one this year. Haha. Rich got Spurs tickets for free (and free parking!) from work. My dad watched the boys for us! Thank you, Dad!!! Anyway, it was my first professional basketball game ever. It was fun! I was glad to go out with Rich and do something new! Spurs won too. Fun stuff!

Day 22 -30 days of thanks

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I'm already listening to Christmas music. I used to pull out the Christmas music in August and annoy the heck out of my dad and sister, playing my same favorite songs. I have gotten a lot better about playing them closer to Christmas, the older I've gotten. I just love Christmas music. If ever I need to be uplifted, I can just play this music. I love it all. Some of my favorite Christmas albums are Josh Groban, Jewel, Amy Grant (grew up with that one), and anything by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I will take anything though, love it all! I'm so thankful for Christmas music and for this time of year!

This video is my all time favorite Christmas song. I discovered it a few years ago. It's called, "What Shall We Give to the Babe in the Manger." I play this one year round. If I ever need to feel the spirit, I can play this song, and there it is. I absolutely love this song. The climax of the song sounds like heaven to me.

Day 21 -30 days of thanks

Longest day of my life! This last trimester is just dragging! I feel like I'm always whining about it, but I can't help myself...I'm physically done! So today, being very pregnant, sick with a nasty cold, both kids home, and no car...well, a very long day it was! I'm grateful that #1: I made it through the day without losing my mind, and #2: I'm so grateful that my kids were so patient with me and were content doing flash cards, movies, coloring, and asking me all the Spanish words I know (or lack thereof) and laughing as we tried to speak Spanish. That about sums up our day. I'm just so glad they didn't go totally nuts on me because they were so bored. Hang in there kids!! I can't wait to get my energy back so we can do more!

Day 20 -30 days of thanks

Last night I started to get a bad sore throat. I woke up today with a cold. Although it stinks, I am so grateful that it's not the flu!! I'm counting my blessings! I wanted to write this earlier in the month about how thankful I am that my family has been healthy this flu season, but didn't want to jinx it. I hope we continue to avoid the flu. I am grateful each day that goes by that we haven't gotten it! Hopefully I won't eat my words later:).

Day 19 -30 days of thanks

I am thankful for Jesus Christ. Growing up I knew of him and I felt somewhat of a love for him mainly because of the basics that I was taught about him. But He didn't become a real influence in my life until I needed Him. Or at least until I realized that I needed Him. And even since the first time I realized that I needed him, I still till this day, from time to time lose sight of his power in my life. That's a shame. Unfortunately it happens to most of us because of the distractions of the world. I feel so blessed to know the things I know. I am so thankful for my testimony in the gospel. I am incredibly thankful that no matter how many times we don't put him first, make mistakes, disappoint him, let ourselves down, or get complacent in our spiritual growth, HE IS STILL THERE. He is there so patiently waiting to take our hand and forgive us and give us strength. Jesus Christ is a topic that is so broad. I could go in a million directions to express my gratitude for him. HOPE.REPENTANCE.MERCY. to name just a few. But tonight I wanted to express my thanks for his perfect love. In this life we are surrounded by imperfect people who do not know how to love perfectly. We judge each other so easily without ever knowing all the facts. We waste perfectly good friendships/relationships because we judge, envy, compare, and get selfish. I do this, you do this, we all do this. That is because we are imperfect. But I'm so thankful that we have Christ's example of Charity. Charity is the exact opposite of what I just listed. We have in Christ a friend who will never judge us unfairly or without mercy. He knows our heart, our intentions, our strengths/weaknesses, and judges us accordingly...still always loving us. We will not always be accepted or liked by everyone. Others will judge us and hurt us. But in Christ, we have a true friend. I love the thought of that. It's so comforting to know that he pleads with Heavenly Father on our behalf because he understands us and loves us with perfect love. He is our only true judge. I'm thankful that we can look to him as our example and try our best to do the same to others. It's so not easy, especially if another person has wronged you in some way or if our pride gets in the way. But I am thankful that he shows us how, and even when we fail to have charity, he still grants it unto us. I know that he chose to come to earth and have a body and experience pain and heartache because he wanted to relate to us and understand us. He didn't have to. He suffered in Gethsemane and atoned for us so that he could be a true judge and friend. I am thankful that with all of my imperfections and sins he still love me. I love him and I am so grateful for his unconditional and perfect love.

Day 18 -30 days of thanks

Today while Julien was in school, Rich and I took Jonah to the store. As we were getting in the car, Jonah sat in Julien's booster seat. We decided to let him ride in Julien's seat to the store, after reading the label that said he needed to be at least 30 lbs (Jonah weighs 40 lbs). He rode to the store like such a cute big boy. He looked so big! We decided that since he was heavy and tall enough for the booster seat, that we should make the switch! So we got Jonah his big boy booster seat. Here is what I am thankful for... no, it's not that my kids are growing up too fast! I am thankful that I will have two boys in boosters and only one car seat after the baby comes. This makes my life so much easier! It's so easy to just put a regular seat belt on a squirmy kid, compared to all the different car seat straps! And he can get himself out too...bonus! Anything to make my life easier, I'm all for it! I wish I had a picture to go with this post, because he really looks so cute and big in his new seat! But then again, it's way cuter to us because we are his parents!

Day 17 -30 days of thanks

I am SO thankful that right now I get to take a hot shower and get in my really comfortable bed. I am beat. I'm really too tired to even say more. But know that I am thankful for the simple pleasures in life. Good night!

Day 16 -30 days of thanks

Today I was thankful to have some cold weather. I never thought I'd say that after living in freezing cold Idaho, but after this extremely hot spring, summer, and fall, it was very nice! I think it's just because I'm pregnant that I like the cold right now. I usually sleep with layers of clothes on, a ton of blankets and the comforter over my head to avoid the fan that Rich has to have on at night. But boy has that changed! I wake up, kicking off the covers, turning down the A.C. and sometimes can't sleep because I'm so hot. In Relief Society (at church where all the woman meet for an hour), all the woman are always saying how cold they are. They have blankets over them, jackets, and are shivering. And there I am thinking, "I don't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable." You'd think I was going through menopause. Anyway, thank you cold weather...my errands were hectic enough today, but I'm so thankful I didn't have the heat on top of it all!

Day 15 -30 days of thanks

Rich and I are getting more and more excited to meet our new son. We have been busy getting things organized around here for baby. It's still 6 weeks away! Although yesterday when I was at Nordstroms the lady helping me told me I looked really low and asked how long I had. When I told her 6 weeks, she said, "oh, you ain't gonna go that long!" I look and feel huge. I am physically worn out and ready to have him; I am so excited to meet him and feel like I can't wait; but most importantly I need him to stay in as long as he can so he is healthy and ready. So what am I thankful for tonight?...I am just so thankful that I am having this baby during the holiday season! I love the holidays! There is so much to look forward to, and I love everything about the days leading up to the holidays! So I am thankful that I have this season to distract me from the day that seems like it will never get here; delivery day! Just something Rich and I were talking about today...but I'm truly thankful for it! We are looking forward to watching tons of Christmas movies, decorating the house, and making goodies! I think with all that going on, these next 6 weeks should fly by! And if not, oh well, I'm so excited it's this time of year again!

Day 14 -30 days of thanks

Today I am filled with gratitude for my husband to have taken a much needed day off. We haven't had a Saturday together in way too long! He helped me clean the whole house! I had been working on it all week, but you know how it is with kids! It was sooooo nice of him and I really needed the help. Then we went out and ran some errands and had a great night as a family. A really fun day and although we were pretty busy all day, I feel so replenished just from having the extra help! Thank you, Honey!!!This is not a picture from today, but it is a picture of our current place, and it's clean. Hey, I'm trying to keep these posts somewhat exciting with pictures:).

Day 13 -30 days of thanks

We picked up Julien from school today and he told me he got to pick something out of the treasure box at school. They get to pick something from there once they have filled up their sticker chart in class. They get stickers when their teacher sees them do nice things. He said he couldn't find anything that he wanted so he got something for me. He gave me a Hawaiian Lei. It was so cute how happy he was to give it to me. I secretly felt bad that he didn't get something for himself, but I was also impressed with his thoughtfulness. He put it on me and I said, "Julien, thank you, that is SO sweet!" He giggled and said, "I knew you were going to say sweet!" Oh, he is too cute! Love him! Thank you, Julien!!I also have a lot of gratitude (maybe more like excitement/relief) for something that happened at dinner tonight...Jonah ate dinner! I can not even begin to tell you how frustrated and worried I am about Jonah's eating habits. Looking at him, he looks fine and not thin. But if you knew all the things he does not eat, you'd be worried too. I've had his iron checked and it was fine, but I am still concerned. Jonah has had this redness around his eyes since last February. It looks like eczema (because he does have that), but nothing that the doctor has given me works. He constantly looks like he just got done crying or maybe his brother practiced his Rocky moves on him. He is always rubbing them. I feel so bad for him. Everywhere we go now people gasp and ask what happened to his eyes. I've been saying that it's eczema, but lately we've been concerned that it is more than that. We think it may have something to do with his diet. We don't know. Anyway, I'll be taking him to the doctor on Monday to get some more info. But back to tonight... he did not just eat one thing on his plate, he ate everything on his plate!!! Turkey, mashed potatoes/gravy, and green beans!!! I felt like throwing a party! I made a huge deal out of it and called Rich and my Dad, who also made him feel proud! I could tell he felt proud too. It was so good to see him eat something other than potatoes! I am really curious to know what is causing his eyes to react. Even if it isn't his diet that is causing this problem, tonight was a big deal, and I really hope he continues to eat more variety!Not trying to focus on the negative here, but this is a recent picture of Jonah's eyes, they look worse in person. I wish I had a picture of him eating his dinner tonight instead!

Day 12 -30 days of thanks

After a long day of nesting and being with the kids, I am thankful to put my feet up now and drink some hot chocolate with marshmallows! Enough said.

Day 11 -30 days of thanks

A couple of years ago my husband got so sick of storing a million baby items in our garage, so he threw them out. A lot of the stuff was already hand-me-downs or just worn out from two kids...there may have been a couple things that really could have lasted but he was on a condensing spree. Anyway, little by little I am trying to get back some things. Today I am so thankful for my purchase from Craigslist! I bought this swing for a good deal! Having it here is making me really excited to bring home our little guy! It's also reminding me how cluttered our little home is going to become with all of the baby things! That's okay! Can't wait to bring him home!

Day 10 -30 days of thanks

Today is one of my best friend's birthday! I met Jenalyn in high school in freshman year. We have been good friends ever since. Too bad we don't live by each other anymore! We do still keep in touch, and anytime we do talk or see each other, we pick up right where we left off! She was one of those friends that always made me laugh and we could have so much fun together! We could also talk about ANYTHING and not feel judged (we still can)! Jenalyn is special to me for many reasons, but the most important one is that she introduced me to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when I was 16. The story is quite funny, but in the end, it all worked out and I couldn't be happier to be a member of the church. She was there for some of my missionary discussions; EFY (where my testimony was first strongly built); everywhere in between as I waited to turn 18 to be baptized; she was at my baptism, and she was the one person I brought with me to receive my patriarchal blessing! I always thank her, even today, for sharing the gospel with me. I know she is so happy she did and knows it means so much to me, but sometimes I wish I could thank her even more than I know how. Joining the church was the best decision I have ever made in my life (and my family goes right along with that). I have never once regretted this decision, and in fact its just the opposite. The longer I have been a member, the more grateful I am for my membership. I know I could write the longest post ever about how much the gospel has changed my life, but tonight I will keep it simple. I am soooo thankful for my friend Jenalyn, and for her courage to share the gospel with me. No matter how much I thank her, she will never really know just how much it means to me. She shared something with me that changed me forever and gave me purpose and direction (and so much more)! How can I ever thank her enough? I can't!

Happy Birthday, Jenalyn! And thank you times a million for sticking by me and sharing the best thing ever with me! I love you!!!

Me and Jenalyn at youth conference in 2000

Day 9 -30 days of thanks

Today I had to go to the Dr.'s and had to bring both kids. They were hungry right before we left so I grabbed them each a bag of Fruity Snacks to eat on the way. Jonah finished his before Julien and since they are always competing and racing, Julien announced, "Jonah won!" I then hear him say to Jonah, "Jonah, you won, so you get the gold trophy! And here is the gold trophy.." I turned back to see what he would give him and I saw Julien grab Jonah's face and give him a big kiss on the cheek! I smiled so big! I'm THANKFUL for moments like those! They sure beat, "I won, haha!" which always end with the "loser" crying or getting mad. One of the sweetest things on earth to me is seeing my sons show each other love and kindness!

Day 8 -30 days of thanks

When I was young my dad sat me down and taught me the importance of expressing feelings by talking to someone. I think I was about 6 or 7 years old, but when we had this conversation it just clicked with me. My dad is a really great person to talk to. He is a really good listener and he never makes you feel judged or like you are wasting his time. He is so good at helping people feel important and validated. I think this is why our conversation about releasing frustrations through conversation really clicked with me. He made it easy. I'm still not sure if some people are naturally more comfortable talking about their feelings than others, or if all it takes is to have someone you trust and a little bit of practice to break down those walls. Either way I have seen the benefit in doing it and today, I am thinking about how grateful I am that my dad helped me learn this at a young age. It has helped me time and time again throughout my life. And I am very grateful that I still have my dad around to be there for me:)! I love my sweet Dad!

Day 7 -30 days of thanks

Today my dad and his girlfriend, Carolyn, took the boys to a birthday party. It was for the son of one of Carolyn's friends. They played games, ate cake, did presents, etc. at the little boys house and then went to a farm for the remainder of the birthday party. I am so grateful to them for this time I had to myself! I don't get a break often and it was sure nice! I am also grateful that my boys got to go do something new and fun! I also want to say that I am so grateful to live near my dad and Carolyn! When I moved away from my dad back in 2004 when we moved to St. George, I spent years kicking myself for ever moving away! It was hard to not see him as much as we would all have liked to! But now we are living just 30 min from each other and it is such a treat! Carolyn is also so great and she loves the kids! The kids love being with them! You should hear and see the kids when I tell them we are going to be doing something with Dad and Carolyn! Anyway, thank goodness for help, grandparents, and living so close again! Here are a couple pictures from today! They had so much fun!Julien on his first pony ride!

30 days of thanks

I am 100% stealing this idea from someone else. I know I am starting late, but I want to do this. So each day this month I am going to blog about something I am grateful for. They may be big things or little things, or just things that made my day, etc. I have to catch up, so here are the first 6.....(and #1 will be at the bottom so it stays in order)....

Day 6 -30 days of thanks

I am thankful for my sister, Lorisa. We talk almost everyday on the phone. Some days it's not very long but we always stay up-to-date on each other. She is always there for me, and always has been. Growing up, we had our moments that we did not get along; she beat me up, I was a teenage brat, you know how it goes...! But the older we get, the closer friends we have become and she is someone that I love to talk to and can't live without! She is so generous to everyone she knows and is a great friend! She is now a mom to the cutest little girl and is doing such a great job as a mom! Now if she could only move down the street! Now that would be the life! Lorisa (in front), me (in back). One Halloween in the 80's- we were Barbie & the RockersSanta Barbara 2001In front of our dad's house in CA 2007

Day 5 -30 days of thanks

Julien brought this card home for me today because yesterday was my birthday. If you can't tell, it's me and him and a birthday cake. Again, I LOVE anything my kids make for me!! It will never get old. I'm so thankful that my little boy thought of me while he was at school!front of card inside of card

Day 4 -30 days of thanks
I am thankful for Julien's teacher. I really can't tell you how perfect Julien's school teacher is for his first year of school. She is just right for him! I love her! Today I went to Parent-Teacher-Conference and what was supposed to be a 20 minute meeting, turned into an hour. We just get along and she is so much fun to talk to! Most of all, I'm so glad that while Julien is away from me for 7 hrs a day, he is with a teacher that loves him and I know I can trust. I had fun meeting with her and hearing all about how he is in class. Thank heaven for good teachers!!!
Day 3 -30 days of thanks
There is nothing better than getting an unexpected check in the mail! First off, I think phone companies are total crooks, and a few companies still owe me money. But wow, I actually got a refund in the mail from this company! It only took them 3 months, but hey, I had forgotten about it so it made me very happy! It may only be $28.30, but that will buy my new baby bathtub for crying out loud; so I am very happy!!! Thanks at&t! Now if only Cricket and Qwest could be that honest, I would probably have enough money to buy a new crib and maybe even a mattress....cha, but let's be serious!
Day 2 -30 days of thanks

One thing I was excited about this school year was getting to have some much needed one-on-one time with my little Jonah. His baby brother is going to interrupt that in just a couple of months, but I already feel like we have gotten some great bonding in. Of course I have always had a bond with Jonah, but with Julien around (the one who loves to steal the spotlight) Jonah and I just never got that precious time all to ourselves. I have had so much fun with Jonah these past couple of months. He is just so cute and sweet. There is a difference in Jonah when Julien is not around. Don't get me wrong, we love having Julien around! But when it's just Jonah and I, he is so mellow, but in a peaceful way. He has become so talkative to me. It took him a long time to talk, and just this past year, he has really started to talk more...but even just these past couple of months he is really talking. He cracks me up too! I just love that for 7 hours I can have special time with him. It's amazing what a bond we have now, and I thought before that we already had a good one, but now it's even stronger. We enjoy our quiet time all to ourselves (again, I promise I DO miss Julien, but ya know). We walk to pick up Julien everyday and I love holding Jonah's pudgy little soft hand the whole way and hearing him talk about it being a sunny day again. Once Julien gets home, Jonah gets into his loud rambunctious mode, needless to say, the second half of my day is not so quiet. Anyway, I love my sweet, smooshy cheeks-Jonah. We are buds!Jonah- 8 months! One of those pictures I find myself talking to in my baby voice. Ilovemybabyboy!Jonah 3 years old

Day 1 -30 days of thanks
Warning, extra cheesy! Okay, to start out this 30 days of thanks project, I am going to say, I am grateful for gratitude. I am grateful that when we stop to think about what we are grateful for, we really can be happy at any moment. It may take us really sitting down and thinking hard about our blessings (especially on days where challenges are getting the best of us). It just really helps change our attitudes and not focus on the negative as much. When I was young my dad would always tell me to smile for 1 minute straight and when I was done I would feel so much better (this was extra funny and successful when done in front of the mirror)! It always worked for me! Counting our blessings and being grateful has the same effect. That is why Heavenly Father has asked us to be grateful. It's also the reason we start our prayers with giving thanks and then ask for His blessings. Julien is pro at giving thanks in his prayers. We have been trying to teach him that he can also ask for things he may need or desire, but at this point he gives all thanks. It's actually very sweet and sometimes our prayers really should be strictly prayers of gratitude. If we really think about it, we could list millions of things to be grateful for, even if it's the simply things we take for granted such as our eyes to see, our hands to make dinner, our arms to hug, ect. Some days we feel like we have a lot more to complain about than to be grateful for, but that's when we should force ourselves to think of every little good thing, and pretty soon we have a better feeling. So for the next 30 days I am going to be blogging about 1 thing to be grateful for each day! This will also give me something to blog about since I'm not as good at keeping up as some other people! Told you that was cheesy, but isn't it TRUE?!

Halloween

I'm pretty disappointed in myself for the lack of pictures I took this Halloween (this may look like a lot, but usually I take way more). And half the pictures I took didn't even come out. So this year, Julien got his life long wish, he got to be Rocky Balboa for Halloween! He has wanted to be Rocky before but I never got creative enough to pull off the costume. So this year, a really intelligent thought came to my head, "google it." DUH, right! Sure enough, I found a real Rocky costume (not just any other boxer). So we ordered it. I wanted to go all out and get him a wig and athletic shoes, but I wasn't willing to spend that much money. I tried to convince him to let me do make up to look like he had been boxing, but he didn't want that. He was happy as can be just to have this costume and he can't wait to put on the costume every time he watches Rocky. (He pretty much only watches the boxing scenes of Rocky and acts them out while he watches). Most (okay, all) kids did not know who Rocky was, but the adults made his night every time they called him Balboa or asked to see his moves. He had a blast and says he wants to be Rocky every year. On Friday I took the boys to our ward chili cook off/trunk or treat. 10 minutes before we left a miracle happened...Jonah decided to wear a costume. Up until then he was very adamant about "just being Jonah," and not wanting to dress up (see 2 posts below). I was totally convinced that this year, he would not dress up. But as we were getting ready to go, I brought Jonah into his room and pulled out an old fire fighter costume and "assumed the sale," as I started to dress him. I said, "here, Jonah, this will really keep you warm, maybe we could wear this costume....(pause)...hum, but I don't know if it will fit you?" He gave it a good look and said, "I want to wear that." So I still played it cool and said,"okay, well, lets see if it will even fit you." We put it on him and he said, "It fits!" He hesitated a bit after that, but I just acted calm and he went with it!! (he never complained the whole night)! The hat was too small, but that would probably be pushing it anyway! I was just happy he joined in on the fun!
Yes, those are snow boots on Jonah, I tried.On Saturday Rich was able to get off work a little early and we joined some friends for more trick or treating. Only one picture kind of turned out. We had fun. We road on the back of a trailer that was pulled by an ATV, and trick or treated when it stopped. They do that every year, I guess. It was pretty exciting for our kids. I am happy to have Halloween out of the way, because it means I'm that much closer to delivering this baby (2 more holidays)! I'm out of room for the baby to grow, and with all the Halloween candy I ate this week, the baby is probably at a normal birth weight by now...yet I still have 8 weeks! This will most likely be my biggest baby yet. Wish me luck, I don't think I can make it, but we will see.