Thanksgiving

We had such a great time at our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. All of David's family gets together every other year - we had about 45 people there yesterday. We always get the stake center - nobody's house is quite big enough. We also have a tradition to do a talent show on the stage. The grandkids all love it - I know my kids plan all year what they want to do and practice - although Maddie has been practicing for months and didn't do what she had planned. It's really great to see the different talents that everyone has developed over the previous two years. We have anything from dancing, comedy acts, sign language, singing, musical instruments and dramatic readings - it's always lots of fun and entertaining. This year Maddie decided to dance - she hasn't taken any lessons and just made it up as she went along. She and I also sang "I'll Walk With You" from the Primary song book (Haylee, Maddie and I sang it at our primary program). Luke surprised everyone by singing "Apologize" - it was way too cute! I've posted a video from it - hope you enjoy!!

Happy Birthday David

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband on his birthday. He is such a good sport - putting up with my teasing, being the guinea pig for the girls hair salon and when called for, being the indoor playground equipment. He knows how important family and the gospel are and I love that he puts us as a priority. He is one great, big teddy bear with such a big heart and is so compassionate. He finds joy in the little things - he loves to cuddle, play action figures and he will even paint nails. Happy birthday David - I love you!!

Happy Birthday Caleb!!

I can't believe my baby is 2 years old. What would we do without this little person in our family. Caleb is such a sweet boy and seems to have grown overnight saying all sorts of cute things and learning new words everyday. He is Lucas' shadow in action and words and is becoming a real daddy's boy (sniff). He brings such joy into our home, he is a good sharer and always thinks of others - if you give him something, he wants to make sure you give him enough so he can pass one out to everyone. He loves to play outside, jump on the tramp, play with balls and cars and even knows what clothes he want to wear (his favorite is usually something with a football on it). We love him very much and are so grateful for all the wonderful things he adds to our family. Happy birthday Caleb!!

Are we really there?

I'm really unsure about saying this (maybe if I cross my fingers, knock on wood and throw a little salt over my shoulder I won't jinx it). I think that we FINALLY have Luke potty trained. I have heard that boys are harder than girls, but I never dreamed it would be this difficult. I don't know how much I buy that, since my sister had her two boys trained by 18 months - I keep telling her I'm sending my kids to her until they get it, but she hasn't offered yet. I hope with Luke done, Caleb will jump right on board and he'll have it done in a snap. Here's to a few less diapers and accidents!!

Again?!?

It's been one of those days again - I spend hours messing with the blog, trying out new backgrounds, changing the fonts, etc., etc. I keep hearing "Are you going to vote?", "When are you going to vote?" and "Are you waiting for the girls to get home before you get dressed?" Don't we all need days when we don't do much of anything? Besides, David is in the bedroom with both the boys - napping. He may have gotten dressed and voted before me, but he hasn't really accomplished anything more. It's cold and rainy outside and I can't think of anything better than to do something I want to do - be lazy and create something - it may not really show, but I have a feeling of accomplishing something when I pull up my blog. Plus, this is my way of keeping a journal (for now) and keeping up on what's new. I should be better about writing in a journal - I think I have a couple of empty journal around here, but every time I write in one and then go back to see what I've written, I realize that I'm not a very good writer and write about silly and unimportant things. I'm not talking about everyday things that are important, but the really unimportant things. (I think most of them contained entries about my latest crush.) I guess I always felt like I was deeper than that when I was younger and reading about it and being reminded of it makes me kind of sad. I feel the same way when I get teased about how I acted as a child - I don't like being reminded that I was the "annoying, teasing, loud, had to be in the center" child - I want to be known for the good things that I did - hopefully someone out there remembers something good that I did. I know I had my moments, but didn't we all? I guess what's really important is that I learned from all my experiences and have grown into a person to be proud of - and continue to learn and grow into a better person. After all, isn't that what this life is all about?