thanksgiving

this year for thanksgiving we went down to st. george with mike's family. his mom has a time share down there and we each had our own condo to stay in. it was nice! there was lots of relaxing and food. here are some turkey day pics for you to enjoy:

friday mike and i took the kids on a few little hikes up snow canyon.

fun until i saw this. i was nervous and jumpy the rest of the time. (yes, it's real and about the size of my hand.)then on saturday - a drive through zion national park

and over to see some property mike's mom and her husband own.

a long day...and here's the proof. all in all it was a great trip. fun to spend time together as a family and fun to see mike's mom and cliff (they live in california.) we have so much to be thankful for and it's good to be reminded.

242!

yep. 242 pictures on my camera that hadn't been downloaded. woah. i'm really behind on life. here are a few highlights:

me putting christmas lights on our house. lucky for me, i learned a great lesson during the process. i put the plug at the wrong end of the house and had to take them all down and put them up again. i'll never make that mistake again. i really don't love getting on the roof. and coming down the ladder is the worst part. but, i was determined and knew mike was busy with other projects in the house, so i decided to do it myself. i had to have him come help for a scary part. while he was up on the roof with me max somehow managed to knock the ladder down. it barely missed him and luke...gave them quite the scare. so there we were, stuck on the roof. our fabulous electrician friend, josh, was in the basement and we had our cell phones with us. we called josh and he was nice enough to put the ladder up so we could get down. what a day.

here is what the kids were doing while i was on the roof and mike was inside. yes, those are leaves in the gutter. crazy boys.

the next week was max's kindergarten mother goose program. it was so fun to go listen to him and his class sing songs, recite nursery rhymes and put on a good show!
and luke continues to be a sneaky little 2 year old. this is what i found one day. he had climbed onto the counter and unrolled the entire roll of paper towels. and was so proud of himself!

my oh my, how my blog has been completely neglected lately. i really do have lots to post - halloween pictures, thanksgiving festivities, humorous comments from the 5 year old, enrichment night, and plenty of other life happenings. unfortunately i haven't had the time - or rather, i haven't taken the time to download the hundreds of pictures that are on my camera right now. and to make it all delayed even further, we are leaving town this afternoon and heading to the cabin to cut down our christmas tree. sigh. maybe next week i'll catch up. just don't be surprised when you see halloween pictures in january, ok?

health

today i'm thankful for good health. i feel crummy today. and sometimes it takes being sick to truely appreciate how blessed we are to feel well the majority of the time. so, i am hoping that good health returns soon. in the meantime, i'll enjoy the quiet while max is at school and luke is napping. it's not going to last much longer.

joy

i am thankful for joy. and today is her 10 year anniversary. happy anniversary!

i have known joy for ages. literally. we've been through 25+ years together. although she now lives across the country, i still appreciate all that her friendship gives to me. i especially am thankful for her example. she has had some tough trials. and has always come out on top, taking the higher road, learning the lessons being taught and sharing herself with others. she is so so so patient. and i am so so so not patient. when i was back in new york for a few days after eliza was born, i was trying so hard to learn from joy. watch her interaction with her kids and how she remained calm during even the most chaotic moments. joy just goes with the flow. and flows gracefully. i love you, joy. happy 10th. thank you for being my friend. still.

my boys

i'm thankful for my boys. aren't they handsome?

here is max's kindergarten picture. for some reason i think he looks so old. max is a lot like me. stubborn. i think he's brilliant. and funny. and payback for all i did to my mom. not that that is all bad. i love him and can see the amazing potential this kid has.

and luke had something going on with his tongue this day. here he is on his 2nd birthday...what a kid. like i've said before, luke is random. always something new. strange most of the time. most recently he is insistent on which legos he is carrying around, and heaven forbid a piece comes off and i try and put it back on in the wrong place. oh my. his world is turned upside down. luke is so gentle. and forgiving...even so young. he often stops whatever he is doing to come give me a hug. and if max hurts him, he just needs a quick love and is right back at max's side, copying everything big brother does.

and jake's first junior high picture. now, he really is getting old! jake is so sensitive to others. when he gets to come to our house the first thing he does is find his little brothers and give them a huge hug. he is also the one male in our house that NEVER fails to notice a change in my hair or new clothes or new picture on the wall. jake always notices and compliments.

these boys are fabulous and i am lucky enough to be a part of their lives.

my thankful posts have been slacking these past few days. i'm sure none of you have missed them terribly. but i have. in fact, the whole purpose for recording something each day that i am grateful for is really just for me. a totally selfish purpose, i know. when the extremely early snow came mid october i was feeling a bit glum. well, more than a bit. i really don't like the cold. like, if it never snowed again i'd be ok. so, to ward off any bah humbug feelings, i decided to take a stab at focusing on the good. and it started off good. then grandpa died. amidst all the sadness, i have still tried to look for things i am grateful for, and have been surprised at how thankful i have felt these past few days. i've been more observant and reflective than usual and have been letting it all soak in...hoping to get back on track. so, thankful posts will be coming back. to help remind me all i have to be thankful for.