First Snow

Josh and I woke abruptly to the noisy squeals and shrieks of three little boys at 7:15 Satruday morning. This was strange because they are usually pretty good about just playing quietly on weekend mornings. Then they burst into our room and the reason became clear. "It snowed!!!"

After three years in San Diego, these boys missed snow. And remember, Dallen is only 3. He's never done snow. They immediately bundled up and headed outside for several hours of snow playing in the 1 inch of snow on the ground. My favorite part was when I looked outside and Dal was sitting there eating snow...in a pile of bark and dirt. Yum.

Sleep

This is how we typically find Dallen when we go in to check on him before we go to bed each night:

 Weirdo.

Friendship

For this week's "I'm Grateful for" post, the thing that comes to mind is friendship. Old, new, rekindled, all types.

Since moving to Utah I have spent some time with an old friend and roommate (Colleen) from college after not seeing too much of each other for about 10 years. It has been so much fun to reconnect and I am reminded what a good friend she is and it is fun to let our families get to know each other. (Well, she knows Josh. She can at least partly take the credit for helping hook us up.)

Today I had lunch with a friend from San Diego (Bronwyn) and it was so much fun to reconnect with her even though it has only been 5 months since I last saw her. Again I was reminded what a good friend she is and how much I miss her. But friends are friends, not matter how far away or how often you see them.

And I really am grateful for the friendships I am forming here in Utah. New friends who I hope to form deep relationships with and spend a lifetime developing I hope. I had a friend who was going to come over and play today (well, the kids were going to play, she and I probably would have just talked) :) and she was flexible and willing to reschedule to accommodate my surprise visit from Bronwyn which was very sweet.

I am a people person through and through. I love people and I love friends. I am so grateful to have so many good friends in my life. Friends, family, cousins, brothers, my mama, Josh's family, everyone.

What if...?

There's a quote floating around the internet these days that says something along the lines of "What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things that you thanked the Lord for today?"

That thought hit me profoundly and has played around in my mind repeatedly over the last few weeks. It's made me more aware of what I say in my prayers and the "amens" I add to others' prayers since those thank yous count for me too.

And since it is November, I decided to record some of the things I am grateful for. But I am not going to post it daily. I will write them down throughout the week and maybe post them weekly or something.

So here goes for this week.

The first thing that came to mind this week was the temple, and specifically the Mt. Timpanogas temple. I had the chance to go there twice within a week. It was the first time I went since moving away from here 8 years ago and that temple is such a special place to me. It feels like that's where it all began. Outside that temple is where Josh held my hand for the first time, where he proposed and where I was endowed.  Until San Diego it was my favorite temple, but now I have a very soft spot for San Diego too.

Now, I have a view of the Mt. Timpanogas temple from my home. When I rock Adam in his room I can see it there, off in the distance. From our bedroom I can see it and it makes me feel like life has come full circle. When Josh held my hand there what, like 12 or 13 years ago I never dreamed that someday I would look out my window while rocking his baby and see that very place. Very special to me.

Other things I felt grateful for this week:

Three year olds who wear Dash masks all day long even though they can barely see out.

Warm soup at the dinner table with my favorite boys in the whole world

Good books-oh how I love to read. Happiness is a nightstand piled with books to read and mine is VERY full right now.

Bacon Blue Burgers. Oh yum.

Teaching a gang of cute 3-5 year olds in my house and having a blast with things like an impromptu dance party with glow sticks in my closet.

This wonderful, wonderful ward here in Utah that has made me feel so welcome and where I already feel like I have so many friends.

Sewing. I love to sew. I love to create and this week I spent a little bit of time sewing some very fun Christmas projects.

My house. And not just because I like how it looks or anything like that. It just feels so good to have a house that is ours. And this one just feels so right for our family with it's location, with it open layout that allows me to be in the kitchen while the kids sit at the bar doing homework or are nearby in the living room playing wii. I just love it.

More to come in the next week...

Halloween at our House

Happy Halloween...a week ago. It's been a busy week. OK, every week is a busy week, but anyway, getting my Halloween pictures up now. 

After we bought our pumpkins and brought them home, Adam happened to be wearing cute overalls and an orange shirt and I thought it would be a great idea to try snapping some pictures of him with pumpkins. He was less enthusiastic. 

First of all, it was so bright outside for his little eyes, he could hardly keep them open:

 Doing a little better:

Still trying for a smile without success:

 

Now we are falling:

Maybe from the back would be better? I don't think so mom:

OK, enough is enough!!!

Now, on to the big events. For Halloween this year we had a Ninja (from the newest obsession in our house, Lego Ninjago):

A Cougar football player-JJ Di Luigi (I even embroidered Di Luigi's name on the back and it is the correct number-10):

And this little monkey was going to be another BYU football player, Rylie Nelson. Wait, let me back that up. He thought he wanted to be Jake Heaps and we told him no, you definitely don't want to be Jake Heaps. You Cougar fans will understand that. So Rylie Nelson it was. Until the Halloween events started and then he wanted nothing to do with that costume. Instead, throughout our Halloween events he was an astronaut (no picture), a Jedi:

and on the big day, he was Dash. Dash is what I wanted him to be originally and he refused. Until Halloween morning when he put on his super suit (which I made him a few months ago) and the asked for his mask. No mask had been made since that was not what he was going to be. Luckily I was able to whip up a mask in about 3 minutes and he wore it ALL day even though he could barely see out. So cute! (We have a large collection of costumes-that's why he had so many options):

And Adam? He was the football. :)

Oh, and the only, ONLY, adult who dressed up for the church Halloween breakfast?

Oh Josh thought that was so funny. That's cool. I am ok being the only fun adult in the place. :) And that's not really a subtle costume either.