Yo ho ho

My daughter Katie is creating a new image for Santa. She already thinks he swims in the north pool and now she says that Santa says "Yo ho ho.". I'm kinda liking the pirate image. Santa's all about loot anyway, right? Ha ha.

Family Time

Thanksgiving this year was fabulous. I feel I have so much to be grateful for. My husband's family was so wonderful to come to our home this year for the festivities. We had a whole week of complete joy! It was fantastic. Not to mention the spread of food. We ate like kings. I love having family that loves to cook, or at least pretends to love to cook. (I've never really asked my mother-in-law if she enjoys cooking, but she's sure good at it.)

We ate and ate, played games at night, watched parades, football and movies, went swimming and just sat and chatted about nothing.

And the pinnacle moment of it all was our little baby Jackson receiving his baby blessing on Sunday. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a new little baby being blessed by men who love and support the child. It was truly a "Mommy moment."

Thanks to all my family who came for Thanksgiving, or the baby blessing. It was wonderful because YOU made it wonderful. I'm most grateful for family like you.

Thankful

I love this time of year. I love making our home cozy for winter. I love how hot chocolate seems to go with every meal. I love how the smells of ginger, cinnamon and apples can bring back beautiful memories. I love how the mountain out our front window changes from blazing orange to dark majestic blue. I love how it only seems appropriate to stay in bed for an extra ten minutes in the mornings because it's too cold to leave the blankets.

How blessed we are! And it all comes from a loving Father in heaven. How grateful I am for him.

Natalie just turned five, and to celebrate, she wanted to go to Olive Garden. What a deal for mom!! It was so fun to celebrate with her. She also wanted to go swimming. That was a complete blast. We were able to be the only ones in the pool, and it just couldn't have been more fun. She is turning into quite the lady. I love how she talks to sophisticated to me, and yet she uses words in the wrong context or she uses words she doesn't even know what they really mean. SO CUTE!!

Katie is really becoming mommy's buddy. She is realizing she doesn't have to do things the way brother and sister do them, and she's taken off! She is almost potty trained, which has been so funny! She says the funniest things while trying to go to the bathroom. Her favorite phrase is, "My potty's not home right now. I can't go." Daddy recently took the kids to Lion King and now that's her favorite music to sing. It's pretty cute to hear her sing, "I just can't wait to be King." She is definitely the "king" of this house.

Nicholas is going crazy with anticipation. He can hardly wait for his glasses to get here. Yep! He's getting glasses. As a mom, I was relieved that he was excited to get glasses. You never know how kids will react with stuff like that. It will be interesting to see if he's still as excited about them in a few months. ha ha He's also starting basketball this week which is one of his favorite sports. He can't wait to try to "slam it" as he says.

And little Jacks...he is Mommy's joy! Honestly, I have never experienced this with a baby. He is just SOOOOO CONTENT!!! PRAISE!! I am just LOVING this baby. He is so aware and so just darn cute with those big brown eyes! (Our first baby with Dad's eye color!) He's going to be able to get away with alot, I can already tell. He can melt my heart pretty quick.

As for Kyle and me, we are just great. Never better. When we got married, my Aunt wrote in our guest book, "The best is yet to come." I see that come true every new day. I am so blessed to have the family I have, and to be in the position I am in. Speaking of positions, Kyle was recently put in as a High Counselor in our church. It's been such a fun calling for him and very humbling for both of us. I'm still working in the stake Young Women's in our church. It's so fun to "stay young" with the youth. I really enjoy it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. We love you! May you enjoy this beautiful time of year.