I Am Grateful For...

• Two beautiful, healthy children.
• A hard-working, devoted husband.
  
• The fullness of Gospel of Jesus Christ
• My sisters who are my life-long best friends.
• My parents who are my heroes.
  
• Walks with friends on crisp autumn mornings.
• The smiles and laughter of little children.
• The warmth of the holiday season.
• The privileges and freedoms of living in America.
• The opportunity to pray and receive answers.
• A husband who loves our children.
• The scriptures and other good books.
• A warm and comfortable bed to sleep in.
• Supermarkets.
  
• A washer and dryer in my house.
• A car that starts on the first try every morning.
• Feelings of comfort and peace.

I just wanted to share with everyone some of the things I am grateful for. I realized as I got thinking that this was just the beginning. I know that God is in every seemingly insignificant detail in my life, and his "tender mercies" abound in every direction. There are so many things to be thankful for when we look around. During the Christmas season, it is easy to get caught up in what we don' have and what we want to acquire, but I really want to make an extra effort to focus on my blessings during this holiday season and throughout the coming year.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year with our two kids. We
took them to Cornbelly's and Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving
Point, Gardner Village, and of course trick-or treating. We
also enjoyed a Halloween Carnival in our ward. I think
Adelyn wishes it was Halloween everyday.

For those of you who voted for the cow, you got your
wish. Mostly, I just decided on it because it was the warmest
and Preston seemed to always be smiling while he wore it.
Here is our little cow in the cow chair. How cute is he?!

After refusing countless times to try on her wig, I was
afraid Adelyn didn't want to be Raggdy Ann for Halloween
and would never wear her costume. This called for drastic
measures! I got some Raggedy Ann stories at the library
(both books and CDs) and her grandpa bought her the doll.
Finally, on Halloween morning, Adelyn surprised me by
asking to try on her wig. She ended up wearing her
costume the rest of the day. What a relief!

Captain Jack Sparrow and Raggedy Ann. It is amazing how
well these fictional characters get along considering their very
different personalities and backgrounds. :) Aren't they so cute!

Here's the whole family at our ward Halloween Carnival.
If you can't tell, I'm a witch and Ryan is G.I. Joe.

This is just a darling picture of Preston I had to throw in.
He has the sweetest little face to match his sweet nature.