Full of Thanks

Our Thanksgiving was lovely. Was yours?

Nana and Papa (Stewart and Annette) arrived last Saturday to spend the week with us! It was so fun to have them here. The kids loved spending time with them, showing them around, and doing special things with them.

Their first stop after their arrival was the Utah football game. It was freezing cold and there was an impressive snowstorm, so only Boo, Josh and Stewart braved the elements.

Yaks, Diddles, Nana and I stayed home in our cozy house and caught up.

Check out the field: Before

After! Look, they even had to shovel the yard lines. :)

It was an exciting game, and as Boo reported, "our team won" in overtime!

I know Boo looks miserable here, but Josh assures me,
she didn't complain once, and had a great time!

Sunday we had a nice day at church, complete with a really wonderful lesson in Sunday School about the Postmortal Spirit World. It's a special one for several reasons, but if you look at the picture that accompanies that lesson, you'll see Josh's aunt Lisa and her children. She is sitting by Uncle Leif's grave, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2004. I'm grateful there IS a life after this one, and that that life is filled with important work. It makes the hurt of losing loved ones a bit less painful and full of hope.

There was still some snow leftover to sled in. Nana is even braver and more high-adventure than I am! She went sledding in the backyard with them. We do have a great sledding hill out there.


One of the selfish advantages we take when visitors come, is sneaking away for a date night. They are so rare for us! Thanks ever so much, Nana and Papa for watching the kids! I was able to spend a birthday gift card, and we went to dinner at a sushi place. It was my first time trying it. It wasn't my favorite, but I liked it okay. I had a California Roll and a Firehouse roll.

One of our little excursions was for Papa to get himself an early Christmas present. A remote-controlled helicopter. It was pretty exciting for everyone, particularly the male adults in the house! Even Diddles begged for "Paw...Pane! Pane!"



Our Thanksgiving Day was a cold but sunny one. We ventured out before our feast to take family pictures (shudder). I'm glad we did, as painful as they were (deserves another post), since it was windy and blustery the rest of the week! After drying the tears from the photo shoot, and changing our clothes, Annette and I got to work in the kitchen.

We were a great team, prepping lots of tasty dishes, some traditional and some new!

Boo smiling because she got to consume all the rolls she wanted!

Following dinner, we worked together to put together this puzzle.

I got to chat with my family for a bit, and smiled when they said, "Oh! We just finished our puzzle." Great that although miles apart we can still feel "connected" haha. Then I smiled again when we went out to the mailbox and found thoughtful cards from Grandma and Grandpa to the kids. Seeing my mom's handwriting makes me happy, and reading her words made the kids smile, and me tear up. I love them!


I was really reflective this Thanksgiving. I feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life, and freedoms of our country to enjoy. Grateful to be alive and healthy. Thankful I get to be a mom and a wife. I'm so thankful I now have the strength and health to wrestle a tantrum-ing two-year-old, haul two baskets of laundry up the stairs and not have to catch my breath, and cook an awesome meal for my family without having to sit down and take a nap!

If ever I felt frustrated about something ie) When the family photos were stressful or when Diddles refused to take her nap, or when the pumpkin pie I baked came out tasting SALTY (still a mystery - I don't know what happened!), I would catch myself and think, "Oh Amy, at least you are HERE for the family photos, and you can HEAR that little girl crying "Ma-maaaaa", and at least you are ABLE to bake that salty pumpkin pie and laugh about it!"

Pass the whipped cream, please!

Life is beautiful and precious, and I'm full of thanks for it.