Instagram Thanksgiving

I decided to post a picture of something I'm thankful for each day during November on Instagram. #thanksgiving


I am so grateful for this man in my life.

I am grateful for these three who gave me my favorite career!

 

I'm so grateful for eternal marriage which has bound me to this man forever.

I am grateful to live in a country, state and county where my opinion can be heard.

I'm grateful to live close to family so my kids can have awesome relationships with their cousins.

I'm grateful for my siblings. Lifelong enemies and best of friends we are!

I'm grateful for my in-laws and the compassion and trust they have taught me by example.

I'm grateful I still have siblings with no kids because they spend extra time with us and are great role models for my kids. Last night we asked Arc who her favorite Aunt is. "Aubrey". Who's your second favorite? "God". Sorry CSEE, you are third! Don't worry HDHE, you are the favorite uncle.

 I'm grateful for the hope I find in life through my Savior Jesus Christ.

I'm grateful for modern medicine. I'm typically hesitant to take medication or give it to my kids - but these two pills have really blessed my family!

I'm grateful I get to homeschool my kids right now. Play is so important for healthy kids - physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially and mentally!

I'm so grateful to have a truly happy family. I've yearned for it my whole life and it is now my daily reality.

I'm grateful to be a mother. All the exhaustion and heartache are totally worth it for those rare moments of pure bliss.

I'm so grateful for the Canyon Rim Stake for letting us call Snydermill our home. I can't get over it.

I'm grateful for my firstborn son and how he is always thrilled about every new life experience.

I'm grateful for my second born son who can always come up with something to laugh about, no matter the circumstance.

I'm grateful for my daughter who is the perfect combination of femininity and strength/sass/stubbornness.

I'm grateful for the simple joys of life - like blowing dandelions!

I'm grateful for my belief in God's great plan of redemption - that there is a perfect balance of mercy and justice through Jesus Christ, that God's love encircles me.

I'm grateful for wise people who say wise things and pass on their wisdom. I've been learning some self-compassion over the past month and it truly has helped me to be more gentle with others, particularly my husband and children.

I'm grateful for personal revelation from my Heavenly Father. So many blessings in my life come through His guidance. For example, my spouse, children and daily joy!

I'm grateful for seasons - of the year and of life.

I'm grateful to believe that families are forever.

I'm grateful for my mission parents, they shared and continue to share with me and my family such wise spiritual counsel.

I'm grateful for my Mother and Father who loved and raised me and my siblings with many privileges and great values

I'm grateful for music and the role it has played throughout my life.

I'm so grateful that I get to live on this beautiful earth and attempt to experience all that it has to offer. Truly it testifies of a Father in Heaven who loves each of His children.

I'm grateful for Thanksgiving as a holiday. I truly believe it is needed.

I'm grateful for the Father of my children and his dedication to loving them. They need him so.

I'm so grateful and excited to celebrate Christ's birth all month long with giving and lights and music. I know that my Redeemer lives!

Family Photos

Update for the month is coming, but for now here's our family photos!

Late October

October turned out to be an absolutely fantastic month. I can hardly even express how wonderful it was. Pmc has been struggling with depression for some time now, at least a few years. We haven't said a lot about it because it seems like one of those things that people are judgemental about and we just didn't need that kind of thing to deal with. However, after our mission reunion at the beginning of the month we invited our Mission President and his wife up for S'mores one night. President C knew about Pmc's struggles and had offered previously (because he's also a doctor) to get Pmc a prescription for an anti-depressant. So when they came up, he followed up on that and we finally got Pmc a prescription. So Pmc started those meds and it has made an absolute world of difference. I feel like I finally have the man I dated back. I don't have to fight with depression for him. There just aren't words to express how much it has changed our lives, and how grateful we are for this change!

We had a very busy month of school, and trying to get in all the things the kids wanted to learn about sometimes went well and sometimes did not. The kids were exceedingly interested in fires, and I think we checked out at least 30 books on the topic from the library. The kids really got into the swing of our homeschool co-op, and have made some great friends. We've loved having "recess" and eating lunch in the warm outdoor weather for as long as it's lasted.

For Halloween we let the kids dress up and bob for apples. Many of the moms in the co-op don't really celebrate Halloween, so that made it a little different, but still fun and interesting.

One of the many things the kids have been doing with homeschool this month is wanting to do Halloween crafts and recipes. Cdc begged to make these "Cyclops Eyes" forever. Arc got a Disney Princess Cookbook that we have been using recipes from a couple times a week. Cpc found recipes in one of his "Encyclopedia Brown" books that he is still trying to get me to help him with. That's a little trickier because they are all desserts and I swear we already have dessert every day, and I'm trying to lose the weight I gained from all these miscarriages.

For a special Halloween surprise we took the kids on the Heber Valley Railroad "Pumpkin Time" train. We got lucky enough to be one of only two families on the back car and the kids got to watch them move the engine to the back and hook it back up to take us back to the station. Then they got to go through the "haunted car" and pick a pumpkin from the "pumpkin patch" car. Also during the train ride Frankenstein came and danced in our car - Arc was pretty nervous about that one.

We got to go to the zoo with Grams and we were lucky enough to get right up close with the Grizzlies while they ate their breakfast.

Last month Cpc learned all about the different kinds of Zebras in his Zoobooks magazine and was excited to see the pattern on the Zebras bums to see which kind of Zebra it was.

We enjoyed Papa's annual cousin Halloween party!

Pmc attended the blackout game, I convinced him to go ahead and wear the wig, although I don't think he kept it on!

The kids FINALLY got to paint their lunchboxes. When we talked with Cpc about the pros and cons of homeschool one of his biggest concerns was whether he would get to have lunch at school. Getting his own lunchbox to paint and take to co-op was a satisfactory remedy for him, so we did it! It took a lot longer for the lunchboxes to come than we planned, but the kids have made good use of them.

Pmc and I always share the design on one pumpkin and let the kids each do their own. Ours is of course the Utes pumpkin. Left to right we have Cdc, Cpc and Arc. They each did a great job scooping out the seeds this year, Arc was actually the most thorough. We toasted the pumpkin seeds with sugar and spices and they were DIVINE!

Sometimes I am can't believe I have such a little GIRL! She has to have her babies with her for quiet time.

For trick-or-treating we made our annual trip to Heber to roam a REAL neighborhood and hang with our friends the N family. They simply wouldn't all sit still for a picture, they were of course to excited about getting out there to get candy and show off their costumes. Cpc and Cdc made "ghostly buckets" as one of their crafts for trick-or-treating. They made one for Arc too and were pleased to all be clowns with matching buckets. Bn was Fix-it-Felix and Rn was Vanellope.

My sister was so desperate to be around kids for Halloween that she drove all the way up from SLC to go trick-or-treat with the kids! She makes a pretty good Kruella Devil.

I went simply with my poodle skirt 50's thing.

Yes, real houses, real door-to-door, lots of kids wandering the neighborhood. That is what Halloween is all about. Pmc promised prizes for the kids if they were careful to speak clearly and loudly, say trick-or-treat, thank you and Happy Halloween at each door. All three of the kids delivered on that one. We love the opportunity Halloween gives to teach those kinds of manners in a fun way!

Then we just hung out for a little while, snacked on dinner leftovers and came home at bedtime! Happy Halloween!