Giving Thanks and No More Booty Sinking to the Floor

We had a good Thanksgiving. Brenda, Aaron and their family came and had dinner with us. It was a lot of fun. I am really thankful for many things in my life: my marriage, my family, my friends, my job, and many more things.

On Friday we hit some of the day after Thanksgiving sales. We didn't get up too early, but we did go furniture shopping. Our current couches had reached the end of their lives. If you sat in the middle of the couch you would almost sink to the floor. Michelle complained that people had to roll out of the couch! There was a really good sale at the Room Store and we found some couches we liked. With the sale we were also able to get a coffee and end tables too! We bought them Friday and they delivered them yesterday! Here are a few pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving a day late :) I had totally planned on getting a post up here yesterday but it turns out I was having too much fun cooking, partying, and eating. We had a very nice holiday--pretty relaxed for me this year actually. Our friends the Hardin's came over and Brenda did a bunch of work this year, so I was feeling pretty under worked! Dinner turned out mostly good...I had a problem with the cheesy potatoes. I feel really bad about that because they were a special request, I am still very sorry Aaron! I promise to make it up to you soon :) We had an enjoyable day of combing the paper for any deals we couldn't live without, eating, playing some Wii, and chasing Kayla around. She is a funny little thing! We sure enjoy having her around.

I also wanted to make sure that my family knows that they are the number one thing I am thankful for, not just at this time of year, but all the time. I feel really blessed to be a part of such a fun, loving family. I frequently hear other people talk about their families, and I always think "man! I am so glad that my family is so good!" Not to say that we don't have our weirdness or problems, but I feel like they are insignificant especially in light of the love and acceptance I receive. Thank you thank you to my super sweet family!

Today we did some black Friday shopping, but not too much. We didn't even leave the house until 6:15, so that should tell you something. We got a couple of sweet-o gifts for people, but nothing we got was on the front page of an ad, so we didn't feel like we had to be at the store at the crack-o-dawn. We came home, took a nap, and then headed to the furniture store. Our couches were having major problems and NEEDED to be replaced, so we hunted a little and found ourselves a good deal on some decent furniture. We are pretty excited about having 'real' couches :) Jeff is currently cleaning the living room carpet so that it will be nice and pretty for the new stuff. It is getting delivered tomorrow--pretty sweet! I am sure we will have a picture or two to share then. I finished up the last of the thanksgiving dishes, so I guess it is time to start getting the Christmas stuff out! I am mostly excited about that. I have to say I enjoy putting it out and having it up, but I sure hate packing it back up.

I think that is all of our exciting news for the moment. One more shout out to all of our friends and family, we sure do love you and we truly appreciate all that each of you contribute to our lives. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Know that we are thinking of you extra often in this holiday season!

Today I am thankful for

Today I am thankful for the wonderful thunderstorm we got! One of the things I miss the most about living in the Midwest are the thunderstorms. It was nice to have a break from the sunshine--and our newly planted citrus trees are thankful for the drink! It cooled things down, so it even feels like Thanksgiving...or maybe just fall :)

Today Jeff has his annual review at work. I know that he will do great--he always does, but it got me thinking about this job. It makes me sad that we are so far away from most of our family, but we are both grateful for his job. Not only does Jeff LOVE what he does, the company has been wonderful to work for. We feel blessed and really taken care of in so many ways. I am thankful for Jeff's good work ethic as well as his desire to work hard and take care of us. I am sure lucky to have him around.

I am also thankful for my job....even though I practically danced out of the office today I was so excited to be done :) I was really worried about finding a job since working in my field with a bachelors degree is hard. I am thankful for an email from a professor that I didn't even think knew who I was! I enjoy the people I work with, and I love the kids. I really have a fun job. I am thankful for the baby pay check I get which has given us the opportunity to move forward with some of the things that are important to us.

There are tons of other things I am thankful for, but the 'a' button on my laptop just popped off again and it is hard to type, so you will just have to look forward to hearing about them. I need my handy hubby to come home and fix it for me!

Today I am thankful for....

Today I am thankful for pleasant peeps. I have had the opportunity to do some fun things lately all because I have made friends with some really fun people. Mind you, lots of these things I wouldn't necessarily do myself, but it has been fun to get in touch with my inner child :)

Two weekends ago some of us went and toilet papered another friends house. Now, I have to admit that it took some talking to get me to go on this expedition. Past experience apparently wasn't enough to permanently stay away from tp-ing...as soon as I get some pictures back, I will post them--I have some pretty sweet face paint on!

This past weekend I somehow got talked into going to see the 12:01 showing of Twilight, even though I hadn't read the book. I couldn't believe how many people were there! It was nuts! I got home that night at 3 am, slept a whole bunch and then met the gals at a hotel. It was Deanne's birthday and the only thing she asked for was a night out at a hotel with friends, so with her husbands help we obliged :) We got to go out to dinner at a fun place and stay up chatting for half the night. It took my quite a while to recuperate! Needless to say all of this non-sleeping didn't help my cold any. We took pictures here too, but I didn't have my camera, so I am waiting on the goodness of others so I can post some pics.

Basically, I am glad to have some friends that I can goof around with, and I am thankful that our husbands are good pals too, so we can all go out and do things too....like bowling a couple of weekends ago! Thank goodness for good friends!!

No passing out people!

Two posts so close together, what are we going to do with ourselves!?! I just thought I'd do a quick work update. I didn't end up getting to help with childfind, which was a little bit of a bummer, but on the other hand, I got certified by the state. Now I can go to any school district and work as a tech. Pretty sweet. Hopefully next week I can do the other stuff.

Tomorrow I am going to have a weekend getaway with some of the funnest ladies I know. I am feeling a little sick, so my plans for tonight are to rest up so that I can be up and at 'em tomorrow! Hope that you all have a great weekend as well!

A few random thoughts

So! Long time no write, and not a lot to tell. Work is still going well, although we are much slower than when I first started working. I am excited though, because tomorrow I get to try something new. Every week the school district does screenings on kids that aren't old enough to go to school. Tomorrow I get to help with it, I am excited even though one of the audiologists told me that 'childfind is the birth control of audiology.' I am hoping I don't scare that easily :)

I really love the holiday season and the many opportunities I have to be thankful for the many things I have. One of the things that I am thankful for is my family. I feel pretty lucky to be the oldest sibling of so many fun people. A little while ago I had dinner with an old friend. This friend came from a small (well, at least compared to mine) family and has a child. This friend was always a jokster in high school and frequently teased me about my huge family. The friend then proceeded to make a joke to the effect of 'no wonder you don't have any kids, you have a million brothers and sisters.' In an effort to stop being really ticked about the comment, I thought I'd throw it out there along with a few declarative statements. I love my big family. I know that there are always 9 people in the world who will love me no matter I do, or what happens to me. Any choices I make about if and when I have a family are my own and other people shouldn't make comments on my choice unless I ask. So, in short, people, don't make rude comments about other peoples families, old or new.

I think that I might be over it now :)

Hugs to all my peeps...blood related and those that are related in spirit!

Overdue Update --- Visits and Camping

Seems like we are overdue for an update, so I will try and quickly hit on all the high points.

For Oct. 8-11th the young men of our ward were going camping and since Michelle didn't want to be left home alone we used some of my frequent flier miles and sent her up to visit Sarah and Janine and Nick in Utah. She had a fun trip. The scouts and I hiked into the Grand Canyon and had a fun trip. Here is a picture of me just outside of Indian Gardens in the Grand Canyon.

The next weekend Michelle and I went camping in Oak Creak Canyon. This is one of the few places that you can see the trees color changing in the fall. It was a beautiful trip and we had a lot of fun. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Last weekend Michelle's Grandpa came to Arizona for a visit. We had a lot of fun with him. We went to a Scott Family reunion one day and visited with Michelle's cousin another day. It was a lot of fun to see Grandpa, but it seemed like the visit was too short.

Life is back to boring and normal this past week. We had stake conference today and heard President Packer talk.