Thankful

Tonight I was thinking (it doesn't happen often!) . . . and I started pondering what I am really thankful for. Here are some of my thoughts:

I am thankful for a husband who works extra hard at being a good father and husband. He gets what is most important.

I am thankful for my 4 children who are coming into their own in many different ways. Georgia is a great example and has the sweetest heart. Emma has a great balance of seriousness and spunk. Noah is mischevious and giggly and nurturer all wrapped into one. Maia is happy, our little shining light.

I am thankful for good parents who raised 6 awesome adults (even if I say so myself).

I am thankful for Cheesecake Factory's Lettuce Wraps, Cafe Rio's fajita chicken salad and La Carretta's Pollo a la Carretta. Too bad I can only get one of these menu items in Kansas. :(

I am thankful for a clean house, even if it only lasts for 10 seconds.

I am thankful for sunny days in November that don't require a jacket.

I am thankful for the gospel, which brings hope, peace, happiness, and love in an unpredictable world.

Halloween 2008

We had a great Halloween week. It's one of our favorite holidays for sure. Georgia had a small Halloween party at our house with 3 of her friends from church.

For Family Home Evening, we followed our annual tradition and Boo'd a couple of families. The kids decided to wear disguises so no one would guess who we were.

Our ward had a Trunk or Treat on Wednesday. The kids, of course, enjoyed their Halloween parties at school on Friday. And, our family spent Halloween night trick or treating with a family in our neighborhood who is also in our ward.

I've thrown at least 1/2 of the Halloween candy away so far. Brett and the girls sorted all of the candy the kids collected, and it completely covered our dining room table. It was pretty surreal to see all of that candy piled up!

It was so fun to see Maia enjoy Halloween. She immediately caught on to the fact that if she got dressed up and carried a plastic pumpkin around, people would give her candy! She had the biggest grin on her face for most of the night. Surprisingly, she kept up with her brother and sisters. She was anxious to get to every house and insisted on grabbing the candy herself and placing it in her pumpkin. She was a huge fan of the lollipops! And she was a big fan of houses with dogs! One house we stopped at had two large dogs. She got her candy, pet the dogs, and then was on her way to the next house. Suddenly, she decided to backtrack and go pet the dogs again. She left and went back about 4 more times until I decided we'd better move on.