Thankful Day 30 - The Atonement

I had a powerful reminder of the blessings of the Atonement, and repentance, and of being forgiven.  I am, above all else, thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Misha's Play

Misha was thrilled to join the Drama Club at the beginning of the school year.  I'll admit, I never would have pegged her for wanting to perform.  So nice that we can keep on learning things about our kids.  Her groups' performance was held last night.  These kids worked for hours in preparation and all performed wonderfully.  It takes a lot of courage to stand up in front of others.  I am proud of Misha for putting her fears aside. 

Thankful Day 29 - Education

This is directly from Amy of what I should be thankful for, "You're thankful that your kids go to school so that they won't be working at McDonald's all their lives."  Yes, I am.

And an Amyism to round out this post, "I'm not yelling, I'm just raising my voice."

Thankful Day 28 - Good Recipes

I remember making these German Pancakes with my family when I was a little girl.  It was so much fun to watch them rise.  My brothers and sister and I quickly dubbed them Puffy Oven Pancakes.  I hadn't made them in awhile, but their puffiness didn't disappoint.

Thankful Day 27 - My Blog

I would journal whether or not I posted my writings to a blog, but it is nice medium for allowing friends and family to keep up with our lives. I love the record it gives my children.

Thankful Day 26 - My Camera

I am not a pro at taking pictures by any means, but I have had a lot of fun photographing the experiences of my family this past year. They have been mostly willing posers.

Thankful Day 25 - Working Together

Yesterday after church we had tithing settlement. It wasn't exactly after church though as our scheduled time wasn't until 4:45 and church got out at 4 pm. Now that we travel about 20 minutes to the Stake Center, it was too far to run home and go back. We waited. We had also scheduled to feed the missionaries dinner. Everyone was helpful as we arrived home: Misha cooked the taco shells, Amy cooked and spiced the taco meet, Kristen set the table, Chris washed dishes and helped where it was needed, and I quickly made a chocolate cream pie. Working together, we were done with minutes to spare before the missionaries' 6 pm arrival. I am thankful to have girls who are willing to help.

Riding with Dad

Chris planned to go mountain biking on Friday morning of Thanksgiving break with his friend Sam.  Amy and Misha were actually excited to go with him.  The trail was supposed to be fairly easy.  They didn't plan on the wind, but had an okay time.  Okay as in, my butt now really hurts and I can hardly walk.  That kind of an okay time.  I'm not sure if they'll go again, but we'll encourage it.  Would padded bike shorts be a good enough incentive?

Thanksgiving Break

My girls were out of school the Friday before Thanksgiving.  Though we travel a lot throughout the year, we are smart enough to stay home during the busiest travel days of the years.  It was a fairly quiet holiday week.  The girls begged to put up the Christmas tree on the Friday they were out, and I wasn't about to turn down willing helpers.  They were fabulous at helping bring the bins upstairs, decorating the tree, and pulling out all of the other Christmas decorations.  My favorite part of the decorations is the lighted garland that decks the upper hallway and banister (and it is always my least favorite part of the decorations to take down).

We have enjoyed the brilliant lights inside and outside as our neighbors decorate all of the trees in their backyard.  I love the decorations when I am on the upper hallway/catwalk and look outside at all of the houses with twinkling lights.

To keep my girls occupied (especially since Chris was gone Monday and Tuesday), they had friends over and went to friends' houses.  We shopped a bit, but not much since the best deals would be on Black Friday.

Chris was home Tuesday evening.  He worked part of Wednesday and then took Amy on her shooting date in the evening.  Misha helped to prepare some of the dinner items on Wednesday for Thanksgiving Day dinner on Thursday.  Thursday dawned a beautiful November day and Chris spent the morning playing two-touch football with some friends from church.  He may or may not have complained of soreness for a day or two after.

I have decided that we need to have some better Thanksgiving Day traditions.  Maybe play more games together, maybe participate in a 10k, certainly find a way to give service.

Misha helped me make "Thankful" rolls.  I printed out thankful thoughts on little slips of papers, coated the papers with cooking spray, and rolled them up in crescent rolls.  Word of advice, you have to unroll the crescents, not tear them in half to see the full effect of the paper slips.

Thankful Day 24 - Music

I love beautiful music. I love the peace and serenity it brings in to my home.

Thankful Day 23 - Grandparents

My girls love their grandparents and being able to spend time with them. They are fortunate to be loved by three sets of grandparents plus a great grandmother and great grandfather.

Thankful Day 22 - Family

I am thankful for my family. It is a blessing to explore this life together, to watch my girls grow and mature, and to enjoy the time we spend together.

Thankful Day 21 - Brothers

I am lucky to have four great brothers--one older and three younger. They all live in Utah so I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, but they are all so much fun to be around.

Thankful Day 20 - Dental Sealants

I know, crazy, right? Sealants on molars are amazing and save my kids a lot of grief. I am thankful for the person that invented this quick and painless procedure.

Thankful Day 19 - Shopping with my Girls

I enjoy spending time with my girls. I imagine I am a bit of a softy when it comes to shopping; nevertheless, we have fun together and I am thankful for that time.

Thankful Day 18 - The Temple

I am so grateful for the blessings of the temple in my life.  Last night, Christopher and I had the opportunity to help with the cleaning of the temple.  My task was to clean all of the mirrors in the men's and women's locker rooms.  As I was cleaning and catching glimpses of myself, my thoughts wandered to verses in Alma chapter 5:

 14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye ^aspiritually been ^bborn of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty ^cchange in your hearts?

 15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who ^acreated you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption ^braised in incorruption, to stand before God to be ^cjudged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?

 16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye ^ablessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?

 19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the ^aimage of God engraven upon your countenances?

 26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a ^achange of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the ^bsong of redeeming love, I would ask, ^ccan ye feel so now?

The chorus to a song written by Janice Kapp Perry titled, "His Image in Your Countenance" is:

Have you received his image in your countenance?
Does the light of Christ shine in your eyes?
Will He know you when He comes again because you shall be like Him,
When He sees you will the Father know His child?

I hope He knows me.

A Night in Pompeii

I had originally planned to visit the Pompeii exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with Chris, but when Misha heard about it, she was quick to volunteer herself to go as well.  We bought tickets and planned a Mom and Dad date night.

The exhibit was not quite as impressive as the Pirates display last year, but still interesting.  We watched movies of life in Pompeii and what it must have been like the day the volcano erupted.  On display were different artifacts depicting life--pottery, columns, frescoes, food, toiletries, furniture, items for gambling.  There were coins and weights for measuring for the purpose of buying and selling.  I would say the most poignant displays were the plaster casts of people and animals who died in the devastation--people clinging to each other, people in chains trying to escape, people trying desperately to cover their loved ones.

After the museum closed, we drove to downtown Denver and had dinner with Misha at The Cheesecake Factory. 

Thankful Day 17 - The Crossing Guard

Kristen's crossing guard made a point of stopping by my house last Thursday morning to tell me what a polite and thoughtful girl Kristen is.  So nice to hear such things.  I am thankful to the crossing guard for keeping an eye out for my little one.  I always watch Kristen leave for school until she is no longer in my line of sight but she is then in the crossing guard's line of sight.  I am thankful for Emily.

Thankful Day 16 - Amy

I tell ya, it is wonderful to have an almost teenager.  She is my babysitter, my soft pretzel-maker, my "I want to bake something" asker, my responsible helper.  Life is wonderful with Amy in the house.  I love that I see the tenderness and caring of a beautiful young woman in her.

Thankful Day 15 - Misha

This is a post that I wrote in February about Misha:

There are days when the angels sing for joy at the presence of an earthly angel.  My heart joined that chorus yesterday.  Misha was at lunch.  One of her classmates did not have lunch and the money in his lunch account was all used up.  Misha quietly moved to the lunch line, purchased a school lunch using her own lunch account, and returned to the table with a lunch tray.  She set the tray down in front of this hungry young man and then returned to eating the lunch I had packed for her.  I can't even begin to express how this touched my heart.  My daughter is an angel.

Not only am I thankful for Misha, but I am also thankful for the goodness in her heart.

Thankful Day 14 - Kristen

The other day as Kristen hopped on her scooter to head off to school, she turned and said to me as she left, "You're one of the best miracles in my life."  A friend of mine commented, "Don't you just love that your miracle thinks of you as her miracle?  It is what life is all about."  I am thankful for Kristen.

Thankful Day 13 - Christopher

I wrote this earlier this year; I love my sweetheart just as much today.

1.  We have an ongoing joke about who is funnier, but I'll at least give him that he is funny.  He makes me laugh and smile.
2.  He has an amazingly strong work ethic.  We work beautifully together.
3.  He is a wonderful father.  There's a lot of estrogen going on in our house; he is a trooper to handle it all so well.
4.  He is romantic.  I love all of his innuendos.  He makes me feel wanted and loved.
5.  He brings me flowers just because (and most likely because he knows I love that he brings me flowers).
6.  I appreciate his knowledge of the scriptures and gospel topics.
7.  His mind is full of random facts.  He shares them.  (Don't watch airplane-related movies with him though--he'll ruin them every time.)
8.  He loves to travel.  When we travel as a family, he researches the area finding cool activities and adventures for us to experience.
9.  He rubs my feet.
10. He washes dishes on Sunday.
11. He loves electronics, and I love that he encourages me to be tech savvy as well.  He strongly encouraged/made me give up my Franklin planner for the lovely Ipad he gave me for Christmas.
12. When I am not so tech savvy, he is my go-to-guy for technical support.
13. He works extremely hard at his job and to be the best he can be.
14. He is a great kisser.
15. I love his hands.  They are masculine and strong, yet they know how to quickly pull girl hair back in to a pony tail.  (Speaking of hair, he has some of the best guy hair ever!)
16. He serves others.  Christopher has a very giving heart.
17. This man is not only talented at carrying on a conversation but also in drawing people into a conversation.
18. I love that he is tall (and dark and handsome).
19. He is conscientious about maintaining our vehicles to keep us all safe and likes to keep them spotlessly clean.
20. He is an engaging teacher.
21. He is quick to forgive.  I have learned much from him.  And when I am not so quick to forgive, he loves me still.
22. I am the first one he calls when he has exciting news to share (or when the weight of the world is on his shoulders and he just needs a listening ear).
23. He holds my hand.
24. Financially, he and I are on the same page  We are both willing to sacrifice here and now for peace of mind later.
25. I love that I am a better "me" with him than I could possibly be without him.
26. He married me forever.
27. He takes his daughters on dates.
28. He puts up with my weird obsession with finding the "perfect" handbag.
29.  Out of all the people in this world, I want to be with him the most.  He is my best friend, and I would choose him again and again and again.

Thankful Day 12 - Appliances

I am immensely grateful for the appliances in my home that make my life so much easier.

Thankful Day 11 - Sweet Moments

During church this afternoon, Kristen climbed on to her dad's lap and fell asleep.  This child is not one to take naps anymore, so it was a surprise to hear her heavy breathing.  I am thankful for tender moments and a kind daddy who treasures holding a sleeping child.

Thankful Day 10 - Warm Weather

I am thankful for those days when I don't have to wear a winter jacket or shovel snow.  Today, it is snowing.  Enough said.