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Give Thanks

 It's officially the holiday season and we're all loving it. We put up our Christmas tree two weeks before Thanksgiving. I just felt like we needed it this year, to have some extra joy and excitement a little earlier than usual. We enjoyed some mild temperatures before Thanksgiving. 


  I ordered a Nativity for the kids to play with this year. It's been fun to hear their renditions of the story of Christ's birth. 

  Allie's preschool has been cancelled for three weeks due to Liz's family having Covid. I have to say, I've quite enjoyed having a little sidekick in the morning. She helps me remember my workouts. 


    I wasn't able to make it to Aunt Susan's funeral but was so grateful I could watch it on Zoom. It was so emotional  and really hard to see my cousin's and uncles going through such grief. I don't think I stopped crying the entire time and I don't think anyone else watching did either. Uncle Bruce asked my mom to sing "I Often Go Walking". It was beautiful and I know she was helped through it. I loved hearing a little part of her life sketch and memories from each of her kids. Aunt Susan truly was so kind and loving. She will be so missed. 

   There was one warm-ish day last week and all the neighborhood kids came over and played Tigers. 

  Sigh.

  We had such a lovely Thanksgiving this year! We spent the day in Avon with all of our siblings but Sarah and Landon. I always love big gatherings but I really enjoyed a more intimate setting this time around. We were able to laugh, play games and enjoy delicious food while listening to each other's blessings from the past year. I'm the luckiest girl every to have married into such an amazing family. I love each one of them!
  Hudson enjoyed the feast too. His favorite part was Grandma's orange jello.  

  The food was on another level. Loren made sweet potatoes while I made a cherry cheesecake pie and green bean casserole. There was garlic roasted carrots by Lindsay, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey and jello by Mom and Dad, rolls and pies by Kristen and chocolate pies by Maddy. YUM.

  President Nelson shared a message with the world the other day on the healing power of gratitude. It was amazing and completely changed my perception of what gratitude really is. By showing gratitude, we are allowing ourselves to develop other Christlike characteristics like forgiveness and charity. I spent the next seven days intentionally showing gratitude for things I might not think of right off. It really was completely life changing to be so submersed in gratitude. During those seven days, I really did have enough. In fact, I had so much more than I ever could have imagined. I wanted nothing else but to thank Heavenly Father for everything in my life. I was so grateful for that experience and hope to be able to keep a heart of Thanksgiving every day. 

  So grateful for this crew!

  We talked about favorite memories of Thanksgiving and I couldn't help but think of Thanksgiving with the Searles. It was always a big affair, as my mom has ten siblings. This photo was taken at our annual Christmas party the day after Thanksgiving in 2006, when I was 16. I looked forward to this party so much and I think everyone else did too. We got together at the church house in Shelley, which was a kids dream. It has three levels and a cool attic type room that we loved to hang out in. There was always so much to explore and do with my cousins. What wonderful memories. All my aunts, uncles and almost all of my cousins are in this picture, which is a huge feat. It think there's only two that's missing. This might be the most up to date photo of all of us together, which was close to 15 years ago. 

  A couple days after Thanksgiving I took the girls and we picked out some Christmas decorations for Kaleb's grave. I know it's always hard for Cam and Mary but especially this time of year. Kaleb is always in our hearts, as is Brendan. 

  Hudson thinks Bubba is the bees knees. He starts screaming with joy when he sees him. The other night he had a grand time playing around with him. He's a lucky kid to have such a fun uncle. 

  Uke night! I love that music is such a big part of our family. I'm grateful for Loren who helps instill a love for music in the girls. Lydia is doing so well on the piano and even Allie too. It's so fun to see your kids work hard and excel in their activities. 

  I'm so excited for December! There's so much I want to do with the kids, I hope we can make it memorable. I'm trying to focus more on the Savior each day as we participate in the Light the World challenge. I hope I'm teaching my kids just how important kindness and service to other really is. This truly is such a joyous season. 

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