Gratitude: Part 1

I am too lucky! I have so many blessings given from heaven I couldn't possibly list them all, but here's a start:
1. Knowing I am a daughter of God, He loves me and has a plan for me.
2. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lived for others. His atonement overcomes all troubles, all shortcomings, all sins, all illness, and makes it possible to live happily in this life and eternally.
3. My family; I have the most amazing husband, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, grandparents, and other extended family.
4. Motherhood. I love my children so dearly. They require so much hard work and patience, but they bring such happiness to our home. Teaching them helps me become better.
5. Incredible friends. So many wonderful people have and continue to influence me for good.
6. The freedom to choose. Agency to live my life as I feel is best.
7. The Holy Ghost to guide and direct and help me recognize the truth.
8. This beautiful world. The colorful sunsets, majestic mountains, beautiful beaches and other breathtaking landscapes. The fragrant flowers and tall trees. The diverse animals, the warm sun and the starry nights.
9. My body. I may not always feel beautiful, but I am always amazed at how incredible it is that the human body can often heal itself. My body allows me to explore, move and live.
10. Sight. I can see the beauty around me. I'm grateful for glasses and contacts to clear up my vision.
11. Listening to happy voices and inspiring music.
12. To touch and be touched.
13. The smells of rain, fall leaves and fresh bread.
14. Delicious foods that give us energy and taste so good!
15. Prophets, from the scriptures and modern-day, to help us understand the will of God.
16. Priestood authority that leads Christ's church, blesses us and allows families to be together forever.
17. Our home. It protects us from bad weather and bad influences. Many happy memories have been created in our cozy home.
18. Brad. He is dedicated to God, a hardworking provider, a supporter to others, our kids' hero and fun to be around. (I mentioned family, but I'd like to be more specific.)
19. Elise. She has velvet-soft skin and a contageous smile. I love to cuddle her, breathe in her sweetness and enjoy her sweet spirit.
20. Liesel. I love my little "helper". She is our ray of sunshine that scatters joy with her laughter. We love our little princess!
21. Jason. He helps me appreciate everything with his enthusiasm and zest for life. He gives the best snuggles and hugs.
22. Parker. He is responsible and such a smartie, he understands things well beyond his years. He loves art and science projects and loves to share what he learns.
23. Parents. My mom and dad are so kind and generous! They are always serving me, my children and anyone else who needs help.
24. In-laws. Brad's parents are so strong in the gospel. They are supportive and quick to praise. My sister-in-laws and their husbands are some of my best friends!
25. Grandparents. Brad and I are lucky to have some grandparents that are still alive. They, and our grandpas who have passed on, are amazing! They are thoughtful and good examples of what I'd like to be.

Elise's Blessing

We blessed Elise the first Sunday in November.  Isn't she beautiful?

Our family photo

I am so grateful that Brad holds the priesthood and is able to bless our children to know God's will for them.  Brad gave her a beautiful blessing:

...to always remember she is a daughter of God, who loves her

...to have a strong faith in Jesus Christ, that she might be a support to her friends and family and serve the Lord righteously throughout her life

...have a great and abiding love for others

...be a peacemaker, who does what she knows is right

...have a great love for those who may not have a complete understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but who are also children of Heavenly Father

...be a support to others

...live her life in a way that will let her return to live with our Heavenly Father

...that she might recognize and understand the feelings of the Spirit

These four kids are so adorable!

 The guests 

 The girls

   My mom made Elise her beautiful dress!

Parker Bud

Parker has been doing lots of fun things in the past two months.  He won 1st place in the Reflections contest for his poem and a participation medal for his drawing.

 Jason is big enough to ride Parker's Toy Story bike, so we bought this "new" bike for $5 at the D.I.  It's a 20 inch 7 speed.  It's a little big, but he jumped on without trouble.

 Parker is a huge Lego fan.  He will spend hours creating zoos, museums and other large scale Lego constructions.  This is his Lego city.

One day he decided to write words out of Legos.

He also likes our K'Nex/Duplo collection.  He'll build things and sing while he works.  I love it!

 When we decided to do a Star Wars theme for Halloween, I asked if he wanted to be C3PO. Luke Skywalker or Hans Solo, but he insisted that at least one person in our family represent the Dark Side, so he chose Darth Maul.

 Red Ribbon week is always fun.  Our favorite day is crazy hair day!

 His soccer team ended fall games in mid October and will start again next spring.  Here is his Fire Dragons team photo.

Parker is a good big brother.  He helps me with the kids, especially Liesel.  He is always playing with Jason and likes to "babysit" Elise when I go into another room.

All Four

 I hadn't taken a photo of the four kids together in a while, so I attempted the last weekend in October.  Elise wasn't too happy, but the other kids were fairly cooperative.

 Here was the last one I had taken, which was ton the 2nd of September.

We are so lucky to be blessed with these cute kids!

Fall Leaves

A few weeks ago we went on a drive and then walked along the Ogden River Parkway to see the fall leaves.  I love this photo!  The kids are running, their laughter echoing, while Brad and I walked together behind pushing Elise.  The sun was shining through the trees and the fall air smelled of fall leaves.

 I asked the kids to run back to this bench so I could get a photo.  They started climbing all over the bench, ha, ha!  I did finally get them to hold still and look in my direction.

 We let the kids play for a few minutes while Brad and I talked on the bench.

 

 I love how thrilled Liesel was about her leaves!

 It was a perfect family time!

Halloween Festivities

Brad never really wants to dress up for Halloween, but this year he decided he'd like to be a Jedi.  I thought I'd seize the opportunity to do a family theme and luckily the kids were on board.  Here we are as R2D2, an Ewok, a Jedi, Yoda, Princess Leia and Darth Maul at our ward Halloween party.  

I made the costumes myself for the most part.  It was actually really fun and gave me a little more confidence in my sewing abilities.

Our first chance to wear our costumes was to our ward party.  We loved the soup and games and received lots of compliments on our costumes!

Originally I didn't have a photo of Brad, but here is the rest of us.

We hosted a little Halloween party with Brad's family.  I made some really fun Halloween food.  We also had ghost pizzas, but I neglected to take a photo.

Jackie played a fun Bingo game with the kids.

Here are all of the kids and Brad in their costumes.  We with Jen, Eric, Adam, Will and Jada lived closer so they could have come too!  (Jason-R2D2, Parker-Darth Maul, Isabelle-Dorothy, Liesel-Yoda, Isaac-Iron Man, Kade-dead army guy, Elise-Ewok and Brad-Jedi)

My sister Julie and her family came to town the weekend before Halloween, so we had a little Halloween/October Birthday party.  Here are the mummy hotdogs and tombstone graveyard chip dip!

Decorating cookies or cupcakes. 

It's blurry, but Jason and Dylan were dressed almost the same.

Julie crocheted two adorable hats for Elise.  They're too cute! 

Here are all the kids, Angie, Grandma and Grandpa in their costumes. (Heidi-She-Ra, Angie-swan on a lake, Liesel-Yoda, Grandma-Revolutionary War-era woman, Elise-Ewok, Alison-peacock, Dylan-banana, Grandpa-Greek fisherman, Brandon-monster, Jason-R2D2 and Parker-Darth Maul)

 On Halloween morning we went to Parker's school to watch the parade.  Since R2D2 isn't a great costume for sitting, I let him pick out another.

Parker in the school parade. 

My cute Cinderella and Train Conductor! 

 In the afternoon we went to Brad's work party.  I didn't take any photos, but we enjoyed chili, candy, playing some games and showing off our costumes.  In the evening we went trick or treating!

The kids got tons of candy!  Liesel kept trying to eat each piece she got, ha, ha!  The lightsabers I made from Walmart dollar Halloween things turned out so awesome! 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

It was my birthday in October!  It was on a Sunday, so most of the day was busy with church and meetings.  After dinner, however, Brad planned some fun things for the kids to celebrate my birthday.  The kids played charades to act out something that I have done for them.

Then they gave me a huge list of more things they appreciate I do for them.  They sang me happy birthday and we ate brownies and ice cream.

 Brad also wrote me this wonderful poem.

My favorite thing is to feel recognized and appreciated for all of my efforts, so this was a perfect birthday gift!