Being Grateful (Thanksgiving 2010)

The day before Thanksgiving was a bad day in fact it was just a really crappy day. I had several issues that had me really really upset! Then late afternoon the mail came and I received a cute Thanksgiving card from my missionary daughter. In the card she expressed such heartfelt gratitude for her parents, her siblings, her in laws, her nieces and nephews, her Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ, the gospel, and her gratefulness to be serving a mission that my heart was touched deeply. Her card was a blessing to me. It made me remember that even though I may have problems (everybody does) I still have so much to be grateful for. My attitude changed and I started counting my blessings. It led me to have one of the very best Thanksgiving Days that I have ever had. In fact I can't imagine a more perfect day unless of course we could have had Alyse with us. My married kids all helped with so much of the meal it really made it easy. Thank you everyone! We had so much fun getting the dinner on, eating it and visiting with each other. We topped the day off with a cute movie.

Yes there is a carrot up his nose. He is such a goof.

The fun table.

The baby holder.

This would have been a perfect picture if two of my grandchildren hadn't run off before I snapped it.

The not so perfect picture of the grand kids. I'll try again at Christmas.

On a scale from one to ten this day was definitely a ten!

Another Busy Week!

We have had another busy week. Is there any other kind? Annie received some exciting news. She won second place in musical composition in the Reflections contest at her school! Congrats Annie. Tuesday night we attended Annie's Awards Banquet for Volleyball. She was honored for earning her "Letter" in volleyball and all the seniors received their volleyball blankets with their name, number, and school on it. Way to go Annie!

Her poster that has been in the trophy case.

I always enjoy tending these cuties. Weston is 3 months old in this picture and Kaitlyn is 4 weeks.

Warren wanted a picture to show how big he was beside them too.

I attended Miss E's piano recital. She did a great job!

I also got to attend Miss E's dance performance that her school class did. They danced to the Phases of the moon, did moon crater dances, signs from maps dances, and many other informative things. It was very creative and interesting and she did a great job as always.

We ended the week by going to see the new Harry Potter movie. That is one thing Alyse really felt bad to miss but she can see it after her mission. I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving this week!

Weston's Blessing, Happy Anniversary, Alyse Arrives, Mr. M.

These two little boys are two of my favorite people. Last Sunday was a special day for their family and for ours. Little Weston received a name and a blessing. It was a very sweet day. I enjoyed being with all my family for it.

Happy Anniversary to Andrew and Annie. They celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary this week. Below is what they looked like then.

This is what they look like now.

Alyse arrived in California last Tues. to begin her missionary service there. She called from the airport before she left and it was soooo good to hear her voice and get to visit for a couple of minutes. We got an email from her mission president and his wife and heard all about her first day in California. They also sent some pictures so I thought I'd share them. She traveled to California with 12 Elders.

Yesterday this guy's team won the Championship game in their Region! Way to go Mr. M. Enjoy it because to be an undefeated team for a whole season doesn't happen very often.

He also had a fun piano recital that he performed in yesterday. Yes that is him as Elvis. He played a piano piece as well as accompanied another piece with his guitar. You did such a good job!

We have been busy but most of it is really fun kinds of busy.

Senior Night and State Tournament

Last week was the last game of the season in volleyball and that means it was Senior Night. The volleyball team dressed up the day of the game. Doesn't Annie look cute. This was the poster in the school advertising the game.

Here are the Seniors before the game. Annie has played volleyball with three of these girls since Jr. High. Sometimes they have been best friends and sometimes they couldn't stand each other, but they always came together for the team to play the best they could and win.

The Seniors posters.

The girls and their parents were honored on the court before the game started.

Below is Annie receiving her gifts. Her coach is Polynesian so the girls received leis, a bouquet of flowers, a volleyball blanket, and a picture frame.

Getting ready for the starting line up.

We played the only undefeated team in our region and beat them ending the Senior Night curse of always losing on Senior Night, and making it possible to go to the State Tournament. The girls were pretty excited to say the least.

Annie's best friends were there to support her.

So were all her siblings (minis Alyse) and two of her nieces.

A winning team!

Annie and a proud Dad.

One of the things that made Senior Night so special was the fact that Annie got to start and play. Her wrist had been hurting her so badly that she had not been able to play in the two region games before it.

This weekend was the State Tournament. So Kim and I and Annie spent all day Friday and Saturday at UVU where the tournament took place. I'm wishing her good luck before it started.

Below is what a winning team looks like. Annie's team took fourth in State, two places higher than last year. Way to go Titans. It's been fun to watch you play Annie. Her volleyball career is over now.

These are random pictures of my two smallest sweethearts. In this picture Weston is just over two months old and Kaitlyn is one week old. What a difference two months can make.

This picture is a week later and Kaitlyn is two weeks old. They sure are fun.