Give Thanks

Hope all had a lovely Thanksgiving. I have a few things that I have been wanting to blog and they are things to be thankful for; but 1st our Thanksgiving dinner. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year with our friends and John-David's brother, Richard. Richard was driving through on his way to a new job in Philadelphia and timed it to join us for the big feast. We crammed 11 adults, 6 toddlers and 5 babies into our little house. It was a cozy event but no one seemed to mind. The food was good, the company was fun and all turned out well. It is sad to think that we won't be with all our friends next Thanksgiving as we are likely going separate ways next year. What a fun day. Here are a few of the highlights.

Our Thanksgiving Tables

Some of our guests visiting before dinner

More guests

The kids table. They were pretty funny. We went around the room prior to dinner
to say what we were thankful for. The kid table had responses like scissors, trees,
tutus and sisters.
We have a few other things to be thankful for out this time.

This cute little boy has finally stopped sucking his thumb! Jackson started sucking his thumb when he was about 20 months old, which is pretty random. He was an avid sucker and it was really starting to affect his teeth. His teeth were turning!!!! The dentist told him he needed to stop, to which he responded he would- but he didn't. Well a few moths ago he started scrubbing his thumb all the time because the smell was bothering him (proof that he really is my son). He would sometimes even wake up in the middle of the night to wash his stinky thumb. Well, the smell put him over the edge and he hasn't sucked his thumb since. It pays to have the nose of a blood hound. So yeah for Jackson who is really a big boy and we give thanks to him for keeping our potential orthodontic bill to a minimum.


Kelsey finally has some teeth. We are very thankful for this because now I can finally give her some more types of food. I felt bad giving her things like meat when she was toothless for fear that she would choke. Now she has a snaggle tooth and a half with a few just under the skin. Yeah for Kelsey. As a side note, and I don't think it's something that you necessarily give thanks for, right now until December 24th our kid's ages are 3,2,and 1. It's kind of funny. Someone asked me my kids ages the other day and you should've seen the wide-eyed look I got. It makes Kelsey look like she is just a year apart, too...but we assure you she is not.

Last but not least we went to to our final OSU vs Michigan game. I am thankful because it's our last year as students but sad because it's all coming to an end. We have had so much fun here in Columbus. We were grateful to go to this one last game together and with our friends. It was an added bonus that they won too!!! Go Buckeyes!!! OH-IO!

Look who is 1

One year ago today we had this little angel. Weighing in at a mere 5 lb 1 oz and only 17 1/2 inches long, she sure has grown this year.

We decided to have a Farm theme for her birthday due to our farm themed halloween costumes. They were going to dress up but we didn't get to that. Dad and Jocelyn were in charge of decorating and what a lovely job they did.

What farm party is complete if there isn't a barn? Jackson and I were in charge of making our barn. It was a great backdrop and throw the animal through the window game as well.

Our cake was a pig rolling in the saw dust. Her snout made a perfect piece for Kelsey to have her very own cake.

That cake was finger licking good!

She wasn't too interested in opening presents, She didn't even care about the paper. She just wanted to go play with other things. She sure is a cute girl and so glad that she was finally better from all her illnesses to enjoy this day. We love our Kelseykoos. Happy Birthday!!!

Tagged

I got tagged by Marianne so I better keep it up...


5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

* I was a sophomore at Ricks College... It was still called Rick's back then
* I was preparing to go to Ecuador for a study abroad.
* Getting glasses for the first time in my life.
* Getting in trouble with the wildest roommates ever...... Dairy Princess?
* Taking the coolest Wildlife Biology class on snowshoes.

5 Things I have to do today:
* Take Jackson to preschool
* Go Visiting Teaching
* Call about 5 different people for various reasons
* Make Kelsey's birthday cake
* Return videos to the library

5 Snacks I love:
* Popcorn
* Chocolate
* Bananas
* Carrots and celery that don't taste bitter
* Chips and salsa

5 Things I would do if I were a Millionaire:
* Pay off all our Student debt and there is a lot
* Pay off our house
* invest some money
* Give some to a charity
* Give some to family in need

5 Places I have lived:
* Salt Lake City,UT
* Rexburg, ID
* Cedar City, UT
* Murray, UT
* Columbus, OH

5 Jobs I have had
* Meier's Catering
* Convergy's
* Dairy Queen (for about 4 hours)
* Brockbank Junior High
* Children's World Day care

5 People I tag
* Bridget McBride
* Stephanie Postma
* Melissa Johnson
* Christina Nielson
* Adrienne Bybee

A moment to reflect

I have come to the frightening conclusion...
That I am the decisive element.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration,
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides
whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated,
and a person is humanized or de-humanized.
If we treat people as they are, we make them worse.
If we treat people as they ought to be,
we help them become
what they are capable of becoming.
J.W.Goethe

A few weeks ago I found this poem on a friend's blog. I really liked it so I printed it off and left it by my computer to read periodically. This past Saturday was the adult session of our Stake conference. The Stake Primary President spoke and her topic was about loving children. She talked about what the climate in our homes were. Are they places that our children want to be? Her talk made me think of this poem, which as a mother, I have a lot of power in what the climate of our home is. It made me think a lot of what happens in our home and whether or not it's a happy place or a war zone.We have a two year old that is demonstrating her two year old personality to it's fullest capacity and I think I let that dictate our family climate by how I react. This was an "ahha" moment for me. I removed the poem from my computer room to my office, the kitchen, and posted it on the fridge so I can't miss it.I think I need a daily reminder. I just wanted to share this poem with others because I am sure that someone out there can relate and it's always good to take a moment to reflect.

Fall Family Photos

Halloween 2008

Here are some pictures of our Halloween activities for the past week. We carved pumpkins with Opa. We was in town to go to the OSU vs Penn State game. On Sunday we all drove down to North Carolina to visit John-David's brother Doug and his family. We carved more pumpkins, went to their Trick or Trunk and went trick or treating with them. We also go to visit with our friends Andy and Rachel while we were there. We had a lot of fun and everyone loved our farm. Who wouldn't love an adorable cow, duck and chick? 

I need to figure out how this whole slideshow thing works and then I will actually have the slide show where it belongs.