Count Your Blessings

There is a song that goes like this:


When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged feeling all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.


I love the message of this song. It's so true. So often we complain about silly little things that really have no meaning in the grand scope of things. So, in an effort to Count My Blessings, here is a list of things for which I am really grateful:

• My husband: he is my life. He loves me unconditionally (most of the time) and loves to spend all his free time with me.


• My kids: each of them is very different, and I love each of them in a very different way, but I am grateful to have each one of them in my life.


• My Faith: What would I do without my testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ? I would be lost. I would have no purpose.


• Our extended family: I love my parents, my in-laws (and I genuinely mean that!) and all my siblings. I went from a family of two and married into a family of seven, and it's been a wild ride that I wouldn't trade for anything. And spending the last three days with two of Eric's brothers and their families has been so fun! Apples to Apples is our new favorite party game... Thanks to Shay and Jess for suggesting we play it!


• Our wonderful friends: here we live so far from family, that we have to rely on friends like they are our family, and so in a sense, they have become our family. And I love that... does that make sense?


• My calling: I can't believe I'm saying that. Being RS president has been the hardest job of my life, but the lessons I've learned and the blessings that have come from service have been worth it. (Most of the time....)

Now Thanksgiving is over... I've taken down the fall decor, and it's time to break out all the Christmas stuff. We leave for our trip home to the MotherLand in 22 days. For the first time in many years, we won't be in our home on Christmas. I have a feeling that decorating the home will be scaled back because of that. I sense a colossal battle of wills approaching over whether to hang outdoor lights or not. I'll keep you posted on how that goes!

On Turkeys and Picky Eaters

I've spent a lot of time thinking this week about the last year. One year ago, I was a brand new RS president who was planning a funeral for a 14 year old boy. I was trying to juggle how to serve, be a good mom and still have some energy left over at the end of the day to be a good wife, too. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Every time I thought about cooking thanksgiving dinner, I just wanted to cry. It was too much.

For Thanksgiving Day, I talked Eric into taking the family to Mimi's Cafe for dinner. They are one of the few restaurants in the business that is open for Thanksgiving. And they serve up a mean Turkey dinner too. I didn't have the energy to cook for a family of picky eaters. At Mimi's, I got my traditional turkey dinner, and the boys had chicken nuggets or pizza. Eric and Megan both ordered breakfast for dinner. We also went to the movies and saw Bolt. All in all, it was a stress-free day and I loved it. So much so, that I bragged to anyone that I could, that I got out of cooking Thanksgiving dinner and had the best day. Our digression from the traditional became legend in our small circle of friends.

This year, I had already mentally decided I wanted to cook a turkey. I was also texting one of Eric's brothers over some baby photos he sent of my newest nephew, who just a couple months old, and spontaneously invited them to come for Thanksgiving. After a couple weeks of waffling, they decided to do it, and they will be driving down from Utah on Wednesday afternoon. Two of Eric's brothers and their families will be cramming into one car to make the trek to the desert. We are thrilled!

Many of my friends have asked me this year, if we are continuing the tradition of going out to eat for Thanksgiving. I excitedly tell them that two of Eric's brothers are bringing their families down and we are doing the full dinner. They look at me in shock and say something like... "I didn't think you liked cooking Thanksgiving dinner!"

I guess, I gloated too much last year. I really do love cooking Thanksgiving dinner. What I don't love about it, is that my kids won't eat it. They will eat turkey, but moan and groan through the whole thing. They won't eat mashed potatoes... they won't eat stuffing... they won't eat green bean casserole. It's not fun to cook a ginormous meal for 4 kids who will eat no more than 5 bites of all of it.

This year there will be four other adults to share in the over consumption of great food, and so I won't care if my kids go hungry. That's their tough! I am really looking forward to a big meal, with lots of family to share it with. It's going to be a great weekend...can't wait!

Turkey Day Tales

At 7:30 a.m. we arrived in Mesa for the 39th annual Turkey Trot. The kids all ran a 2 mile fun run and Eric and I did the 10K.

Trying to keep the little guy warm.... it rained heavily all night!

Megan with Halle and Marin...

Ian was hoping to let Brayden push him, but he did really well on his run! Taylor lining up at the start... he finished well... too bad the 2 mile run wasn't competitive!The 10k didn't go as well for Eric and I as we'd both hoped. Eric wanted to finish in 40 minutes, but it wasn't meant to be. He finished around the 45 minute mark. I was running slower than I wanted to, but feeling good until the 3.5 mile mark... my darn knees... the ITB pain flared up in my left knee and I was really stupid and kept running for another mile. Yep, not such a brilliant idea... now I'm paying for it. My knee is very sore and climbing up and down our stairs is absolutely brutal!

This afternoon we are getting ready to take the kids out for a movie... we are going to go see this:

And then we are going to have dinner here... that's right... no cooking for me! Yay!