Gratitude

I suppose I could give this list at Thanksgiving time, however I think it is best to express gratitude when you are feeling it so here is a list of some things I'm grateful for. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. This is more for me than for the reader.

My Heavenly Father I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has blessed me abundantly throughout my life and helps me learn and grow.

Jesus Christ Where would I be without the Savior? He is the perfect example for us all. He died for me because he loves me that much, amazing to think about.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Everything that it entails. The list of things I'm grateful for that go along with being a member of the church is just too long to list so I'm lumping it together here (scriptures, prophets, repentance, temples...) I'm eternally grateful for being a member of the church, for the testimony I have and the love and peace it brings into my life on a daily basis.

Stephen He is my rock, my companion. He brings peace, love, humor, purpose into my life. I admire his many positive strengths, the way he doesn't get stressed out, his desire to do good, his love for his children, and much more. He is a perfect person for me.

Vance He was the first to give me the role as a mother, the first to help me begin to understand unconditional love. I'm grateful for his bust-a-gut laugh, the funny things he does as he learns and grow, the company he gives me, kisses and hugs he freely give, compassion when someone is hurt and many more wonderful qualities he possess.

Tanner He has always been so mild mannered, peaceful, and happy. He is so easy going. I love that he snuggles with me, that he smiles so easily, tolerates anything people do to him (especially his older brother). His huge, beautiful eyes that have always been wide open and alert.

My Parents They have raised me to be a good person through their examples and teachings. They have loved me and cared for me even when I was probably hard to love and care for. They've given me life, happiness, material needs and the list could continue.

My brothers and sisters We all get along so well with each other. I am so grateful that I can talk to any of them, that we can get together, laugh and have a good time. They are all individually amazing people who I love and respect. I'm so grateful we are close.

In-Laws I hear of lots of people who don't like their in-laws. I'm so grateful that I get along with my parents-in-laws and sisters-in-laws. It makes life so much easier. They are all so loving and caring people. It is easy to see why Stephen is that way, because his family is too.

A niece and a nephew I'm grateful that my children have such cute, fun cousins to play with.

Music I love good music. It helps me feel at peace or helps me feel strong, and it even helps me have a good time. I love to play the piano or just to listen or sing. Music is wonderful.

Nature I love beautiful flowers, waterfalls, mountains, green grass, and so on and so forth. How can someone see all these things and doubt there is a God?

Shelter, Clothes,Food A definite must...so grateful to have these things.

Be a Stay at Home Mom I love to stay home all day and spend time teaching, playing, and being with my children. I'm so grateful that I fulfill this role each day.

Stephen's steady job I'm grateful Stephen has a steady job so that I can stay home!

Internet, blogs, e-mail, phones, computers I love that I can communicate with my family even though they are far away through these things. YAY!

Extended Family Wonderful grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Young Children So eager to learn, to love, to grow, so honest. No wonder Jesus told us to be like little children.

Calling Of all the callings you can have in the church my ideal one is to be a primary teacher for one of the younger classes so I'm really grateful to be the Sunbeam teacher in our ward.

Car I'm grateful we have a car to get us places we need to go.

Portable DVD player I'm so grateful for the DVD player we can put in our car on long trips. It keeps Vance entertained and happy!
Cameras I love taking pictures of my boys, capturing them at an exact moment in time so I can always look back and remember how they once were.

Books I'm grateful for good books. I love to read and escape the real world, or learn about the real world.

Fenced Yards I'm grateful for a yard (although small) it is great to have a place where my boys can run around and play and be fenced in so I know they aren't running off.

Nap time I'm grateful for the days when Vance and Tanner nap at the same time so I can have a small break.


Motherhood I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to be a mother, to bear children and raise them.

Evenings with Stephen I'm grateful for evenings after the boys are asleep and Stephen isn't working late when Stephen and I can relax and enjoying each others company.

Spring I'm grateful for days when it is warm, but not hot and I can go outside and enjoy the weather.

Cricut Machines It just makes my hobbies that much more fun and interesting.

I will stop here although this isn't a full list of all the things I'm grateful for.

Nothing is safe with Vance around...

This is Vance

This is our loaf of bread after Vance got a hold of it

This is Vance after I discovered the bread.

Any questions?
(And no I did not take his clothes of to punish him, he'd already done that earlier today).

First Haircut

I gave Tanner his first haircut last night. There were some tears involved, but he handled it better than Vance does (by a long shot). He did not want me to take his picture at all as you can see in the before shot so I took one this morning for an after shot.
Before

After

Uncle Eric

My boys have the best aunts and uncles. I really think that. We were fortunate enough to have my brother, Eric come stay the night last night on his way to school. My boys just think Eric is wonderful especially Vance. He didn't stop talking or bugging Eric from the time Eric got here until he went to bed. Then this morning it was the same thing until Eric left. We hope you have a great semester, Eric. Come visit us once in a while! :)

My Little Bug

I love to take pictures of the boys, just for fun. I took these of Tanner sometime last week and thought I would share. Vance was running around way too fast for me to get very good pictures of him.

Make Over

As you can see I gave my blog a make over. Still deciding if I like it or not, but I was getting bored of how it looked. If you scroll down on the right you'll see some blog buttons. I also put some on my Mommy's Little Helper blog. To give you a little background information if you do not know, Nie-Nie is a young LDS mother of four. Her and her husband were in a plane crash on August 16th and were both severly burned. You can see her website here. Here sister is now taking care of her four children as well as her own her blog button is "c me read c jane". She gives updates on how the couple is doing. Anyway, I don't know this family at all, but when I heard this tragic news I was so sad and although I can't donate money right now I thought I could pass the information along and maybe someone who can will see it on my blog. I just have looked at her blog a little bit, but I was touched by a few things we have in common. Our love for the gospel, our husbands, and our children. It is a reminder to be so grateful for everything I've been blessed with.
Anyway, let me know what you think of my make over. I'm trying to make my blog more interesting looking...with time perhaps...

First Shoes

Today we bought Tanner his first pair of shoes. Actually this pair is the second pair we bought since the first ones weren't exactly what we wanted. I know it isn't the best picture, but doesn't he look so grown up in his little shoes. I know lots of people put their babies in shoes way before this point, but I just don't see a point so I haven't. Vance got his first pair of shoes (two size bigger than Tanner's) around his first birthday. Sniffle, sniffle, my baby is growing up, but he sure needed some shoes. Vance thinks they are great he said, "Tanner is cute." when I put them on Tanner's feet. I think he is pretty cute, too. I remember when we first put shoes on Vance, he cried and carried on and got mad at us. Tanner could care less. In fact, I think he thought he was a pretty big boy. :)