Giving Thanks

I think I got my GROOVE back.

I decided to make today

FESTIVE and FUN.

Focus more on family...

than food and football!

I was able to photograph the people in my life that make me thankful to spend time on this planet

EARTH.

They are the reason I give thanks daily!

Even though it was not planned...

A LOT of us dressed in a similar color scheme 
so we took advantage of this fortune...

and took the Queen Creek Wash

for a fun photo shoot.

(Or at least those who were willing!)

Here is what I am thankful for today...

1.  For my daughters...who love each other and who "tell" each other everything!

2.  For my daughter Rachel who doesn't think she is "too old" to take pictures with her momma!

3.  For these girls...for wanting to take pictures!

4.  For kids...who like spending time together!

 

5.  For Katie...for being the BEST entertainer to Leo and Hailee!

6.  For Leo...our grandson.

  7.  For Hailee...our granddaughter

 8.  For Britni...who was willing to be silly with me despite the fact that we look crazy doing it!

 9.  For enjoying the day...no matter what we decided to do!

 10.  For family...for sticking with you, when no one else will!

 11.  For Chelsea...who helped all the girls look beautiful today and for entertaining the little ones with crafts!

 12.  For Turkey...for tasting so good!

 13.  For Tom and Britni...for moving here and bringing us our grand kids to play with!

 14.  For Harper...our granddaughter.

 15.  For Christopher...for being a great uncle.

 

 16.  For grand kids...because they make life so much more fun!

 17.  For Cameron...who came by "before" work so he could spend part of his day with us.

18.  For the beautiful flowers...that made our table pretty.

Today was a great day to give thanks!

 Cheers to that!

Did he really just have surgery?

Ron is NOT just amazing me with his ability to recover with little to no pain...

but he shocked his Doctor today when we went to have his

dressing removed!

I kept thinking I would be playing "nurse" for the next four weeks...

and instead I find myself wondering...

what does he really need me to do for him?

Ron told me over and over again that I had no need to worry...

that he would be a great patient.

But I didn't really believe him until NOW!

He will be out of work until January so it is leaving me thinking...

Maybe we can have some fun with him being OFF after all?

************************

I'm not really sure why...

but I haven't been in the mood to take any pictures lately,

or in the mood to BLOG.

I will be back in the GROOVE soon...

at least that's what I keep praying for!

A Blessing

 

Tomorrow morning

BRIGHT and EARLY

Ron will be headed into surgery.

Last January while on a family SKI trip...

Ron fell hard skiing

and tore is rotator cuff in his shoulder.

Now it is time to get it FIXED.

I'm feeling an EXTREME amount of anxiety over it.

The last two mornings I've

AWAKEN

to migraine headaches...

coming from the stress of knowing we would have to put our

FAITH and TRUST

in another man's hands.

So tonight when TWO men of GOD

who hold and honor the Priesthood of God

came over to

administer to Ron and give him a blessing...

I felt a PEACE.

A peace that comes in knowing that all I really need to do is put my

FAITH and TRUST

in God's hands.

I know Ron will be healed.

I know he will recover.

I know he will continue to be a great husband and father.

I know we need to raise our children in righteousness.

I know we need to submit to God's will and he will direct our lives for good.

I'm grateful for Priesthood blessings...

for the peace it brings.

And because I have peace...I have no more headache!

 

Catching Up

I've spent so much time playing

CATCH UP

since I got home from our vacation that I realized I haven't even posted about

HALLOWEEN

and pretty much anything else since October.

With our kids being "older",

Ron and I made the decision last year that we were done...

TRICK-OR-TREATING!

(poor Jacob...he's the last child!)

So instead we just stay at home and pass out candy with our neighbors and relax by a nice warm fire!

(Forgot to take a picture!)

But Katie enjoyed the night with a bunch of friends...

 but by the time they made it to "our" house she was down to Mikayla and Baylee!

She was having a "wardrobe malfunction" and was refusing to let me take her picture earlier when I had good light!

However, trying to get a 16-year old to cooperate...

wasn't any easier.

 Rachel tried to help Christopher "enjoy" the process...

but he wasn't having any of it!

 Just made me realize that once again we had made the right decision to stay home...

my kids are outgrowing Halloween!

There is a little sadness with that statement too.

Just means my kids are getting older...

boy, they grow up fast!

 So glad Rachel could get into the spirit of the day...

she made a perfect nerd pose!

Jacob wouldn't let me take any pictures either so this is all I have for this year!

Rachel also finished her Football Season of Cheer.

She is an amazing cheerleader and improved so much...

they do all kinds of stunting and her back handsprings are so close.

But the BEST thing that came out of cheer season was her

friend Sydney!

We sure love this special girl...

almost as much as we love our Rachel!

(Rachel will also cheer for basketball season...so stay tuned!)

One of the games she got to cheer at was a

VARSITY GAME

in which over 125 little girls got to cheer with them...

including our granddaughter

HAILEE!

 The support group!

 Rachel and Hailee are out there somewhere!

Hailee LOVED being a miniature RACHEL!

We will miss Football season...

and the excitement of being at all the games!

I also got to ENJOY several lunches including this one with

my BEST girls

Jamie and Deanna.

We have been doing these lunches since our oldest were only months old...over 16 years and still going strong!

Sure do LOVE these girls...as if they were my sisters!

We also spent a lunch with two of our favorite people:

Cameron and Chelsea!

Cameron had us all cracking up laughing with his best comment of the day...

"They should combine You-Tube, Twitter and Facebook and call it 'YouTwitFace'.

 Sounds like a great idea to me!

I'm also trying to "spruce" up my house with little to no money...

just because I need a little updating!

So thanks to one of the craftiest girls I know...

I received some cute fabric to make some of these adorable banners:

I started with a "little" one to go with our Packers memorabilia

and liked it so much I decided to make a BIGGER one

for our

magnet "BRAG" board.

 Ron also worked on "framing" out a couple of windows in Jacob's room but it still needs to be painted so will post a picture of that soon.

He also put some wood in place in our backyard for me to hang

Large Round Bulb lights...

for more romantic lighting for these nice, cool evenings we will be enjoying.

I just have to string the lights tomorrow and will post pictures soon!

In the meantime...

my BLOG BOOK came yesterday!

I'm absolutely in love with it!

One of my favorite pages!

It can join our other book...until I make even more!

Sorry for the long post...it was a busy end of October and a first half of November!