Gratitude Project

November 11th - Veterans.  From the earliest days of this country, I have had family members fighting for freedom.  I am immensely proud of all the veterans in this country.  They have signed up, put their lives on the line, some have lost their lives, some have been maimed physically and/or mentally and did all of this for themselves, others and for a better life.  They deserve our unwavering respect, love and support.
November 12th - Snow.  I do not like driving in the snow but I do  love watching it fall from the sky.  The water we will have or not have next spring/summer depends on how much we get or don't get now.  Heavenly Father's hand is so evident in this it makes me wonder how anyone could ever question His existence.
November 13th - Nursery Ladies - Susan, Cherri and Kaylee.  They are AWESOME!!!!  I have in the past referred to nursery and scouts as the hell of primary.  No more!  Scouting is something I love now and nursery I am gaining respect for, esp. the people who serve there.  They are kind, loving, firm, fun and wonderful!
November 14th - Public Libraries.  Where else can you go (and we don't have a Walden books anymore) and be surrounded by books, movies, puppets, magazines and other fantastic modes of learning?!?!  We LOVE the library!!! 
November 15th - Modern Medicines.  They can wipe out pain from a suffering loved one, help with life- threatening conditions, treat physical and mental maladies.  There is nothing else so wonderful.  Also, I wouldn't be sane without them!
November 16th - Teachers.  They are wonderful people who get an education to teach it to others!  The low pay and long hours are frightening to me, these are the people we trust our children with everyday for a majority of the day.  People our parents trusted us to!  They should be making the money we give to our sports players and celebrities!  They will be blessed in heaven and hopefully a little here on earth!  Thank you for the wonderful teachers I have had, my children have had, have now and will have in the future, you truly are making a difference in our lives!

Gratitude Project

Today I am thankful for blog readers who don't point out my flaws.  I mixed up some dates.
Nov. 1st - Craig
Nov. 2nd - the children
Nov. 3rd - extended family
Nov. 4th - friends
Nov. 5th - the Gospel
Nov. 6th - America
Nov. 7th - Primary
Nov. 8th - a warm house
Nov. 9th - modern appliances
Nov. 10th - the right to vote

November 9th - Modern Appliances.  I would have made a horrible pioneer!  I need my stove, oven, microwave, fridges, freezers, washer and dryer, vacuum (of course if I was a pioneer I probably wouldn't need this!).  I can't imagine my life without these things!
November 10th - The right to vote.  To decide who I want to lead the government with my tax dollars, is a human right.  So thankful for the women who fought for this.  Hope everyone in the world has this one day.

Gratitude Project

Nov. 4th - The Gospel.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true.  End of story.  I know this and I will never not know this.  Amen.
Nov. 5th - Living in America.  No other country on the face of this earth has the freedoms we have and the people to defend those freedoms, not only for us, but for others around the world.  Grateful I was born and raised here. 
Nov. 6th - Primary.  If you want to feel the Spirit, all you have to do is come into Primary.  On any given Sunday, you will find the most sweetest, strongest members of the ward there.  They know what is right and wrong and are not corrupted by others (yet), they know the Gospel is true and nothing can sway them.  They sing with all of their hearts and always touch mine.  I LOVE my Primary kids - they are the best!
Nov. 7th - A Warm House.  I have seen several homeless people this week and can't imagine what it is like not to have somewhere warm to go to call your own.  Thankful for a working furnace and all the warm air it gives me!  Also thankful for the warm feeling I know that I have when all of my family is home and safe and snug.

Graditude Project

November 4th - Friends.  We have amazing, fabulous, awesome, talented, loving friends.  I can never list all of them or the things they have done for us over the years.  They have laughed with us and cried with us, helps us physically, emotionally and spiritually.  We have been blessed with wonderful neighbors and ward members.  It truly takes a village to raise children and I feel like we have an awesome support team.  I appreciate all of their examples to me, Craig and the children.

Gratitude Project

Day 3 - Extended Family.  Craig and I are both blessed with amazing families!  My parents will be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary on the 10th of December this year - woo hoo!!!  They are incredible people!  My dad is a a rock and an example to me with his life.  He is the most honest person I know, he doesn't even speed!  He is funny and no one loves their grand kids more than him!  My mother is talented beyond belief - she sews, cooks, bakes, do flowers, make you feel loved and the most important person in the world!  She cherishes each of her grandchildren and is a great example to me in patience.  My sister Jennifer is awesome, she got most of mom's talents passed down to her and is quite the seamstress!  She is a world-traveler, professional business woman, and ultimate party planner!  Kimberly is a manager at work, home and on the field.  She organizes her children's lives so they have experience in a little bit of everything.  My brother Adam loves the country life and the great outdoors!  He is a great friend to others and excells at his job.  My brother Aaron is also a great worker, husband and father.  You can find him coaching baseball or changing a diaper and he is great at both.  My sister in law Julia is a wonderful friend and mother.  She loves her kids and works hard for them.  I have wonderful nieces and nephews - Kierra, Emmett, Shanna Lee, Bryan, Cordell, Jacob, Noa and Nathan.  Craig's dad is great example to us of perseverance and determination.  He is a great grandpa.  Craig's mom likes to have visits from family especially to celebrate the holidays.  His sister Michelle and brothers, Dean, Kevin and Scott are all hard workers and take good care of their families.  His brother in law, Ron and sister in laws Deanna, Sharlene and Julie make family get togethers fun!  He also has wonderful nieces and nephews - Nicole, Kelsey, Megan, Alex, Ashley, Rachelle, Travis, David, Michael, Nathan, Angela, Jacob, Joshua, Samantha, Stephanie, Logan, Brayden, Whitney and Brenner.  Many of them are married and have the cutest kids!  Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides of our family are supportive and loving and we try never to miss an opportunity to see them all.  Our heritage is of great people who did amazing things and made our lives all the richer for it.  We are grateful for their hard work and sacrifices for us to have a better life. 

Gratitude Project 2011

I am going to use this month to express my gratitude for everything in my life, big or small. On my Facebook, I am putting what I am grateful for, but on here I will elaborate.

November 1st - Craig. He is a hard worker, funny, helpful, loving, and creative. He is lots of other things too, but these are just the top ones I could think of. He really is a people person, and loves to meet new people. He can build me almost anything I can dream up and loves to be in the kitchen whipping up something new. He loves to garden. even if he is the most impatient person I know. Gardening is supposed to teach you to slow down and enjoy time, but he wants to plant in the morning and harvest in the afternoon! He has lots of talents - drawing, making up songs for the baby, cooking, landscaping. I love him dearly and am glad I get to spend eternity with him.

November 2nd - Ryan, Courtney, Joslyn, Chad and Chloe. Ryan is a good person - funny, kind, handsome, etc. He is also a hard worker and willing to try new experiences. He has already accomplished a lot in 19 years - Eagle scout, high school graduate with a 3.75 GPA, graduated Army Basic Training, graduated from Advanced Individual Training - radar repair. He is getting ready to open the next chapter in his life - college. He has a lovely girlfriend, Darady, who we really like and it seems he is head over heels. He sends her flowers and cards, it's good to see him treat her so well and her him. He's not sure what he wants to be yet, but he doesn't have to know yet! Courtney is a beautiful young woman. She is incredibly smart AND talented! She is very talented with pen and paper, paint and other materials, or the piano. She loves to sing and can! She is interested in science and the human body, her latest career choice is mortician. She has a firm testimony of the Gospel and has had to defend it vehemently. She is a true example to me and others. Joslyn is a great girl, she is going to be beautiful and tall! She does very well in school and loves the social aspect. She has lots of friends, especially Olivia. She also loves to sing and can! She likes art, horses and her guitar. She has a developing testimony of her own and is very inquisitive about everything! Chad is the typical 10 year old, he loves video games and playing with his friends! He is super smart like the rest of them (I don't know where they all got that from, but I will take the credit!) he excells in math and science. He likes to play with Chloe and is a great big brother. He is a great friend, (unless you cross him, and then tomorrow is a whole new day) and is fiercely loyal. Chloe is our baby angel/devil. She is either super sweet or destroying something! She loves to be the center of attention and is such a little performer. she loves to snuggle when it's bedtime and has to hold my left earlobe. I am grateful for my family and the opportunity to raise these little people. I am grateful that we can be together forever and for the time I get to spend with each one of them here on earth.

Autumn Leaves

We are right in the swing of things with autumn showing her colorful face around here. The leaves are all turning red, orange and gold. The mornings are getting nippy and the days are perfect! School is humming along for the children and we are counting down the days to Christmas Break. Ryan is home and looking for a job, he is getting ready to attend ISU in the spring. He and Darady are still going strong, and we just love her. Courtney is loving her anatomy/physiology class and thinking of being a mortician, because as she puts it: no one wants to be one, they make good money and everyone is going to need one - job security! That would be a great job for Court - nobody to talk to her and loads of time by herself - figuratively speaking. She is playing the piano again and was put in as the pianist in Young Women's when they released her as president. She was picked as 1 of 2 kids from our stake to help plan the New Year's Eve party. Joslyn is getting taller everyday! She is still in love with horses, but is liking art class and playing the guitar. She is taking lessons with Olivia from her aunt, Chelsea. She is 2nd counselor in Young Women's and likes to have that responsibility. Chad is also growing like a weed, he just finished soccer with a 6 - 0 record, go mighty monkeys! He has to be dragged away from video games unless it's to play with Mason outside. He just moved up to Webelos in Scouts. He is doing great in math at school and likes to do whatever Ryan is doing. Chloe is getting so big and grown-up! She got her first haircut and now you can see her beautiful blue eyes! She is learning sign language and is so cute when she does it! So far she knows: please, thank you, i love you, more, eat, drink, please, bird, and alligator (this one was just random). She walks all over the place now and is a climber! If she can push, pull or drag something to climb on, she will and we often find her on top of the table! She likes to reach up on the edge of the counter and pull down whatever she can find. She has also discovered pencils, pens, crayons, markers and loves to "color". She keeps us hopping! Craig has been busy at work traveling a lot this month and helping his dad get around to appointments and doing some home repairs. He is also going to finish our shed in time for our annual Halloween party. I am still watching Abigail Monday - Friday, anywhere from 8 - 11 hours a day. It makes me appreciate my mother - it's just like having twins, except Abigail doesn't spend the night! I am still loving Primary - esp. the kids - such sweet little spirits! I so appreciate the teachers we have and the ladies I get to work with. We are very blessed and try to remember how fortunate we are. I am going to try to upload some pictures soon, just don't hold your breath!

Sunny July

The fact that I made it back here in less than a month is nothing short of a miracle!
We have had a busy month - 4th of July and my 39th birthday - it really isn't that old! Turner reunion 8th - 10th in Utah. Great fun - got to see both sides the family and had a ball! Craig went to Portland the 6th - 8th. Then Craig's nephew's wedding on the 16th - Logan and Samantha. Craig had RSP 16th & 17th then Scout Camp the 18th - 23rd. The girls have camp this week, Courtney left today, she is with stake and Joslyn leaves tomorrow for her 1st year. They will be back Friday. Chloe Matilda's 1st birthday is on Thursday the 28th! This year seems to have flown! She is jibber-jabbering all the time and loves to sing. She has a bashful little smile and is pretty sure the world revolves around her! She has taken lots of little steps but crawling is her preferred method of travel. Chad had a tooth pulled earlier this month and has strep throat this week. He has seen the doctor twice so far to have warts frozen. Poor Joe, but he still finds the strength to play video games! Joslyn is very excited to go to girls camp! I will miss her and Courtney this week, esp. with Matilda! Courtney is excited this is her last year - she camps like I do - drive to the hotel, check in, continental breakfast in the morning, housekeeping service, ice machines and air conditioning! She is severely dismayed that our Waldenbooks is closing and wants to take advantage of the savings that they are offering - she is going to need another bookcase! Ryan will be home in 25 days! Need I say more?!?! He turned 19 on the 19th! Only 37 days until school starts! That can be a good thing and a bad thing!

June Days

So I am trying to update this more now and wish I could just copy and paste my Facebook status here, but I feel the need to elaborate on them. I am trying to create memories for the children the way my mother did for us. Some people think I am am too anal or just plain crazy, but I enjoy planning things for my kids to do during the summer and mind you if you dig deeper into my life I have a calendar for each month and activities planned for them also! Especially February - 14 days of Valentine's, March with St. Patrick's Day and April with Easter, October with Halloween and December with Christmas.
We have had a fun month so far - Fabulous Fridays, FHE - The B'S, lunches in the park, seeing family and friends, library trips and just working together in the house and yard. I have had some in depth talks with the children from Chad - "I won't EVER weed my yard" to Joslyn - discussing life lessons to Courtney and hearing her point of view of things. I hope July keeps us busy even though it is getting hotter! Only 55 days until Ryan comes home! Yeah!

Facebook is so much quicker than blogs, but I do like putting more information than 450 letters - we are more complex than that!

I read my OCTOBER post - lots has happened since than! Let's start!

Craig is enjoying his job and the people he works with - namely Shawn! They have too much fun at work! He is a great friend and I am glad Craig has him. I think Craig's next career should be landscaper because our backyard is gorgeous! Our spring flowers are all in bloom right bow - pretty tulips and happy daffodils nod and smile at you when you go outside and our crab apple tree is blooming and it smells heavenly! The pond is the highlight area - rocks carefully placed look like they just tumbled there and have a small waterfall cascading down the side into the pond where orange goldfish and white koi dart around. There are grasses inter dispersed among the rock that you would never know weren't there a year ago. Lilies, painted daisies and black-eyed Susans are either blooming or starting to grow to their full height to bloom later this summer. The bridge has an alyssum water effect under it - like a curling current. We just planted a good-size purple autumn ash tree so that one day, soon hopefully, it will shade the wood and iron bench that sits on pavers that are held in place with pea-gravel. Two small fairies are hidden in the flowers and you really have to look to find them peering out at you! White solar light dot the entire area and give it an ethereal look at night. He also has a Honey crisp apple tree to plant and some other projects - the garden needs to be planted, my boardwalk and awning need to be built on the shed and the fence that will enclose the garden (small picket fence), we are going to tear off the deck and lower it and that's just the backyard! The front yard he has one more flower bed to build and fill in and hook up a small water fountain in the shape of a little girl holding a watering can.

He is still in Scouts and working hard with all of the boys to earn their merit badges and ranks. He has scout camp coming up and trip to Portland, Oregon for work in July.

Jessica is anxious for school to get out on June 1st and have the children home! I have tons of fun things and chores for them to do! I spend my days with Chloe and sometimes lots gets done and sometimes nothing gets done! She is a handful! I watch Abigail sometimes depending on her mother's schedule. They like to play and are good company for each other. I am still 2nd counselor in Primary and loving it (most days!) Scouts, Nursery and sharing times are busy things! I am trying to help the girls with their personal progress by doing it with them - we don't have a lot of time - but we try!

Ryan is in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, right outside Lawton. He doesn't really care for it there, but it seems like he is having a good time! He has his weekends and evenings to himself, so he and his battle buddies spend a lot of time at the mall and movie theater. His visit at Christmas was wonderful and too short! He comes home August 19th, one month after his 19th birthday! We are excited to get him back!

Courtney is 16 now and really blossoming into a young adult - complete with her own ideas and opinions! Her hair is permed and down to her waist now. She is super smart, super talented and has a super testimony of the Gospel. Her favorite classes are seminary and drawing and paint. She is busy on two committees - stake youth conference and young women's camp. She is a fifth-year and goes with stake this year - they have amazing leaders - she is excited! Her Young Women's presidency was just released but were replaced with awesome women, so we can't complain. She is in high demand for babysitting and is known for her "magic bag"! She likes to play with Chloe and read any book she can get her hands on!

Joslyn is 12 and in Beehives! She is doing well in school and likes her teachers. She sings in choir and has a beautiful voice. Joslyn can always be counted on to watch Chloe and take good care of her. She still loves horses and loves to watch them on TV and go to the local horse races. She enjoys going to Mutual and hanging out with friends. She is becoming quite the book worm also and is filling up a small bookcase in her room, maybe one day she will have the small library Courtney has (4 large bookcases).

Chad is Chad! He is still a Lego-maniac and video game connoisseur! He would rather be outside than anywhere else now that the weather is warming up. He has lots of ideas running around his head and the energy to try them all out. He is kind and loyal to his friends and smiles easily. He has made friends with the older generation in our ward and has lots of things to show and tell them - they are a great support! He loves Chloe and making her smile.

Chloe Matilda is a source of light for all of us - she is a happy baby and LOVES to be outside from morning to night! She is crawling and pulls herself up on EVERYTHING!!! She will be walking soon and I'm not sure if that is a good thing! She always has a toothless grin for us and loves attention! She has blond/light brown hair and blue eyes and one dimple! We can't imagine life without her - she keeps us young - we go to bed when she does and get up at night when she does, except now it's because we have to make a bathroom trip. She sees the simple joys in life like water in the baby pool is the most fascinating thing to her and birds flying overhead and seeing the kids after school - she just wiggles with excitement!

We are grateful for the family and friends that love us and for the true happiness they bring into our lives! We are incredibly blessed and know it!