Thanksgiving 2019

Thanksgiving 2019 came and went so fast this year.  It sounds cliché, but time is going so fast.  Every day I find myself saying things (like time is going so fast or talking about the weather and traffic) that make me realize how old I am.  It is interesting to see myself through my kids eyes.  I still feel young and hip, but when I talk to my kids I'm reminded that they don't see me that way!  I feel like they should be more impressed that I like the same music and entertainment as they do, but they don't seem to be too impressed.  I also think they should be impressed with the rap songs I can sing from my childhood, again, not even close to impressed. I guess it's inevitable to seem old and out of date to your kids.  I do enjoy having my kids get older though.  Yesterday I picked Caitlyn up from school and we went to Sonic for a drink.  She was telling me about her day and I couldn't stop laughing because she is so funny, especially when she is telling stories.  I realized while we were in the car that it felt like I was hanging out with one of my friends and I loved it. I took Jonah and Jett to basketball last night and they were so funny and Jonah even laughed at a few of my jokes.  Teenagers are hard, but they are also really fun.

We were so excited that Matt and Lori came down for Thanksgiving again.  We love having them here!

I think Alexys enjoyed being at the adult table.  Kyle was talking to his parents, so he isn't in the picture.  We had a great dinner and a great time visiting. Paul was a saint and did all the dishes while we all visited.

I'm so grateful that my kids have so many cousins and that they get to spend so much time with them.  They all love going to grandma's house.  I'm so glad they will have so many wonderful memories.

Grandma gave the kids a candy corn when they said something they were grateful for.  They all had so many things to share!  Wyatt and Rockwell would say it in unison and laugh.  I love that they are always laughing.

The kids had fun playing Just Dance together.  I love Matt in the picture, he makes everything so fun!

Hallee was excited to show me her cool trick with Kyle.

We have a tradition that Cody and Elena stay over on Thanksgiving night. Keith takes all the kids home and I stay and shop with Matt and Lori.  Jonah was so excited to have Cody stay over!

Lori and I found these jackets for a killer deal at Kohls.  We debated on giving them to the girls for Christmas, but thought it would be fun to let them have them when they were together.

Caitlyn rarely agrees with what I think is cute (again, does she not realize how cool I am) but I knew I would be safe with this one because Tiff has the same jacket and Caitlyn thinks Tiff is cool!  The girls looked adorable in them!

Friday morning I woke up and there was shoes by the front door.  I wasn't sure who was here so early.  I went downstairs and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Kyle.  He came over to play video games with Cody and Jonah.  I can't even tell you how happy that made me.  I love that they all wanted to spend time together.

Wyatt and Hallee wanted to join the group so they played Minecraft.

Caitlyn put this post up on Instagram on Thanksgiving.  She is such a wise, thoughtful girl.

On Friday afternoon I left with my parents and my siblings to fly to Oakland for Jason's funeral.  I have put off blogging because it feels so heavy and I didn't know how to talk about it or what I wanted to say.   Jason died on Saturday November 23rd.  I just sat and cried when I heard the news.  Wyatt is so sweet and sensitive, he just laid with me and cried too.  Death always puts things in perspective.  I knew I had plenty to be grateful for, but the little problems (which is most things) just seem so insignificant. I have so much to be grateful for, but what I am most grateful for and what is most important is the life and Atonement of my Savior Jesus Christ, loving Heavenly parents who provided a plan for us to have everlasting joy, even though we have to go through some really tough stuff along the way and my family.  I'm so blessed to be born into a wonderful family where I was loved and taught everything I needed to know to be successful and work through anything I would face.  I'm so grateful to have a husband who adores me, works hard for us and loves our kids.  I have four healthy children who I love more than I thought possible.  Those are the things I am most grateful for!