Monday, November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving / Projects

I have so much to be thankful for!

A family. A husband. Children. Supportive parents and loving siblings.
The gospel of Jesus Christ. The church. A prophet. Scriptures.
A home. Work.
A body. Health. Warmth. Food. Clothes.
The beautiful world, and all things in it!
Laughter. Books. A car. Hulu.
A fire alarm. Indoor plumbing. Floss and toothpaste. And a washer and dryer.

The list goes on. It's humbling.
I know that all things good are given to me by a loving Heavenly Father. I am indebted to Him and to His Son for giving me all that I have, and could ever dream or hope for.

A feeling of gratitude and peace came to me, stronger than at other times, a few weeks ago. We were kneeling in prayer at the end of the day, and Todd thanked Heavenly Father for our healthy children, for watching over us and them. This thanks has been offered in many prayers previously, but at this particular time I felt a warmth so wonderful it's hard to describe. God, who created all things--the universe, stars without number--was watching over me. My family, and my children. I know that He is. And I know that He's watching over and loving each of his children, everywhere. None are too small or insignificant to be cared for by Him. I am so thankful for that moment of peace and warmth He gave me through the Spirit, reminding me that I truly am in His watchful care. I love Him.

* * *

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving in Oklahoma. It was wonderful! Not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving, but we also celebrated the baptism of my niece, Brenna.

As we traveled South we bumped into family heading North. St. Louis was where we crossed paths so we spent the afternoon together at the St. Louis Zoo. It was cold and a bit rainy but so fun.





Then we traveled on to Oklahoma. We made it without a hitch, except for the kink in Theo's neck. We stopped every three hours so his head wouldn't be permanently stuck with his chin over his right shoulder. Poor kid. Couldn't keep his eyes off of Henry in the back seat.

We had such a great time in Oklahoma with my sister and her family, and my parents, who flew there for Thanksgiving and my nieces baptism.

Sadly, my camera died and I couldn't find my charger, so I only got one picture in OK, but luckily it was of Brenna, the woman of the hour:



My sister made Thanksgiving dinner, and it was delicious. All the yummy, homemade stuff.

While she and my parents cooked in the kitchen, my brother-in-law, Ryan, and Todd and I kept the kids busy outside playing "Sneaky Snake", Alligator, Hide-and-Seek, Red Light/Green Light, crack the egg, and Hot Potato. You may be wondering what Sneaky Snake is; we made this one up on the spot. It's keep-away inspired by this song by Tom T. Hall (one of Henry's favorites).

We saw The Muppets, and loved this song in particular. Overall the movie was hilarious and just darn cute. It was so fun hanging out with family. We napped, ate good food, and laughed a lot.

Brenna's baptism was wonderful. She's such a lovely little lady, wise beyond her years, and she was just so sweet. I sat there watching her, in awe that 8 years has gone by since she was born. It was awesome to see her be baptized and take part in those wonderful ordinances that will bless her so much.

The baptism was so great that nobody noticed that Henry peed his pants and wore a blue puffy coat instead of pants.

We loved family, we loved Thanksgiving, and we love the blessings the gospel of Jesus Christ brings.

* * *

Before Thanksgiving Henry and I worked on projects. He painted while I glued. He was so diligent working on his Baloo. So diligent. He sat for 45 minutes (seriously) painting, mixing colors (mostly with black), and listening to music with me. I loved it.

Here we are:






And the finished products:

(Still trying to decide if I should spray paint the wreath. In normal light you can't really see the light straw under the acorns, but the flash really brought it out. Any suggestions? We thought about spray painting it all brown, or white, or . . . orange!)

1 comment:

Alysa Stewart said...

I like the wreath as is! I noticed it when I was last there -- you MADE it! That's so cool! Do what you want with it, girl!