We have so much to be Thankful for... even during Corona.

You know what? This year has been pretty hard. Because of Corona virus, the election, earthquakes, protests, riots, we could go on and on about how challenging things are. We could complain about how traditions, and vacations have to be cancelled. We could find plenty of reasons to be upset or angry. But you know what? We can also find so many reasons to be thankful. 

I really feel so extra grateful this year. 

We were supposed to have Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year, but the second week of November my parents got Corona virus. My mom had it for a few days and was able to recover pretty quickly. But my poor dad had has not done so well. He has no appetite and is so tired that some days he can't even get out of bed. He actually has me pretty worried, but the doctor's are keeping a good eye on him. He is monitoring his blood oxygen and if it gets too low, he knows to go to the hospital. I just hope it doesn't come to that. 

Since we couldn't get together with my side of the family and Tyler's side of the family wasn't getting together, we decided to do Thanksgiving dinner at our house. But here's the problem.... we didn't want turkey dinner because we had that for Easter, so we decided to do prime rib!!! Oh man was it yummy!

Tyler is a fantastic cook and he literally made the whole meal. 

Look at that prime rib. Have you ever seen something so delicious in your life? If you think that looks good, you should have tasted it because it was so, so, so good. 

To go with the prime rib we had twice baked potatoes, shrimp, rolls, and green bean casserole... because that's the only part of Thanksgiving dinner I like. 

All ready to dig in! 

I remember the days I prayed for the people I have now. They make my life complete. 

Thanks to Makayla and her amazing cooking skills, we had delicious brownies for dessert. And key lime pie.

Yep, our hearts are so full this month. We have so much to be grateful for. 

Some of my favorites from this year's thankful tree are: 

Dad: "Kwissy"

Mom: "The reset we all needed"

Makayla: "Living at this time"

Caden: "Air"

Brynnli: "The President"

November 2020

8 months. For 8 months we have survived quarantine. Here's a few things we have been up to this month. 

Look how far this cutie's smile has come since the first onset of Bell's Palsy. If you look closely, you can still see her smile is slightly slanted, but it's really hard to tell. Although Bell's Palsy threw us for a loop, we are so grateful she is recovering. 

Fall nights have been really mild for the first part of November, so we have enjoyed our outdoor fireplace with hot cocoa (or chocolate milk warmed up). 

We spent an afternoon with the Rauen kids at the park. They are fun to play with because each of our kids are the same age/gender, so it's easy to arrange play dates. 

How cute are these sisters? I love the special bond they have and I hope it lasts throughout their lives. I always wanted a sister growing up and I hope they realize how lucky they are to have each other. 

Brynnli asked me if I would read this book to her. Taming of the Shrew is one of Brynnli's favorites of Shakespeare's plays. 

Well that's one way to wear your mask. 

Brynnli told me she was going on vacation. Don't we wish. 

Check out that sunset. 

We love watching family movie nights. Apparently Brynnli gets really comfy when she watches her movies. 

Poor Makayla had to get some baby teeth pulled. She was pretty nervous, but she did great! Our dentist is fantastic and walked Makayla through every step. Those pesky baby K9 teeth are now gone. 

Check out the roots on those teeth! There was no way those teeth were coming out on their own. 

Have you met our future gymnast? Brynnli loves tumbling. She is so good and is learning lots of new tricks. She even got moved up to a new level. Brynnli literally does cart wheels every where we go... in the house, in the grocery store, basically anywhere there is room you'll see Brynnli doing tricks. 

We played Watch your mouth. You put those things in your mouth that make it hard to talk then have your team mates try to guess what you're saying. So funny!

Check out these cuties' hair!

Caden came downstairs one morning wearing just his underwear on backwards. His reasoning? "It's naked Friday"

We headed up to The Land for a quick trip. 

Brynnli is very worried about this puzzle. How are we ever going to finish it?

Good thing we have our puzzle mat to safely save our puzzle progress. 

Playing Life and Candy Land. Brynnli loves Grandma Nut. 

Look how good this drawing is! Makayla is such a good artist. 

Do you want to know the funniest practical joke we played on the Jones Family? We covered Jerm's face in every single picture hanging on the wall. 

Pretty sunset!

I got my hairs did and my nails did. 

Makayla made this cute picture of The Land. It even has horses in the pasture. 

Corona Updates at the end of November: 

Utah has 195,706 total cases and 871 deaths. Nationally there are 13.8 million cases and 273,075 deaths. Elections were held on November 3 and it looks like Joe Biden is the projected winner, but there are a lot of disputes with votes in a few states. President Trump claims he was cheated out an election victory by widespread voter fraud, which election officials say does not exist. It looks like a few states will be recounting the votes and we will probably have to wait until January for the official declaration of president. So many people have so many opinions about the election, and who should be president. It is a scary and sad time to see our country so divided.