Thankful Day 3

BROTHERS!

I have the three greatest brothers in the whole wide world!!

Tim: I cannot even come close to expressing my gratitude for my oldest brother. He was the one I always ran to when I was in a pickle or needed priesthood advice. He's helped my troubled soul through many a rough patch in my life. He's always been there when I needed him, whether it was an excuse to get out of school (I was in fifth grade!), someone to get me when I was sick, a study partner, or someone to save me when my car broke down on the freeway, Tim is always the first response. He's saved my heart and spirit when it's been broken. He is a real example to me in my life. He's always so cheerful and he works so hard to make his life great. He's strengthened my testimony and bettered my life just by being my brother. I'm so grateful to call him family.
Nate: I've always really looked up to my big brother Nate. He's such an example to me. He's such a great dad and husband. I'm so lucky to live next to him. He helps us out so much (see: TR's puncture wound). I love watching his fish with him and seeing his face light up when he's got Milo in his arms or his girls run and give him hugs. Nate taught me that no matter what you want to get out of life, if you work for it, you can get it. He's got it in spades. I'm so proud of everything that I've watched him accomplish in his life. He knows the value of hard work and he knows what needs to happen to reach his goals. He taught me how to work the stove. I think when I was little if he would have told me to go jump off a bridge I would have found a way. He's compassionate, kind, caring, loving, determined, and so much more. I'm so proud to ha ve such an awesome brother.

Caleb: This kid is hilarious. I love to watch his eyes get huge when he's telling a story or something he thinks is really interesting. I've learned so much from him, even though I don't see him very often. He's so fun to talk to when you get him one-on-one. He can just talk your ear off with all the fun things that he's learning in school and the stuff that he's read about and everything. He can be so fun to be around. I'm looking forward to seeing the man that he's going to grow up to be. He already knows what he's supposed to be doing, and he's so good with

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Thankful Day 2

continuing with my theme, today I'm thankful for...

SISTERS!

"There were never such devoted sisters!" I have the greatest sisters in the whole wide world. They're always there to help and encourage me. I love them so much. They're some of my very best friends!

Jennifer: What more can I say than she is the best oldest sister I could ever want? She's hilarious and totally fun to be around. I'm thankful that she knows the most tender ways to keep me in check. I'm glad she didn't "lose her testimony" all those years ago (you know what I'm talking about big sister). I don't know where I would be without her. She's always been there for me when I needed somewhere to run to. She's taught me so much about being a mom, a wife, and an all around better person. I can't begin to fathom how much I've gleaned from my oldest sister. She's taught me so much about the gospel and the things in life that are really important. I'm so thankful for such a good, strong sister that takes care of me, and helps me keep things in perspective.

Sarah:I am so thankful for my silly sister Sarah! She's creative, inspirational, silly, and an absolute joy to be around. Her house is always clean and organized, she does the cutest things for birthday parties, holidays, activities with her kids, etc. She's always the party planner. All of this and with a brand new baby! She's a total inspiration to me. She's one of my very best friends. No matter if I'm being silly or serious, I can talk to Sarah about anything. Gone are the days when we would stay up late on the weekends watching chick flicks and going far beyond the maximum silly quota, but those are some of my most cherished memories from high school (yes, even the times I knocked over the Sears signs). She's taught me so much over the years that are truly valuable lessons in life.

(This is a really old Picture. Sorry!)

Ella: My oldest little sister. She's so sweet and helpful. She's got a lot to learn, but she's also got a lot to teach. Every time I see her, she's always teaching me about compassion, patience, love, trust, and a mirage of other things. I always wanted a little sister and she's a great one to have. She's always doing something or another to help her mom (maybe with a little attitude, but she is 13 after all.), she's taken over my spot as the "bathroom escort" (for which I am very grateful) and she does it with a smile. She takes joy in her every day activities. I'm so grateful for such a fantastic biggest little sister!

Regan: In the short time we've known each other Regan has blessed my life so much. She's so sweet and polite. She's always happy when she's around and she's so adorable. I don't get to see her much, but when I do she always gives me a big smile and a big hug. She's taught me a lot about family, and a lot about love. I'm so grateful for this little girl.

Olivia: My baby baby sister. She's not so much of a baby anymore, but she's still my littlest sister. She's so funny! She makes me realize how much fun life is. She's always happy (unless she's tired, but lets be honest, who's happy when they're tired?) and smiling. She's such a pleasure to be around. She's not loud, she's not rude, she's just pleasant. I'm so thankful for her as my little baby sister!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

One more thing:

I just want all my friends to know that I love them and are so so thankful for them too! Whether you're old friends that have always been there for me (Casi, Andrea...that's you. I love you guys), New friends that have blessed my life so much in the short time that I've known them(Kelli, Holly, McKenzie, all my SUU and UVU friends, I love you guys too.), or friends that I haven't met yet that have already exponentially and indirectly blessed my life (Alexa, I already love you and your blog-stalking ways. ^_^) I want you to know that I thank the Lord every night for every single one of you.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

In the spirit...

We all know that in just over a week, we'll be stuffing our faces with all the yummiest food ever. I love Thanksgiving. I love the feeling. I love the family. I love the food. I love the smells, the laughter, the memories.

Thanksgiving is a time to remember all we have and to actually look around and be thankful for everything. SO In an effort to be more thankful, over the next few days until Thanksgiving I'm going to post a little bit every day about the thing I'm most thankful for: My family. Sure, I'm thankful for loads of stuff, and I'm sure that will come out in these posts, but none of it would be worth being thankful for if not for my family. If not for my family I wouldn't have the gospel (I'm sure it would find me, but without the foundation laid in my heart, I'm not totally sure I would accept it.), I wouldn't have some of my very best friends. I wouldn't have the life I have today. So Without further ado: Thanksgiving Project 2009 has begun.

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR MY LITTLE FAMILY!

I have the greatest husband I could ever have asked for. He works so hard for me. I'm always asking him to do one project or another while I'm at school or doing another project myself. He's always so helpful. I'm in school and attribute most, if not all, my success to him. Sure I do the work and get the grades, but I wouldn't be back in school, working towards a career I know I'll love, if it weren't for my wonderful husband. He works so hard to pay our bills too. I'm so grateful for a responsible, loving husband.

He lets me sleep in when I need it. He takes care of me when I'm sick. He's the absolute best choice for me as an eternal companion. We've had our fair share of trials and hardships already, and I'm sure we have many more to come, but I can't think of anyone I would rather have by my side, holding my hand, and leading me through than my wonderful TR. He keeps me strong, and faithful. He reminds me of what is really important when I can't quite get a grip on reality. He honors his priesthood which is such a blessing in my home. It's such a comfort to know that I can go to him any time, night or day with any problem and he can help me through it. He keeps the Lord at the center of our home. He keeps me on track when sometimes I stray. He's such an example to me. I love him, and he loves me back which is the greatest gift he could ever give me.


Our little Mimi is such a sweetheart. Sure, I can get frustrated with her when she barks all the time, or whines in the middle of the night, but she's such a joy in my life. You may laugh at me or think I'm weird to refer to my dog as a joy, but she really is. She makes me laugh all the time at what a spaz she is, and sometimes you just need a good laugh. She's gotten to be so well behaved lately, and she makes me so happy just by being there.

She's always in the same room as me (unless she's getting in trouble). She's happy to simply curl up and sleep on the floor while I'm watching a movie, doing homework, or working on my latest sewing project. She's always happy when I come home, and she's so energetic it makes me tired just to watch. She's been such a blessing to me in my home while going through some hard times. Both of my dogs have been.

Our little little Linus is the sweetest, most even-tempered dog I've ever met in my life. If there really was such a thing as Lewis Carol's "Galumphing" Linus would have it down pat. He's the perfect companion dog. Even from the time he was a very small puppy (yes, he used to be a very small puppy) he's never had to be on a leash. He never ran off like Mimi did. He's got such a happy personality. He loves being around people. He loves when the kids hang and play all over him. He is just perfect for our little family. As Aunt Jen put it at this year's family reunion "Sometimes you find an animal that was just supposed to be part of your family." Linus is definitely our little baby. At this stage in our lives and in our marriage we're so thankful to have our puppy "kids" that we can love, spoil, rejoice in, and cherish.

PUMPKINS!!!

'Tis the season...for PUMPKIN CARVING!

I have a secret. Ready?

I. LOVE. HALLOWEEN.

Really. No lie. It's my favorite holiday of all time

One of my favorite activities is carving pumpkins. I love to lay out the news paper. I love sitting on the floor. I love cutting the lid off. I love getting my hands all goopy with the seeds and pumpkin inards. I love carving it out and seeing the finished product all lit up. I love it. (did I mention I love carving pumpkins?)

I generally watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" while carving pumpkins...which may be a little weird to some, but I love it.

This year we had Sam and Andrea come over, and with my hands all goopy and such, I didn't take pictures. But I did get our after pictures! Not Sam and Andreas though, cause they went home right after we were done.

TR did an Autobot symbol on his, all freehand, and mine was just a crazy skelly from the package of patterns we got.

Aren't they cool?

The other best thing about carving pumpkins? The weeks worth of pumpkin seeds I get to sort out of all the goop (I love it!) and bake. MMMMM!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

I love this picture of my dad.

I'm not even really sure why. He's not smiling or happy or anything like that. In fact, he looks kind of mad which is totally not my dad, but I just love it.

Kayla's so adorable.

Even when she's cold...

And a little bit crazy.

These were taken when Lizzie Beth (Sarah Elizabeth Tanner) was born and we were waiting to see her. Kayla was cold in the room (those silly pregnant women and their obsession with AC) so she went and borrowed the Tinkerbell blanket from my car.

As much fun as it was to take pictures of Kayla acting all weird, Lizzie definitely stole the show.

Anniversary Trip!

I thought, that since it's been about...two months since TR and I went on our anniversary trip it might finally be time to blog it. A bit behind, don'tcha think?

For our second anniversary, TR and I decided to take a little weekend jaunt down to Las Vegas. We found a really cheap hotel, and even though we were going for a few days, it was nice to get away. I love staying in hotels. I love having someone else make my bed, and clean my room and I especially love how they fold the toilet paper so that it comes to a point. I'm weird, but I'm comfortable with that fact.

On our way down there, TR and I were pleasantly surprised to pass at test zone where the speed limit was raised from 75 to 80. That was kinda fun. It was sort of interesting to guess how fast the other travelers were going based on our speed. Made the time pass quickly, which, when you're with your best friend, time doesn't ever quite go slow enough.

TR took a little nap on the way over, since we had stayed up long into the night (and past our bed time) cleaning the house and getting everything ready to go in the morning. He was entitled to a nap. I love this picture.

I think Steve was ready for some R&R and wanted to soak up that beautiful sunshine. He's missed his Vitamin D lately. He had to bring his umbrella so as not to burn his nose of course.

This is for our Arizona family. I felt a little bit closer to you, but I didn't want to make Jen sad (like last time I called her from the state line) so instead of calling, I just took a picture.

While we were down in Vegas, TR and I decided to have lunch at In and Out Burger. I'm a cheap date. And we had to take some pictures for Grandaddy of course!


After that we headed down to the Hoover Dam. They're building a HUGE bridge over the water way so that traffic doesn't have to go over the dam. It'll be faster and safer. Last time we were down here they hadn't even finished the supports on the side of the mountain! Look at it now!

Can you imagine climbing up all those ladders when someone needed you at the top? I'll be they take their lunch breaks right up there. We saw guys going up and down there all day long.

I absolutely LOVE our flag. I love it. I have a greater appreciation for it too since taking my American Heritage class. I think it's so cool that when they're building something as monumental and time consuming and dangerous as this bridge, they take the time, however short or long (think of the stairs!) it may be to put an American flag on top. Now I think that's pretty cool.

I know that some people say it's impossible, but here I am...two places at once. I just want to point out that I think it's funny how itty bitty my Sasquatch feet look in this picture.

So close, so close, and still so far. Maybe not worlds away, but states away for sure!

I just want to note here...my husband thought I was silly for taking this picture, and I sort of was. I wanted to take a different picture with us holding hands across the state line (say with me, AWWW!), but no one was around at that exact moment in time, so I had to make due with what I had.

And another one for my Arizona family. We thought about you the whole time we were in Arizona. (Tee hee hee) We miss you!!

On our way home Steve and I were soaking up the last of our yummy vacation sun, and a truck passed us with the most GIGANTIC tires I've ever seen. We were trying to figure out what they would go on. By the time the truck was out of sight TR had me with stitches in my sides and tears rolling down my cheeks. I love that man!

At the end of our trip, we have a lot of good memories, a whole lot of laughs, some pretty decent pictures, and two years of bliss behind us with many more to come. Three states, three days, and a beautiful sunset. A spectacular ending to a spectacle of a trip.