We Have so Much to be Thankful For!

Everyday I feel so blessed everyday, but November is a great chance to specifically reflect on things we are grateful for. We made our thankful tree this year and tried to write down one thing each day.  

I am so thankful for these little shiz nuggets. One day I was frustrated with the kids and called them this, and Tyler and I thought it was so funny. It's become a term of endearment now. 

 I'm am grateful for creativity. All of our kids are so creative in their own way. Makayla loves to make beautiful art, Caden is amazing at creating things with Legos, and Brynnli can be entertained with a empty paper towel roll. I love watching her play. She was playing chef one day (notice the swim suit underneath).

 I am grateful for a healthy family. We had a nasty bug hit the kids this month. and then poor Tyler got "a pneumonia" (as he calls it) this month that knocked him out for a few weeks. Poor Brynn woke up one night throwing up. She couldn't keep anything down but she was so thirsty. I felt so bad for her. It is the worst feeling when your kids are sick and you can't do anything to make it go away. It's the times when they are super sick that you realize how grateful you are for good health.

 I am grateful for kids who are happy, healthy, and involved in lots of activities. Sometimes I complain about being the family taxi, but I am grateful my kids love to explore things they are interested in. Dance, tumbling, piano, baseball, basketball, and cheer keep us on the move. Makayla got her cheer pictures back. I am just sitting here in awe at how grown up and beautiful she is. I am so proud of Makayla for trying something new and challenging herself.

 I am grateful for the changing seasons. I love spring, summer, and fall, and I am learning to embrace winter. We had a huge snow storm come in. The kids couldn't wait to get outside to build a snowman.

 I am grateful for Family and good food. Our families are really close and like to have a lot of parties. I'm grateful for my parents and the wonderful family I married into. Thanksgiving was spent with Tyler's family at Tammy and Bruce's this year.  We were missing the Jones family but we had so much fun eating and talking with our family.

 I am grateful for cousins. I love that our kids have such a close relationship with their cousins. And can they get any cuter in their matching jammies?

 I am grateful for Christmas time. Seeing this view just reminds me how close Christmas is. I love the look of the fresh snow covering the trees.

 I am grateful our kids keep us young. They stress us out a lot, but they also show us how to have fun. Brynnli was having a blast sledding down our driveway. She is so cute!

 At the end of the month our Thankful tree was full!

Some of my favorite thankful leaves included: 

"My Swimsuit!" - Brynnli

"Elektrisady"- Caden

"Being Kind"- Makayla

"The Changing seasons"- Mom

"Bed Time"-Dad

"Hot Chocolate"- Kitty the Elf

I love this time of year! 

When We Weren't Cruising...

October flew by because we were so busy with Halloween festivities and our amazing cruise. Here's some pictures when we weren't partying it up: 

I found this swimsuit on clearance for $5. Brynnli has been wearing it 24/7 since we bought it. She wears it to the store, she wears it to sleep, she comes home from preschool and changes right into it. She cries when I tell her we have to wash it and stands in front of the washer saying, "I miss you swimsuit!"

Do you know why you should always be nice to moms? You never know when she's lost another battle with a 5 year old. 

 So one day I was driving around and heard a contest on the radio. I ended up calling in and playing the game. Guess what? I ended up winning and won tickets to Clint Black! Clint Black is not my favorite singer, but for a free date night, I will go see anything!

 We went with my parents and my favorite part was as we were walking in my mom said, "oh look, Clint Black is coming!" We chuckled and told her that's who we were there to see. Then as we were waiting for the doors to open my mom was standing by a poster of Clint Black and said the same thing again. When we told her that's who we were there to see, she goes, "Oh how fun" like it was the first time she found out. Sometimes things like this can be sad to me because its a reminder of how sad and unknown my mom's future is, but this situation genuinely made me laugh.

Aww, our little snuggle bugs!

 When we got home from our vacation we had so many leaves to rake up. Our kids got right to work without us even having to ask them!

 I had to plan our ward's Trunk-or-treat. It was a lot of work, but I think it turned out pretty good. Sadly, this is the only picture I took.

 What's more fun than burying yourself in the leaves? We have a huge pile!

Yep, October got us like...

Halloween Festivities

We had such a fun Halloween this year. We started out by carving pumpkins at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

 Caden's creation!

 Brynnli wanted a unicorn this year.

 Makayla painted a Mickey Pumpkin to help us get ready for our Disney Cruise.

 How cute are all of these cousins.

 We had another party at Tammy and Bruces. This year Makayla is a dead cheerleader, Brynnli is Rapunzel, and Caden is Mario.

 And Tyler and I made up this last minute costume. We're unicorns in case you couldn't tell.

 Here's our other family members all dressed up.

 Then Brynnli got to have a Halloween party at preschool. They did a special parade and song. Brynnli switched things up and decided she wanted to be Belle. Oh, the mind of a 5 year old.

 On Halloween morning we got to go to the kids' school for their parade.

 How cute is Caden and his friend. They were Mario and Luigi.

 I got to help in Makayla's class for a Halloween party. It was so much fun.

 For dinner we had our traditional chili and mummy dogs.

 Grandpa and Grandma came over to see the kids before the kids went trick or treating.

 Halloween night was SO cold! We had to bundle the kids up. I didn't think they would last very long, but they ended up going trick or treating in our neighborhood and the one next to us.

 We are on a sugar rush, so why not make mummy brownies too?

Happy Halloween