Christmas Beginnings.....

This afternoon the kids and I made gumdrop trees to start off the Christmas season. (thanks for the idea, Natalie!) We all were involved -- Abigail ate more candy than she put on her tree, Annah did the biggest tree, while I did a medium and a small sized one and Jacob had the job of cutting toothpicks in half for us. Oh, Tim helped too.... he napped the whole time. :)

My sister sent me a make it yourself Christmas arrangement! She sent various pine branches, a basket lined with plastic, a piece of oasis to put the pine branches in, and pine cone and holly berry picks. It was quite clever! I put it together and it holds a place of honor -- next to the gumdrop trees -- on a table in the entryway. :) Thanks, Cretta! It smells like Christmas already. :)

Hopeful...

"We must not lose hope. Hope is an anchor to the souls of men. Satan would have us cast away that anchor. In this way he can bring discouragement and surrender. But we must not lose hope. The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him. Though we may see that we have far to go on the road to perfection, we must not give up hope" (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 398).

I really love this quote. I love the part that says that the Lord is pleased with *every* effort, even the *tiny* ones, in which we strive to be more like Him. I love the hopefulness of that statement -- that even the small movement forward is progress!

What I Love About You....Annah

Annah is our second daughter after 4 sons. She is 9 years old and nearly everyone thinks she older than she is because she is so tall! She takes after her dad who is 6'3" and her brother, Andrew, who is even taller!

What I Love About Annah......

*She Loves Pink

*Her long nails she is So proud of

*She loves windy days.

*She loves School (so far, anyway!)

*How she wakes up haPpy each day

*She loves Corn Bread

*She does a week's worth of homework on Monday to get it out of the way for the week and I don't even have to ask

*She remembers special occasions the minute she wakes up in the morning

*She loves Kittens and Cats.

* How she loves Apple Pie

*That she wakes up CHEERFUL each morning (did I say that already? It's true!)

*She is very helpful.

*Her FLashing smile

*She let's us call her nick names like PERRY the Platypus and Precis

*She Laughs easily

*She loves her SiSteR

* Her Quick sense of Humor

*She loves her MoM :)

Even Lower.....

This is so amazing to me! I can't even recall when I last saw prices like this. Now the question is how long with it last?

How Low Can It Go?

How low can our gas prices go????

Amazing!

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come....

Thanksgiving...
What a lovely day to pause and to think on so many wonderful things in life!

I know that we don't only think of things we are thankful for on the last Thursday of each November. A thankful heart can certainly be found on many other days throughout the year. But, that magical last Thursday just gives us reason to gather our loved ones together to share our hearts, our food and our memories, creating one more tie to bind us together. What a gift!

I think that Thanksgiving is perfectly placed on the calendar. What better way to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming celebration of our Savior's birth. For me, Thanksgiving is the signaling of the start of the true Christmas season.

Come, ye thankful people, come..... celebrate all that makes your heart grateful!

I am grateful for the wondrous gifts in my life ...

• the great love of my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for His atonement that is not only for me, but all you will come unto him
• my husband who brings great joy to my life through his love for me and through his commitment to and testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ
• my children who have brought more learning and loving to my heart than I ever knew possible
• the trials that have come to me.... I am a much better person than I could have ever been without them
• forgiveness ~ forgiveness I have been given and forgiveness I have offered
• the love of wonderful friends who make their way into our hearts and we now happily call "family"....you know who you are :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!

Getting Ready For Thanksgiving...

We are getting ready for Thanksgiving....

I made two pumpkin pies (Abigail's favorite) today then Annah wanted to help make the apple pie while Abigail was gone with her friend to see Twilight. So we set to work!

Scrumptious apple pie....Annah's favorite. Tomorrow we will take on the bird!

What I Love About You....Abigail

I was thinking about my kids the other day and it made me smile as I thought about the things that I love about them that were unique to them individually. I am beginning with Abigail.

Abigail was our first girl born after 4 boys. She also holds the title of heaviest baby in our family. She tipped the scales at a whopping 11 lbs. 11 oz. when she arrived into the world 11 years ago. I still walk funny after that delivery!

What I Love About Abigail.....

*She's proud to be the "heaviest baby" in our family!

*She loves to paint her nails all sorts of colors!

*Her sense of fashion, Mixing and Matching her clothes....

*She is quick to laugh!

*She is a Good student and I don't have to BEG her to do her homework. :)

*The way she says, "Love you night-night." every night.(a carry over from when she was little)

*Her love of DOGS....

* She loves brocolli and other good for you veggies.

*She is very modest.

* Her love of horses.

*Her strong sense of right and wrong.

*Her bed FULL of stuffed animals and each one has a name and a gender.

*She loves to read.

*She Always makes sure she brushes her teeth.

*She's a Good friend.

*She likes her Long hair.

*That she's a little bit of a Tom-Boy.

* She has a FUN sense of humor.

*When She can't stop Laughing.

*Her love for her sister, Annah.

*She has a wonderful and fun Imagination.

*She loves CooKie dough.

*She loves her Mom. :)

We Gather Together....

Annah had a play in school today and she was one of the narrators. She did such a good job -- she memorized all her lines, she spoke loud enough to be heard by all and she looked so pretty!

Knowing And Doing.....

When I remind my kids to do something usually the first response that I get is, "I know, Mom." I have grown accustom to that reply. Often I feel frustrated when I hear it. My reply back to them has become, "If you KNOW, then DO!"

I can't tell you how many times this phrase has been utter by me but one day it hit me that how much living the gospel of Jesus Christ is just like that statement.

I may KNOW what I need to do but if I only know and don't do anything about what I know, then it is in vain. It is not good enough to only know....I must do.

It's not good enough to KNOW the mortgage payment is due; I have to DO something more than just know or I will get phone calls!

It's not good enough to KNOW that dinner needs to be prepared each night for my family; I have to DO something to prepare the food!

It's not good enough to KNOW that I should do my visiting teaching; I have to actually go DO it!

I think of the Primary song Nephi's Courage.....

"I will go; I will DO

The thing the Lord commands.

I know the Lord provides a way;

He wants me to obey."

Knowing is only half of the answer...yes, I must know but I also must DO what I KNOW.

Even Better Friday Gas Prices.....

Okay...I am really not trying to torture you, Patty, but Tim and I went out for date night and I saw that since 3:00 this afternoon the price of gas dropped again! It was $1.63 this afternoon and then tonight I saw it for $1.59!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course I was prepared with my trusty camera so I was able to get a picture for you!!!!! :)

(Are you still talking to me????)

And why isn't diesel budging in price? I am glad I don't use that!

Friday's Gas Prices......

I sure do like the direction the gas prices are going!

A Little Bit of White Among the Autumn Leaves....

We got a bit of snow last night -- what a thrill that was! Being a snow lover any flakes flying is my signal to shout out a big WOO-HOO!

Of course it didn't stay around long but it was good to see it -- and it is only November! That makes me get my hopes up for some major white stuff when winter is *really* here. :)






By the afternoon the snow was melting but it was cold enough to freeze the mop that I had left on the back patio! (yes, it's cold enough to snow and freeze the mop and Annah is wearing shorts!!!) :)

Puppy Pleadings......

Abigail is a dog lover....and a horse lover....and a cat lover. In fact, she is just a lover of all animals!
She has always wanted a dog. I can't recall a time she hasn't wanted a dog. We haven't had a lot of success with dogs. We've tried but it just doesn't work. We decided that when and if we got another dog it would be a puppy so it grows up bonding with the kids. Abigail begs nearly every day for a puppy and even goes to great lengths to try to persuade us.... like the other night when I found these signs all over.....

Much to Abigail's dismay, her pleadings haven't worked yet......

Sisters in Grass Skirts...

I had to laugh seeing Abigail and Annah eating dinner last night in their homemade grass skirts. They get along so well -- I hope that is always the case! :) I love to see them play and laugh together!

Missing Cookies And A Beautiful Sky....

Morning mystery.....who changed my desktop picture?

Hummmmm....

The picture was of cookies I had made a few weeks ago. It was such a nice (and yummy!) picture and I had no place to use it (yet) so I put it as the desktop picture. This morning, magically, the picture was changed to bright yellow tulips. Nice picture but definitely a spring picture, not fall.

I questioned who changed the picture when Annah finally confessed that she did. "Why?" I asked her. "Because every time I saw that picture of cookies it made we want some and we didn't' have any!"

BWHAHAHAHAHA! Valid point because I felt the same way! It was time to change the picture or my family was going to be in revolt demanding more COOKIES!

And.....on my way to bring Jacob to seminary this morning there was the loveliest of sunrises. That more than made up for the missing cookies. :)

Fading Fall....

Fall is fading fast with the arrival of
the cold. As much as I love winter, I will miss the glorious colors and images of fall. But it will return again next year, like an old friend. And the next year, I will love it all over again but maybe just a little bit more.