Thanksgiving Festivities

One of my favorite traditions is putting up our Christmas decor before leaving town for Thanksgiving. That way, when we get home, the house is clean and festive! Hinder actually wanted to do a lot of "helping" this year. What do you think of our Charlie Brown tree?

For us, Thanksgiving weekend was spent with the Hursts in Meridian. As usual, we relied on Riley's photographer sister, Mallory, to capture most of the action. Which means we came home with just a few random shots.

Hinder received this hoop and ball from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. He loves it! Drags the thing all around the house. Bathroom, laundry room, to bed with him at night. Silly billy.

A major highlight for H was visiting Uncle Stephen at the fire department. Thanks for letting us come bug you at work, Stephen!

Other favorites:

*Sidnee's trademark pedicures. bliss. *

*Taking a nap during the day TWO days in a row. That never happens for me!*

*Ray's cheese ball. And getting to take Ray's cheese ball home with me. *

*Semi-Black Friday shopping with Lorie and Ains*

*Opening Christmas together. Thanks for the generous gifts, family!*

*Playing Tripoley for about 6 hours straight*

*Watching the Hurst clan watch the BSU game. Emotions. Lots of Emotions.*

And now- I think I'll got heat up a plate of turkey day leftovers. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're getting the house ready and suitcases packed to head to Boise for the holiday. (that is, if the roads open up) We're so excited to have a little vacation with these people.

So this will be my final gratitude post. And I think I'm just so darn grateful for holidays. Celebrations add spice and pizazz to life. Plus, they give me something to always look forward to. Usually, it means family and food, two of my favorite things.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Our Beautiful Temple

Lately, Riley and I have made a renewed effort to attend the temple weekly. I'm so grateful for this beautiful place that's only a mile away. We're so blessed to be able to serve in Lord's house so often.

Wash Day

I'm grateful for my modern washer and dryer. Mostly because today I'm tackling 7+ loads of laundry and I can't imagine doing that all by hand. Can you imagine having to rub out your stink with this bucket and washboard?!

The Great Pie Experiment

I love pies. I might even say I'm counting pie as a tender mercy placed on this earth just for my pleasure. That's how much I adore this dessert.

As a result, at the beginning of November, I decided that I would try out a few of the new pie recipes that I've been clipping from magazines and hoarding. It's been a splendid few weeks. The first week, I made this beauty.

Blackberry swirl pie from Better Homes and Gardens. AMAZING. I even used Stevia instead of the full amount of sugar, and it was still exquisite.

This is Family Fun's chocolate chess pie. I haven't tried it yet, but I will be bringing it to my in-laws for the holiday. Riley chose this one over the cranberry chocolate nut pie that I was rooting for. He's surprisingly picky when it comes to sweets.

Paula Deens pumpkin pie. A season must-have in our home.

Peach Blueberry is on the menu for tonight. I'm hoping it's a colorful as the picture makes it. And I love peach and blueberries, so how can it not be, right?

Today and Yesterday

In my excitement of watching the new Harry Potter movie last night (It was AMAZING!! I get all emotional when I think of how much sweet Brother Potter has grown over the years...), I forgot to be grateful yesterday. So, since Devon and I snuck away to the theater, I was very grateful yesterday for girl's nights. And for my sweet husband that lets me have "me" time very often, without a complaint. I feel lucky.

(picture by Katy Wilson, the most rocking photographer this side of the Rockys)

And for today, I'm particularly thankful for having so many sisters. You'd think it would be dramatic with all the estrogen, but these women are so chill, and lovely, and just plain cool. I love each of them to pieces.

Completed

Today, I'm grateful for accomplishment and completion. As a mom, my days are filled with dozens of tasks. Most of which I never can declare "I'm Done!". Like laundry, cleaning, cooking...it's never done. This makes me LOVE the feeling of having a project be officially complete.

Two big projects reached the complete stage today. The first is our new vinyl flooring in the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room. I love it!

(Technically, we still need baseboards installed...but since the contractor won't be coming in my house anymore, it feels complete!)

This is what the carpet looked like before.

Wretched. I love the new stuff. And it's going to be so much more convenient to clean.

The second big project is the church quiet book I've been working on for Hinder since July.

It turned out a little bigger than I planned. Maybe it's closer to a pillow pet than a book. And there are dozens of mistakes, but it's done. That's all that matters.

It's this kind of thing that helps me feel like my efforts during the day do matter. At least a little.