thanksgiving 2012

this year, thanks to this challenge from my friend sara, i really tried to focus during the whole season (not just the day) of living with greater gratitude (thanks sara!). i didn't do it everyday (bummer, maybe next year), but i am so grateful for what i did. i read a lot of talks on gratitude and they were a powerful reminder that gratitude is not just something we say (or even do), it is a way of life. and those who choose to live a grateful life ("thanks living!") are happier people and have more joy in their lives (because they recognize it)! (this talk shares the findings of a psychologist's study that gives amazing statistics on the effect of gratitude, plus some great tips for living with greater gratitude)  it's something i want to practice more in my everyday life. 

our actual thanksgiving was pretty low key. i worked up an appetite by going to a 90- minute turbo kickboxing class (but next year we are for sure doing a turkey trot...put it on the calendar dave!). we celebrated with dave's extended family. there was an abundance of food and great company! sadly i didn't take very many pictures, although i guess the plus of that is that it's easy to blog about! 

here's a glimpse of our thanksgiving:

these are by far my favorite pictures from dinner. emma discovered the cheese dip and went to town (we had to make sure no one else used the knife after her ;) looks like this girl is taking after her mom, gammy and papa (who all love cheese)

the night ended with a rare and lovely snuggle with my girl!

breaking dawn premier

in the name of tradition we had to go to the premier of "breaking dawn: part 2." it is the 4th premier i have gone to with these girls (i swear i posted pictures of other twilight premiers, but after searching my blog all i could find was one for new moon). we felt especially good about the new 10pm premier, which made life the next day so much better than it was after attending the midnight showing. it was pretty much what you would expect for a twilight movie (just have really low expectations and it will be ok). my facebook post after the movie said, "breaking dawn part 2, you weren't too bad. way to go!" here's to the end of an era!

poor babies

my babies have been sick and it was very clear tonight that emma wasn't feeling quite like herself. i don't think i have ever seen her lay down on the couch like this. she is much too busy for such things! 

still up for a cheesy smile though!

fingers are crossed they are on the mend

butterfly pavilion

this past week dave took a couple of days off work and one morning we headed to the butterfly pavilion. i hadn't been since high school and like so many things, it was fun seeing it through the eyes of my kids.  

and don't let the name fool you, this place had more than just butterflies. 

like a horseshoe crab that we could pet. emma was all over it. logan on the other hand was a little apprehensive. we also saw lots of bugs.

and even got to hold rosie the tarantula!

logan's face cracks me up! and dave's hat is hiding the fear in his eyes ;) ha!

 

but the best part was going into the butterfly area (that was very hot and humid. emma's cheeks turned bright red in an instant) where beautiful butterflies flew all over...and even landed on us! it was so cool and the wonder and excitement in the kids' eyes was the best! emma, who loves any kind of animal, was enthralled by everything she saw. 

we even got to see them release some butterflies that had just emerged from cocoons and were taking their first flight in the "open!" 

some days...

a girl just needs to wear a tutu. today is one of those days for emma.

fall photo dump

i was looking through our pictures and found a lot of random ones from the last couple of months that i hadn't blogged. so what better solution than to dump them all into one post. warning: major photo overload!

great grandma lorrie teaching logan how to play solitaire. it was so cute!

in september i went to time out for women. i love these kinds of things. i feel so inspired and empowered as i gather with women and am taught the principles of the gospel by such inspiring and "real" women (and some men). this year sheri dew spoke and of course she was amazing! that woman never disappoints when she speaks. i left feeling refreshed and motivated to be better. sometimes a little timeout is just what you need (and it never hurts when i get to share it with some great friends and my mom)! and a huge thanks to dave who made it possible for me to take part of the weekend off!

reading his "magazine" or "map" (the toys 'r us catalog) that kept him occupied for quite a few days (although he never asked for anything. he was just content to look, which worked out well for us).

jammie time with cousin sophie. we were so happy to see her (and erin and john of course) for a quick weekend visit. the visit was definitely too quick. 

logan is "playing" video games with his dad (with a controller that doesn't have any batteries). he was thrilled!

hiding at gammy and pappy's

2 days before the election i went to a romney rally. i was so inspired and pumped up. he was so genuine as he spoke. i just kept thinking what a great leader this great man would make. which made the outcome of the election even more devastating. 

zach and heather pond were in town for about a day and we were lucky to meet up with them for dinner. and where else but city pub for some delicious blueberry habanero wings. 

please move to colorado guys! california is way too far away!

logan's most recent hiding spot. this kid is currently obsessed with hide-and-seek. we play a lot. he is such a fun kid!

what better thing to do than jump on daddy right after he eats dinner?!

finn and heston came to spend the day with us. then due to some unexpected events, their day with us turned into a sleepover. it was logan's first friend sleepover and he did better than expected. i wanted to sneak in and take a picture of all 3 boys sleeping in his room, but dave reminded me it wasn't worth possibly waking them up. i love this picture of all 4 kids in jammies listening to dave read them a bedtime story. 

soaking in the sun on a lunchtime run before the snow arrived the next day

gammy just celebrated her birthday. we couldn't resist the opportunity to bring her a birthday basket full of some of her favorite treats and a logan and emma original birthday card  (and of course logan singing "happy birthday!" he insists that he be the only one to sing. and that's ok because he sings it so well!)!

a long overdue double date with seth and meg. we love hanging out with these 2 and it definitely does not happen enough.

i love this picture!

we were lucky enough to have nana read us scriptures that night

this is a common sight at our house these days ;) 

notice the jingle bells around her ankles. the sound makes me so happy as she trots around the house (and yes trot is an accurate description)!