Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving at our house...this meant a lot of NEW things for me. I made my first Turkey, first apple pie, & cranberries. (Don't worry, we had all of the other food too, but those weren't new things to me!) Luckily, my mom put up with my many phone calls with questions so that I didn't mess something up with guests coming. In the end, it all worked out and we had a great Thanksgiving. We celebrated with Rich's cousin Ryan and family (Natlie, Cai, & Cooper). We also had friends from our ward come over (Ang, Cory, Jovin, & Mayer). Having a house full of guests made it perfect. Everyone was so helpful and I will even go as far to say that it wasn't very hard to do Thanksgiving dinner!

We enjoyed a great day of stuffing ourselves full of great food. This was the perfect food for Parker...all of his favorites. I let him feed himself all of the food (including the jello - which may not have been such a great idea). It took both of us to carry him to the tub. We also managed to play some games. The best part was being able to play games on the back patio while the kids ran around. Gotta love being outside in November! We played games, visited, and of course watched lots of football. One of our friends down here has informed me that it is "Un-American" to not watch football on Thanksgiving.

I do have a new perspective on Thanksgiving...it is a MAN'S holiday. The boys played football in the morning while the women cooked, ate great food, and then watched football at night. I am just teasing about this because Rich was very helpful...but maybe there is some truth to it! Regardless, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. There are so many things that I am grateful for this Thanksgiving. It would take way to long to list them all...so I just touched on a few important ones:

*My Family (my own little family as well as my extended family!) Family means so much to me. I love being able to spend time together laughing, talking, and playing together. I love being a mom and taking care of Parker. I learn so much from him and love watching him grow and learn. I love Rich and am so thankful for all that he does to make it possible for me to stay home with Parker. He is such a hardworker and a wonderful friend. I love my mom. My admiration for her grows everyday as I try to raise Parker. I am amazed by all that she did and does for her kids. As I try to follow in her footsteps, I realize it is not possible to reach where she is, but I hope that I can at least do a little...I love my dad, my brothers & sisters, my nieces & nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. I am so lucky to have such a great family!

*Necessities/Opportunites/Etc.: Food, Clothes, Shelter, Warmth, Cars to drive, Rich's job, Education, the Internet, Books, Phone, Games, Airplanes, etc. Sometimes I get down and think about all of the things that I would like to have, but when I really think about it, I am so blessed! I am thankful for the many things that I have been given in my life!

*The gospel! I am so thankful for the church and all that it means to me in my life! I know that my life has turned out the way that it has because of the church and I am so thankful for this important part of my life. I am thankful for our Prophet, leaders of the Church, The Book of Mormon, the programs of the church, and of course My Savior Jesus Christ.

*Living in Arizona - I have grown in so many ways possible and made such great friends. I am so thankful that Rich's school brought us down here! Rich was commenting the other day that I have learned so many things down here because my mom isn't around...(he was commenting mostly on the food that I have learned to make like ice cream, pie, turkey, doughnuts, pumpkin stew, etc.) I guess that I just want to keep these wonderful traditions alive. We have made such great friends who really have become our "family" down here. We do everything together and I love the relationships that we have formed. I have learned a lot about myself and about living away. I love the opportunity that I have to live down here.