Thanksgiving 2019

We slept in....well some of us slept in....and had a slow morning watching the parade, playing risk, and cooking green beans and sweet potatoes.  We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner around 4pm, but Tanner's on his 3rd day of fevering and a killer sore throat, so he stayed home and watched Star Wars.  We brought him back some food, and he managed to eat at least a little of it.  Poor kid!  But most importantly we thought about our blessings.  I loved hearing the boys say their prayers tonight as they listed all the things they're grateful for.  Braddock neglected to mention me, so he started over and said, "I'm thankful for my beautiful mother!" Hahaha!  Gosh I love him.  And Bridger mentioned at dinner that he's grateful he's not a chicken (meaning a turkey!).  I'm pretty grateful on today of all days that I'm not a turkey either.  Hahahaha!  Life is full of ups and downs but I feel so blessed to be going through it all with these crazies...

I found this gem in Braddock's backpack.  He apparently is thankful for vomit and underpants, but not his MOM! Hahahahaha....

RS Christmas Craft Workshop 2019

Despite being released as the Relief Society Activities leader I still managed to be a part of the Christmas Craft Workshop again this year.  Crafting is my jam and it's always fun to do it with so many other fun women.  We had incredible turnout of 80+ women and things went pretty smoothly considering.  My friends Jackie and Jena even came for a bit and I loved visiting with people as we worked on our projects.  It's a lot of work, but it feels so great when you see everyone having such a great time.  The perfect kick-off to the holiday season.

This year's crafts....

Young Womens

For my first Wednesday night activity we decorated the Christmas tree at the Church and then put together some candy favors to hand out at the Soup Kitchen in a few weeks.  It's amazing to me how smooth the transition to Young Womens has gone.  I always thought I would be completely out of my element with teenage girls (I have all brothers and all boys!), but my love for them was instant the second I was called.  It's been so fun hanging out with them each week and getting to know them all better.  I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who blesses those who are willing to serve and for the opportunity He's giving me to learn and grow along side these amazing girls!

Pilgrims and Indians

Second graders at our elementary school have a Thanksgiving assignment to make two peg dolls.  They bring the pegs home and are supposed to make them into Pilgrims, or Indians, or both.  Tanner and Landon both opted to do an Indian couple, but Braddock wanted to break the mold and chose to make an Indian and a Pilgrim.  This year Dean took the lead and helped Braddock with his project.  It was actually so much fun to see them work together.  A lot has changed in our lives since Dean was released as Bishop and diagnosed with Narcolepsy.  This is an incredible blessing we haven't really had before.  For Dean to be home, and awake, and available to do this project with Braddock is honestly a sweet miracle we never even knew was possible, but one we thank Heavenly Father for every day.  They did an incredible job....in fact maybe too incredible.  I told Dean that Braddock's teacher would never believe he made them, but I saw it with my own two eyes.  The two of them worked together every step of the way.  I hope every year, as he pulls out his dolls at Thanksgiving, that Braddock remembers this special time with his Dad.  

My one contribution to this whole thing was the food basket.  Braddock and I brainstormed the corn and some beads for other fruits and veggies.

World Kindness Day

Sportin’ our cardigans for #worldkindnessday2019. We love us some Mr. Rogers and love being kind! Well I do, my boys are still on the fence about it! 🤣 I kid, I kid.

 All the new babies at McGee Hospital were sporting Mr. Rogers outfits and his wife popped in for a visit.

And someone knit a sweater for the Mr. Rogers statue in Pittsburgh.  SO cool!