Thanksgiving Highlights

We had such a nice Thanksgiving weekend

• My mom made the yummiest dinner. Everything seriously tasted so, so good.
• We enjoyed being together as a family, including Grandma and Jerrie
• My mom, sister, and I went to Black Friday (midnight edition) to check out the deals. We bought towels. Lots and lots of towels. Between the three of us, over 60 of them.
• We took the kids to Tangled
• We took a quick girls trip to St. George
• We loved on the nieces and nephew
• Clint taught us how to play Texas Hold 'em (I have no idea if that's how you spell it).
• We watched a DVD or two
• Clint taught my mom how to use her computer (anxiously waiting your comment, Mom)
• And, to top off the weekend, it took us almost six hours to get home due to bad weather and tons of traffic. We arrived safely though, so all is good.

Happy Day

Today Caitlin had a BIG ortho appointment- she got her MARA appliance off! She is one happy girl. I think she would be happier though if it didn't mean now she can have a MRI. Our Orthodontist wanted clarification from Radiology concerning what would need to come off for the MRI (braces, wires, bands, all, some, nothing) so we went to our lovely new PCMC that is located a hop, skip, and a jump away from our home for answers. It is such a beautiful facility and the people there are helpful and kind... oh, and there are XBox 360's for the kids to play with while they wait. Sweet! We are scheduled for January. It will have been 15 months since the last MRI, our longest break ever.

In other news, our lives are out of control. We are busy. Meetings, work, parent/teacher conferences, visiting and home teaching, cleaning and organizing, errands, haircuts, work lunches, fun lunches, Christmas shopping, ward party, Stake dance, soccer conditioning, drivers Ed, science fair, camping trip, and the list goes on and on and on...

I love this time of year though and can't wait to see my family next week for Thanksgiving!

Proud of My Boy

A week from tomorrow and Caleb will officially be an Eagle Scout.

 

Parenting

One thing I can say about parenting is that it has prompted my most sincere, heartfelt prayers. I am constantly amazed by all the things that can go wrong when raising a child. Sometimes I think the only thing you can take comfort in is knowing Heavenly Father loves your children more than you do and is aware of what you and they are facing.

One of the blessings that came from Caitlin's diagnosis of cancer was the realization that I had no control of the circumstances and I had to turn my excess worries and heartbreak over to the Lord. It was too much to bare alone. My prayers asking for comfort and peace were the only consolation I could count on. I truly felt the Lord knew my pain and was hurting with me. I understood the Atonement like never before.

Tonight my friend introduced me to this song written about a young boy diagnosed with Leukemia. It's not very often that you find a song that expresses what your prayers sounded and felt like during your darkest experience. The title of the song is "He's My Son" by Dallyn Vail Bayles.

Halloween Favorites

Look what I found when looking through our pictures! Some of my favorite photos of my kids decked out in Halloween costumes.

Porch Pumpkins

All last week while it was gray outside, I loved seeing bright spots of orange on porches around our neighborhood. So, on Saturday our family ventured to the family farm of brothers Caleb went to Jamboree with and picked out a bunch of pumpkins for our porch. It was fun... and cold.
 
We went to Secretariat on Friday night. We loved it. Family friendly, clean, inspiring.

On Saturday night, we went to Clint's work party. I really like the guys he works with and their wives too. We had a fun time visiting and eating yummy BBQ.

Other than that, we made some headway on Caleb's upcoming Eagle Court of Honor, Caleb went to the youth dance, Clint made an apple pie, we watched our first Primary Program in almost 13 years without our own children participating (instead they snickered along with us at the waving kids, the kids who yell into the microphone, the kids that take off running to their parents, etc...), we cleaned our porch, and we found a new puppy we'd love to adopt. Overall, good weekend.

A Little Boost for Caitlin

In her first softball game of the day, Caitlin hit the ball, she ran all the bases, she scored for her team! And for the first time this season, they won! 5-3.

Most people wouldn't make too much out of this; but for Caitlin, this is huge. We are so proud of her.

At the end of the two games, she was awarded the game ball... sweet!