13 years ago, Dave and I were sealed in the Washington DC temple. It was a happy, happy day. This quote comes to mind:
I'm alive. We're all alive. I don't have many pictures or words to prove it, but we are. This blog needs an update. I have felt really maxxed out lately. Stressed and overwhelmed with the season, and I don't like feeling that way. I wish it was simpler. No matter what I try, it doesn't seem to simplify. I want to have time to treasure my friends and family without having to worry about gifts, decorations, and all that jazz. I love all that jazz too, but it distracts me from what I treasure most...mainly the birth of my Savior. I HAVE decided to eliminate our big meal on Christmas day. Just to see how things flow without a turkey and the works. I love this time of year...mostly because of my children. They are happy and excited and that makes me feel good.
Uncomfortable benches, but a beautiful,sacred building.
On the outside steps. My 5 little treasures.
We had a Grinch Ward Christmas party. It was a blast! My kids really got into the WHO thing...with the exception of Margaret. There were tears (lots of them) trying to get the hair-do's just right, but it paid off. I love my ward. It is a family. I hate hearing people say that. It sounds so trite. Doesn't really matter...it's true.
Margaret went to TOWN on the egg nog. Best night sleep she's had in quite awhile.
Molly got to play the part of an angel at a YW activity last week. She was sad. The hanger hurt her head. Until she saw her reflection. It was a beautiful little program. When I came around the corner and saw Molly and her 2 other sunbeam friends as Mary and Joseph, standing in my friends garage, surrounded by straw...I was completely overcome with emotion. I felt the spirit and I really needed it. We were told by our Miamaid class president to make room for the Savior in our lives. Isn't that SO true. We are TOO busy. We have too much swirling around in our heads to hear the quiet whisperings of the spirit.
Last night we read our nativity story and placed all the pieces on the piano bench. The kids love it...and Margaret loved baby Jesus.
We did it! Tara and I ran 6.1 miles this morning in the crazy snow...and I loved it! It was quiet and peaceful. Not as cold as you would think. Not as wet either. Shoveling the driveway was, but not the run.
This is some serious snow. It hasn't stopped since the middle of the night 2 days ago. It's getting deep. And slippery.
Molly today. She is yummy. A smart, feisty, yummy little girl. She'll be 5 in 2 weeks. She's still my baby girl though.
Margie enjoying her hot chocolate in a sippy. She is a ball of joy lately. She is finally starting to talk. Kind of. She has so much personality. She makes all of us smile...nearly all the time. I am so grateful for her, and four my 4 older who adore her still. I am a lucky lady.
Let me explain a few things here. First of all, I realize these pictures are less than fabulous. I don't care. Actually, I do, but I'm trying not to. I know...Margaret's face is REALLY chapped. I'm working on it. She's still pretty cute. On to the tree. We are not a themed tree sort of family. I think Dave's family may have been. Mine wasn't. My mom had all sorts of ornaments on our tree. Old ones from my grandparents, junky ones we'd made at school, lots and lots of ornaments. The tree was really full. I loved it so much. As you can see, ours is pretty random too. I like it that way. I DON'T like it against the banister, but until I can be sure Margaret won't climb up on the couch and topple to her death over the railing, it will have to do. I also don't like my banister, but that's another post for another day. We had to leave the bottom 2 rows of branches off the tree so it didn't hog up the entire room.
All that aside...I love our tree. I have the lights on all the time. I actually got mad at Dave last year one night when he turned them off. I explained that when I am making my nightly trip to the bathroom, I love to see the glow. I LOVE the glow. Not much can make me happier than all the lights out, watching a movie or listening to music, by the glow of the tree. I also love how excited my children get about decorating it. They are SO happy! They gab and laugh and giggle about each ornament. They all have a story, you see. So, it's not perfect, but for us...it's pretty darn close.
*Yep...Margaret is in her Halloween costume from last year. Whatever floats her boat. And don't even get me started on our nasty chandelier.
As I mentioned the other day...aside from the church, it is my family that I hold the most dear. SO, let me just make a little list here. You are not going to believe this!
I bet you thought I'd forgotten about this whole "thankful" thing. NOPE. We've had a great Thanksgiving around here...aside from lots of sickies. Our feast was so great. We had Christy and eachother. Great runs through the weekend. Daunting YW lesson taught yesterday = HUGE relief today. I'm happy. I feel lighter than the last few weeks. Not pounds lighter, but peace lighter. Not much to stress about right now.
#28. I am thankful for my dad. He is a really good man. A very Christlike man. He always has beautiful counsel for me. He really does love my kids. He is giving and generous. And good grief...he's 75 years old! Just look at that man!
20. I think Utah is beautiful. I always have. Only recently though, have I noticed just how breathtaking it is and how lucky I am to live here. A few months ago, I was coming home from a photoshoot up in the canyon. It was September. About 7pm. The leaves were all sorts of colors. I came down past Bridal Veil and saw this. The picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. It completely took my breath away. The mountains are majestic. Another reminder that the Lord loves us.
21. I am thankful for my niece Christy. She is my oldest sister Lisa's daughter. She just graduated from BYU and is now working in Orem. She comes over every week for dinner and babysits every other week. Things just run smoother when Christy is around. The kids love her. She loves them. She helps me. Sometimes I forget they are actually my kids and I still need to tend to them. :)
22. I love my friends. I don't have a picture that shows ALL of them. I would say I have 15-20 DEAR friends. Really. People I can call if I'm in a pinch. People who I put down as my emergency contacts. I have powerful, righteous friends. Funny friends. Kind friends. They enrich my life...every day. Some are far away, some are just around the corner. Each one is a treasure. 
17. I am thankful that I get to serve with the YW. I am the camp director, so technically I don't really belong at mututal on Tuesdays. I go anyhow. Partly to get out of the house for a bit, but mostly because I love it. I love the girls. I hope I can make a difference in their lives. I am amazed at their potential. I hope they always remember their value, and how good it feels to be good.
18. I am thankful for a dependable running partner. Tara is awesome. She makes me happy in the mornings...the cold, dark, early mornings. She has faith in me. We have great conversation. We laugh (which is hard to do when you're out of breath, by the way). She pushes me. And she's there...every day.
19. I am thankful for my Emily. For many reasons. She is happy. I got a message from the school the other day, telling me that Alex and Lizzy were each going to get an award at the reflections assembly next week. Not Emily. Fine...if the same exact thing hadn't happened for the past 2 years. I was really worried about her and her confidence. I cried about it, thinking of her being sad. I called people to ask them what to do. I ended up calling her into my room after school and telling her I had a secret. She growled a funny little growl showing frustration that she didn't win...again, then she went on with her day. She is excited for A & E. I underestimated her. I really did. She is a great girl.
I am grateful for a healthy body. I just got back a bit ago from a 5 mile hill run with Tara and Kami. It's amazing to me what my body will do. It is strong, and it does what I tell it with very little resistance. I've had a few minor setbacks...bursitis in my knee and some pretty sore quads this last month, but that's it. I feel so fortunate that my body will move without pain. Fortunate that I can see. That I can hear. That I can talk and laugh with my dear friends when we dress up like this for a Halloween 5k! 
14. I'm thankful for perfume. I've always had a thing for it. I used to wear Liz Claiborne every single day. My dad loved it on me, so he bought me lots. My good friend Julie Kohn wore Ralph Lauren. I often wished my dad loved the smell of that one too. Not so. I used to buy all those lame, cheap knock-offs at the drug store. I had a LOT of them. Remember the tiny little aerosole cans? My second obsession started while I was in Jerusalem. I had a cute friend named Erin Nelson. She was fun and crazy, and everyone wanted to be around her. That, AND she smelled good. You could tell she had been in a room, by the heavenly smell she left behind. I can remember heading up to the chapel, week after week, and knowing Erin was already there. I could smell her. In the BEST way. She wore Quelques Fleurs. She got it duty free on the airplane. I REALLY wanted some when I got home and just happened to find it at a fragrance outlet at the beach. Wore it for years. I still do, actually. Along with Amarige by Givenchy, and that pretty little number in the picture. I got that tiny little bottle from my sister Laura for my birthday. I love to get all dressed, hair done, made up...then add a tiny splash of that on my neck to top it off. It makes me feel good...and pretty. As a sidenote, I used to wear Happy by Clinique...when I was pregnant with Alex. Can't even smell the stuff now without wanting to wretch.
I am thankful that my mom is silly...and that her dad was silly. Our family laughs a lot. We laughed a lot growing up...mostly because of my mom. She has very little dignity when it comes to making people laugh. If it will get a good chuckle from people, she'll do it! I LOVE that about her. Everyone that meets her does. It's fun to get her going too. She rocks in place with her legs crossed as tight as physically possible, barely able to catch a breath. Belly laughs with my mom can make anything better. I'm grateful that she taught her children not to take things too terribly seriously. And I know that she'll laugh about this picture of her floating around on the internet, too. 
I lead a pretty charmed life. I always have. This picture right here is probably the worst I ever had it. We don't look thrilled, do we? Really though...I was dropped right into what I guess many people on this earth would call a dream. I was blessed enough to have been born in this country. That is what I'm most grateful for today. I have so many freedoms, so many blessings, so many opportunities...because of this wonderful place where I live. I'm grateful for the people who have toiled and labored to make this country great.
I am thankful for our car. MY car, really. Dave has a little red putt-putt. I get to drive this beauty around. I really think it's a beautiful car. I used smile everytime I came out of a store and saw it waiting for me in the parking lot...until I dinged it at Costco getting gas. I am grateful that it runs so well, that it has heat, rear air, that it's quiet. Yay for our mini-van! (Never, EVER thought I'd say that.) 
I know, I know...everybody's doing it. Well, I am too. I like the idea of a running tally of things I am grateful for...the whole month of November. I've got some serious catching up to do. After today, I'll try to post one at the tail end of every blog post. I'm thinking it will really get me counting about all my blessings...and there are A LOT of them:
I needed someone to rescue today. I'm really, really tired. Margaret is sick and not sleeping. I'm waking WAY too early and not dozing back off. I'm trying to run despite my leg pain. My head hurts just a little, all the time. I've gained a few pounds over the last 2 weeks...too many rest days and too much candy. I try to pretend that I have total control over my chocolate intake, but really...I don't.
Another Halloween has come and gone. Yipee! I am recommitting to better costumes next year...made by me. We'll see how that goes. I think we both know. This was actually a great one. Since it was on Sunday, things were all spaced out. Generally we have at least 4 things in one day which leads to a mommy meltdown. This year, the kids had a parade at school Friday morning, trick or treating at Dave's work in the afternoon and our ward trunk or treat that night. My parents happened to be in town for a tiny bit, so that sweetened the deal. GOOD food at the chili cook-off didn't hurt either. Trick or treating was on saturday, after the rain came and cooled things off a whole lot and scattered a few worms on the sidewalks. :( Christy came along both nights, which makes everything better and more manageable for me. Yay!
Molly the daisy...who everyone thought was a butterfly.
Alex the Sultan.
Margie the kangaroo. 
Laura Ingalls Wilder ready to sock it to Nellie Olson!
And our delicious cupcake! 
The kids school has a long standing (3 year) tradition going. They have a Fun Run every fall. It's a fundraiser for the school. They hope to raise close to $8000 each year. Not sure if they get that much, but I'll bet it's close. I hate fundraisers. With a passion. I realize they are kind of necessary, but I don't like sending my kids out to all the neighbors houses (my friends) and having them ask people if they'd like to buy some ridiculously expensive, completely unnecessary item. And I've got 3 kids asking. How do I manage that? I can't expect neighbors to buy from each kid. I CAN have them ask neighbors to sponsor each of them with $1 for their Fun Run though. WAY less pressure. Each kid earned $15 too. It was awesome.
I love watching them run. LOVE. The girls cleaned house in their track meet last spring. Lizzy won the 4oo m and Emily the 200 m. Their all girl, all 3rd grader relay team got 2nd place in the mixed grade (up to 6th) 4x100. I was a maniac. A screaming, jumping, crazy woman. Alex did great in his meets this year too. Faster every time. The last meet was his best. He was discouraged. He felt small and slow. I told him on his 400 m, to save some energy for the end. Not to worry if people passed him early. He did it, and he passed quite a few of them just before the finish. Again...crazy woman. I tear up, get covered in goosebumps. They make me proud. I can see their joy and pride, and it overwhelms me.
I think a lot of my joy comes from the fact that I love running so much right now. I know how good it can make you feel. How accomplished. I was a team sport girl in my childhood, but I may just push this track and field thing. It's individual. They work hard, it pays off. They are runners. I just know they are. They love it. I get excited just thinking about them getting faster, stronger. We'll see where this running thing takes us. :)
