Counting Blessings: December 11 - 18

December 11th
Today I am that LDS Family Services have decided to hire a lawyer for us to keep Savvy FOR E VER! For more info, click on the Johnson Family Blog link to the right.

December 12th
Today I am thankful for the holiday season. This year as things a bit tight, it is easy to see the spirit of the season.

December 13th
Today I am thankful for some of the people I work with at my Denver station. Some of these people are so great to help me with my shifts and kind to me at work.

December 14th
Today I am thankful for my father in law Jack for providing a place for us to live during this rough time.

December 15th
Today I am thankful for my fun job. I am in Seattle helping out with our Employee Holiday Reception. I LOVE Alaska Airlines!

December 16th
Today I am thankful for Tiftin Clegg. She was my trainer when I first started with Alaska Air. Because I was a volunteer for the party, I didn’t get a hotel room so Tiftin let me crash at her honeymoon pad. She is so great (and Ben her Hubby too). I am also thankful for her spirit and love for Alaska Air, it was contagious, and I caught it too.

December 17th
Thinking about how great it was to be in Seattle, I am thankful for my class mates from training, they are a bunch of fun and great people to know…miss you all!

December 18th
Today I am thankful that Heavenly Father sent me to this family. I am so blessed to be born as a Bodell kid for so many reasons. 2 things are prevalent in my head today. #1 I am so grateful for my Grandparents. They are such an amazing example of love and spirituality. It is truly an honor to be their Granddaughter. #2 The Bodell family has taken upon themselves to give our family an amazing Christmas. I have been told that part of the magic is that I have no clue who donated the money. I got just one check from the organizer of the gift. I asked if I could know who participated so I could send out thank you notes…but I was told they didn’t want to be named. Thank you seems so small…(boy am I glad that computers can handle tears, otherwise I would have shorted out a while ago)…Thank you seem so small, but I love you all. When I look at this photo I think that each and every one of you helped me out this season. I pray that soon I will be on the giving side of this wonderful magical gift, but as for today, I am honored to be on the receiving side. Merry Christmas

Niagara Falls

Back in the spring we went to Niagra Falls with my parents

Counting Blessings: December 10

Today I am thankful that my Dad gave me his camera cord as mine is accidentally packed in storage.

Counting Blessings: December 5 - 9

December 5th
Today I am thankful that if does NOT snow year round.

December 6th
Today I am thankful that the church is the same everywhere. My current work schedule doesn’t allow me to attend my ward but rather another ward closer to work. I love that I can go into a church building anywhere around the world and it is comforting to see the sameness. The songs, the bishopric, the kids, the meetings, etc. The people are different, but the spirit is the same!

December 7th
Today I am thankful for FREE TEXTING! I changed my plan to include free texting, not that I was a big text-er but I would like to be. If you have free texting let me know so I can start texting!

December 8th
Today I am thankful for crab. Crab is my favorite food. Tonight Wayne and I did a mystery shop at Landry’s. http://www.landrysseafoodhouse.com/ I love spending other people’s money. We had a 70 budget! If you ever are looking for a fancy place to eat I would totally recommend them. I have been to Ruth Chris 2 times before, and this place was light years better than Ruth Chris.

December 9th
Today I am thankful for my cruise memories. Cruising is my favorite way to travel and thinking about my yummy dinner last night reminds me of the good food on the cruises. Good times! I am always on the lookout for a good deal to go again!

Counting Blessings: November 24 - December 4

November 24th
Today I am thankful that Southwest’s age for UM’s (unaccompanied minors) is 12. This way Darcy can bring all of the kids home from Nicki’s house. On Southwest the UM fee is $25 EACH! I am too spoiled to actually pay money to an airline!

November 25th
I am thankful today for Jack’s big house. We have 28 people in this house for thanksgiving.

November 26th
I am thankful for my kids. We had the entire Dittbrenner family together for thanksgiving dinner. It was a tradition in my home, growing up, to share what we are thankful for at the Thanksgiving dinner table. When I am the hostess or when it is only our family, we still do this. The Dittbrenners don’t do this. Maybe it is because every night before bed Kristie and their family all go around and tells what they are thankful for. However today, as the adults were sitting at their table and the kids at their table, I overheard the kids at their table going around and telling what they were thankful for. They didn’t need an adult to tell them that they had to, the just did it on their own.

November 27th
Today I guess I am thankful for Black Friday, Although today was the first black Friday that I have ever got flat out DENIED! I can’t tell you what I was waiting in line for because little eyes might be reading, but it was an AMAZING deal…I went at 2:30 AM and I was still denied! CRAZY!

November 28th
Today I am thankful for Overtime…Time and a half pay…Whoo Hoo!

November 29th
Today I am thankful for 2 things. #1 People at work that take my Sunday shift so I can go to church. #2 I know she made an appearance before in this blog, but, I gotta go with Nicki again. My kids have new church clothes thanks to Nicki.

November 30th
Today I am thankful for my kids school. Today being Monday the kids went back to school after the holiday. Years ago there was a commercial for Staples. I was shown in the Aug/Sept months. It had a Dad with a shopping cart dancing and frolicking to the tune of, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” The kids had the most sour looks on their faces and the Dad looks positively bursting with joy. The only sentence is at the end of the commercial, “All your back to school items are at Staples.” Now if you had ever seen this commercial I bet you are smiling and remembering it. If you are a parent with all your kids at school right now, you are also smiling and thinking, that is nice, when all the kids go back to school.

December 1st
Yesterday I was thankful that my kids went back to school and today I am thankful for the schools themselves. Darcy is in Junior High. It is a bit of a bummer because last year she was in 6th grade and in Las Vegas 6th grade is in Junior High. She was the youngest of the pack. This year in Denver, 7th grade starts Junior High so she is the youngest again. She is doing extremely well in math. She is in 9th grade pre-algebra. If she is still going to school here next year, she will need to do release time in High School. Dixie is doing pretty good. She misses Vegas the most as she had 2 great friends there, Sydney and Lana. She is so sensitive and misses both of them greatly! She is very involved this year. She does the morning news show at her school and also is playing the violin again in school. Even though she is only in 5th grade, she is in advanced orchestra (all other 5th graders are in beginning as this is the first year they can take orchestra or band). Dillon’s teacher is GREAT! This is what she put on his report card, “Dillon is sometimes very hyper, but I love his enthusiasm.” If only every teacher he has from here on out can see that good him. Denim is so great. She is in all day kindergarten which I am so glad for as she is learning like a sponge, sucking up all she can as she goes. Her teacher said she didn’t know if she ever had a student that smiled more than Denim.

December 2nd
Today I am thankful for the “In the spirit of Thanksgiving” movie clip below…I think put it on here right.

December 3rd
Today I am thankful for Brad Wilcox. http://www.bradwilcox.com/ Dixie is in that wonderful year of 5th grade. For those of you parents whom have a 5th grader, you know what this means. This year at Dixie’s school it is officially called “Grow and Change”. The school had a parents night on Monday to go over what is going to be taught. Some things I liked. They are being very thorough on the development of a baby in the womb. I think that is a good thing to learn. I did NOT like their stand on a word I will not even put on my blog. Have no fear, Brad Wilcox helped me out.
As I also did with Darcy, I purchased Brad book, Growing up, (available at http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4024211). We went out to dinner and using Growing Up as a guide and reference we had our talk. This book is so great because it is specific and gives it from a church perspective. It is written in a great language that kids can understand and relate to. After our full talk, I then gave her the book and told her to ask me any questions anytime. With Darcy she asked what I thought were typical questions. Dixie on the other hand had different type of questions. I always knew what different girls and this was just another example of how different they are.

December 4th
Today I am thankful for Christmas Cards. Although I haven’t sent them out in YEARS, I am thankful for those friends whom still send them to me! Farnsworth and Pula’s you are the winners this year for 1st one received!

In-the-Spirit-of-Thanksgiving

In-the-Spirit-of-Thanksgiving