Thankful

Especially this time of year, I like to reflect on the things I am thankful for.

• I am thankful for my family, my parents and brothers and sisters. They are amazing. Their love and prayers and support have helped me so much over the past few years. I love that we have a close family, that we love to be around each other so much and get to do so many fun things together. I am thankful for the example they have been to me and the way they have loved me through it all.
• I am thankful for the gospel and a loving Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for the healing power of the atonement.
• I am thankful for my children, Camryn and Kendra. They are so special to me. Words cannot describe how much they mean to me. I am grateful we are going to be having another sweet little girl this spring. I have some of the sweetest spirits in my home. I am so thankful to be their mother.
• I am thankful for my husband, Kent. He is more than perfect for me. He loves me and accepts me with all my strengths and weaknesses. He works so hard, is so disciplined and dedicated. He is an amazing father. He does so much for us. I think I will always feel indebted to him, like I could never do enough to show him how I appreciate and love him. I love him more than I can express.

These are the most important things to me in my life. Because of these things, I feel so blessed--rich beyond measure.

I asked Camryn what she is thankful for. This was her reply (in her words as close as I could type):

• I'm thankful for my toys
• I'm thankful for the dogs, Annie, Tobi, and Bailey
• I'm thankful for my house
• I'm thankful for my mommy
• I'm thankful for my daddy
• I'm thankful for my sister
• I'm thankful that mommy's pregnant. I'm thankful for Corinne.
• I'm thankful for everything

Here is Kendra's reply:

• I'm thankful for Annie, and my sissy, and Tobi, and Bailey, and Corinne, and my mamma, and the computer, and daddy, and my toys.

More Television and SWEET tooth!

Yesterday as I was playing with Camryn she said, "Daddy, we should get mommy a smooth away for her birthday." I didn't quite catch the "smooth away." So I asked her to repeat it. She said it is something that removes hair and makes her skin soft. Let's just say Camryn LOVES commercials. We're in trouble when she gets older. I'm thinking a commercial ban is definitely in order.



Anyone who's spent any time with Kendra knows that she has one killer sweet tooth. Well, the other day she was playing on the brick fireplace hearth when she fell and hit her leg on the edge. She immediately started her hysteric breathless crying. I picked her up and tried to calm her down but nothing was working. So..... I thought: CANDY! I said...."Do you need some candy to make it feel better?" She said "uh hu." In her saddest voice. So i gave her some candy which seemed to do the trick. About twenty minutes later she came to me with those puppy dog eyes, grabbed her leg and said, "Daddy, it still hurts... I think i need another candy." It was sooo cute that i gave her the candy. She definitely has me figured out.

Our Girl is Here!!!

She is 4 lbs 3 oz and 13 inches long

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Our girl puppy, that is.

Meet Annie. She is our new Goldendoodle puppy. A goldendoodle is a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle. The benefit from the poodle side is that she won't shed.

She is the sweetest puppy! We love her to death!

We went to meet her when she was 4 weeks old. We all loved her from the start.

Kent and I know how to do it. We are working on being outnumbered by our kids, but that is not enough. We are now outnumbered by our dogs too.

Baby Name

People often ask, "Do you have any names yet?" After going though a few different names, and liking one for a little while, then another, we think we have finally found a name we all really like.

Corinne Elise

She'll probably go by Cori for short.

We still have four months to go, but we think this one will stick.

A Halloween for Witches!

On Friday, I got to go with the girls to their school Halloween party.

Here is Kendra acting motherly again. This little girl didn't have her cow head on. Kendra thought she needed to help her with that.

I asked Kendra to give me a witch smile.

All the kids go out and wave to the passing traffic. It was SO WINDY! The girls had to hold their hats. I think they had fun, despite the wind.

The kids had pizza and spider cookies.

It was a fun school party. I was glad I was able to go.

That night, while I was at work, Kent took the kids to a Trunk-or-Treat. I was told that it was really cold, but I think they had a good time.

On Halloween day, Jeff got to take them Trick-or-Treating. We got the girls back at about 8:00pm. There were still Trick-or-Treaters coming to our door. I think Camryn got more of a kick out of passing out candy then anything else. I told her to hold the bowl and tell them "take two please," or just put two pieces of candy in each bag.

She got SO EXCITED! The first time there was a knock on the door, she ran to the door leaving the candy on the table. She said, "take two please" (with no candy) then ran around the corner to get the candy and came back and put two in each bag.

I hope everyone had a Wonderful Halloween!