Gratitude

This season I have been trying to be more grateful. I really do have so much to be thankful for. This year has been trying for us at times, but always in the background is the love of the Savior for us. We have felt His love on many occasions as we have traveled down the path of life.

I am thankful for my family. My husband works SO hard at school and work. I know that sometimes he is overwhelmed with all that is on his plate and yet he pushes through, not complaining so that I can be a stay-at-home mom.

I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has entrusted us with a precious child to raise and love and cherish. He brings so much happiness and joy to our lives.  I love that my home is filled with little laughter. I feel that I have much to learn from him and enjoy every moment of being his mother.

I am thankful that no matter where we live we can bring the spirit into our home. Moving around so much makes it difficult to feel "at home" but the spirit in our home is always the same.

I am grateful for eternal families. Having lost so many loved ones can be very difficult during the holidays, but the knowledge of the gospel and the special bonds we share make all the difference.

I am thankful that our Savior loved us so much that He volunteered to be a sacrifice for each of us.  I am so glad for the atonement and for it's application in our lives.

I am grateful for amazing friends.  We have been so blessed with friends who always seem to be in tune to our needs and are always giving of themselves. Through our friends we have been able to feel the love and compassion of the Savior and look forward to the day when we are in a position to help others in the way that we have been.

I am thankful for a plan in a bad economy. We have steady income with benefits and the prospect of moving up in Paul's current job.  Even though things are rough and I get antsy to be in a home of our own, we do have a plan and slowly but surely we will get there.

I am grateful for the scriptures and for the children's scripture stories from Distribution. I love walking past James' room and seeing him "reading" his favorite books (if you ask him he'll tell you that everyone with a beard is Jesus).

What are you thankful for?

Leukoria

Dorothy Jean

My grandmother was born in October of 1922. She died the day after I returned to school from Christmas break in January of 2006.  When Grandpa died in 1995 Grandma moved from her home in San Diego (now worth a TON of money) to the middle of nowhere to live with us. I'm so grateful that she moved to Aguanga. My life would have been very different had she not.

I've been thinking about her a lot lately.  Grandma was more like a mom to me in so many ways. I've missed her terribly at all of the major milestones of my life, even though I receive so many confirmations that she is there.  I miss her. She would have loved Paul and adored James. I know she would have doted over him and I'm sad that he doesn't have that like I did.

As I get older I realize how much I am like her. I remember she used to try to teach me valuable homemaking skills that I really took for granted at the time.  She taught me how to make special family recipes and the basics of sewing machines. She would use every cleaning opportunity to try to teach me how to clean house. At the time I thought that this was really annoying, but am grateful that I know how to get any stain out of everything and have good organizational sense.

Grandma had a grand total of 4 cassette tapes and listened to them year round.  Andy Williams Christmas, Barbra Streisand Christmas, the 3 Tenors and a Motab tape. As I was putting together my Christmas playlist I made sure to include those songs that I listened to so many times (and made fun of her for :)).

Grandma was a clean freak. I can't say that I ever was as a teen. I was a slob. It bothered her and she would always tell me that that was no way to get a husband.  As I've grown up and have a place of my own I take pride in cleanliness. Sometimes I'm even a little anal about it. I'm sure Grandma would be proud.

When Paul and were picking a date to get married, the only day that worked was May 19th. After a few days I started thinking...Grandma and Grandpa were married in May. So I looked it up, and sure enough, they were married in the Salt Lake temple on May 19th, 1941-- 66 years to the day before I was married in the same place.  During our sealing it was made clear to us that she was there. My dad and I were so overwhelmed by this that we both started bawling....I hope Paul didn't think it was about him :)

James was born on what would have been Grandpa Willardson's 90th birthday.  I feel so close to them being able to share these seemingly coincidental experiences.

Some Random Memories:

• We used to make butterfly magnets from soda bottles and sell them at swap meets. 
• She would gather up all the cans and bottles and we'd go recycling and then spend the money on something fun.
• She liked to go to the movies, but never stayed awake.
• We went to the mall at least once a week.  
• She always made sure I had nice clothes to wear to dances and loved hearing every boring little detail of my day. 
• Grandma always encouraged me to get a good education and was always supportive of the decisions I made of what I would study and learn.  When I expressed interest in going to BYU, Grandma wasn't enthusiastic about me moving away.  Despite her not wanting me to move, she gladly paid the application fee and took me shopping to get me set up for moving out.
• She started up a wedding fund for me when I was 19. When I got married, my dad used that money to purchase my wedding dress.
• We used to go on random "adventures" when we were bored (which was often living out in the sticks).
• Every Friday Grandma got her hair done. She would always buy me lunch for taking her.
• Grandma provided me with opportunities to earn money and learn the value of work.  I never did like washing all the windows before Thanksgiving though.
• Every time I drink a Snapple I think of Grandma.
• When Grandma would say something funny she would say it at least twice for maximum laughs.

 She was an awesome lady and love and miss her dearly.  I am grateful for eternal families and the knowledge I have that when life gets rough, Grandma is still there for me. 

Me and Grandma. I got to rock James in this chair.

At my graduation from MSJC in 2005.

The day I left for school. Grandma passed away the next day.

Halloweekend

On Friday we attended Orem's Pumpkin Walk. We got to look at jack-o-lanterns that had been entered into a contest, so we got to see some pretty cool ones. James had so much fun running around the gardens and seeing all the other kids dressed up.

On Saturday we watched the first 4 Batman movies. We filled up the air mattress and put the couches up against it so it was like one huge couch. It was SO much fun. James loved it.  We are thinking of doing this for every movie night.  We didn't have any trick or treaters. Not one. So now we have a ton of candy which I wish we didn't.  We had such a great time though. We also got our pictures taken for our Christmas cards this weekends. I'll make sure to post them once I get them back.

Super Cape

Picking out a costume for Halloween for James has been tricky. He refuses, and I mean refuses to have anything on his head or face.  I saw this cute idea over at ServingPinkLemonade for super capes and pretty much made up my mind right there that I would be making one. I had a black dress that got half eaten by my mom's old washing machine before I had one of my own.  I had held onto it in hopes of salvaging it someday. Today that dress became a batman cape.

I'll just put him in black pants and long sleeves. To complete the costume I made a yellow belt from 18 cent scrap fabric at Walmart. I'll make sure to take pictures on Halloween!

I love my little batman :)

Autumn

Autumn has been particularly long this year. It has felt like California for over a month! I have loved every minute of it! However, as I write this there is snow headed my way :(

Before I got married I used to hop on political campaigns every year since I was 17 and couldn't even vote!  After I got married I became a poll worker. Last year was the first year that I was not involved with the election season and it was kind of depressing. In all fairness I had a new baby though. This year I was able to start up again thanks to my amazing sister, Roxanna. I really could not have done anything without her!  It isn't Fall  unless you're walking around with numb fingers dropping off campaign literature!  It felt really good to participate in some real grassroots efforts again. I really want to raise civilly minded children.  Of course, if you ask Paul, Fall isn't Fall unless football is on in the background 24/7 :)

We had a great weekend at home despite catching colds.  Paul and James carved pumpkins! It was so cute. James was so happy to 1: be up on the table without being reprimanded, and 2: squish slimy pumpkin with his fingers. I sorted the seeds from the pumpkin. I have one small baggy left (I made two huge cookie sheets worth!) Every year Paul goes to extra trouble to cut out big chunks of pumpkin for me to process and freeze. That way I don't have to buy canned pumpkin! This year I got about 4 big cans worth of pumpkin (at current prices, that's about $12 worth from a $5 pumpkin)!

Helping Dad gut the pumpkin.

Um, scary! Poor little baby pumpkin...

Playing with the pumpkin that's been sorted and ready to cook.

  In case you're wondering how to process your own pumpkin, it's easy!  Pie pumpkins are best, but not as cheap or fun to carve, so after I get all the pumpkin sorted, I put it in a pot and cook it on low until it's nice and soft. I add a little bit of raw or brown sugar since big pumpkins like these aren't very sweet. For a big pot like this I added 2 Tbs of raw sugar.  You don't have to add sugar though, you can adjust your recipe depending on the taste. Then I puree it, measure it and freeze it. See? Easy! You'll notice how much better your recipes will taste, too.

 I've been meaning to make a hanging wall organizer for a long time. It's been in the back of my mind every day when there's not place to put our keys...or the bills, or Paul's knick-knacks when he comes home.  I picked up a wooden organizer at DI for $1! It was brown and not so cute, but a little paint, fabric and modge podge fixed that!  I am working a back board with a cork board and wipe on wipe off that will fill the entire space and get rid of the ugly color of the side of the cabinet.  It might take me a while, but you'll be impressed :)  But that might have to wait. This week I'm focusing on getting better, aka sitting on the couch with my water bottle and box of tissue.

Fall Break

Paul had Fall break this weekend. He helped clean the apartment, changed all messy diapers, let me sleep in and even cooked dinner twice.  I feel like I was the one getting a break. I love that man.

My Boys

We decided to take James to Pumpkin Land at the Vineyard Garden Center in Orem. He had so much fun picking out a pumpkin and wandering around the corn maze. He loved being able to peek through the stalks and shout gibberish at unsuspecting strangers.  

Telling me all about the pumpkins

Picking the perfect pumpkin

One of the many beautiful sunsets on our nightly walk

We took James to several parks over the break. He loved running around Rock Canyon Park.  There is a little park at our apartment complex that is the perfect size for James. We go every day and he climbs the jungle gym by himself and slides down the big slide all by himself.  He's grown up so fast!

He grunted with every step up the hill at Rock Canyon Park

He loves going down the slide

"Weeeee!"

 I was also able to finish a project I've been meaning to do for a while now. Paul bought me a kitchen mat awhile back through his work. It's industrial grade so it's not as pretty as the more expensive gel mats. It has deep little grooves in it and holes throughout. Needless to say, it's a pain to clean. Rugs of it's size are just so expensive so I decided to make a cover for it.  I found a nice stain-resistant table cloth at Target for $6. I used an old sheet for the back side and made a slipcover. Such an improvement! It sweeps off easily and I don't have to take trips to the bathtub to scrub it off. :) When it's dirty I can just throw it in the wash. I also made hand towels to match. What do you think??

Before. You get the idea.

After! 

Oh yeah, and I made apple butter!