Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

101 things I'm thankful for

In the random order that they came into my thoughts . . .

1. my boys (Mike, Charlie, Peter)
   
2. my savior Jesus Christ
3. my home
4. my husband's job, which allows me to stay at home with my children
5. my parents- Dad, Mom and Ron
   
6. my in-laws
7. my brother and his adorable family
   
8. that I knew all four of my grandparents
9. a sweet step-family
   
10. digital photography and my D60
    
11. photoshop elements
    
12. mint m&ms
13. peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
    
14. sunshine
15. heaters
16. Sesame Street
17. epidurals
18. crayola
19. Roberts craft store
20. Primary
21. Relief Society
22. visiting teaching
23. my play group friends
24. my time spent in Moscow
25. my degree
26. my mother's Delta benefits
27. the sacrifices of the U.S. military
    
28. the United States of America
29. cousins and friends that make me feel like I have sisters
30. 4 wheel drive
31. my garage
32. the holiday season
33. Christmas lights
34. hot chocolate
35. babies, especially my new nephew, Ethan
    
36. the ocean
37. Walt Disney
38. Pixar
39. the nearby dairy where we get good milk and ice cream and zoo-like entertainment for the kids
40. my computer
41. the internet
42. the blogging world
    
43. theater popcorn
44. the Thomas play table at the mall
45. old navy
46. health care
    
47. President Thomas S. Monson
48. the temple
    
49. the invention of tissues with lotion in them
    
50. indoor plumbing
51. water heaters
52. fully potty trained 3-year-olds
53. birthdays
54. airplanes
55. literacy
56. my yard
57. the park at the end of my street
58. creative children's book authors
59. jessicasprague.com (for keeping me entertained)
    
60. toaster waffles
61. that soon our church will switch from 1:00 to 11:00
62. itunes
63. Charlie's glow in the dark pjs
64. footie pjs for Peter who refuses to keep a blanket on at night
65. immunizations
66. antibiotics
67. bandaids
68. mascara
    
69. all the family vacations we took growing up . . . and the wonderful memories we created
70. Target
71. Winco
72. my cell phone and picture messaging
73. Jack Johnson
74. digital scrapbooking freebies (shabby princess, designer digitals, peppermint creative . . .)
75. Melissa & Doug products
76. shutterfly
77. our cars
78. the sanitation workers who pick up our garbage every week
79. nice normal neighbors
80. that I was able to live in so many beautiful places
81. the farmer's market
82. my over the fence neighbors who passed squash and tomatoes and plums over the fence for us to enjoy
83. my piano (okay, so it's my mom's piano, but she doesn't have room for it so I'm keeping it for a while)
84. my mom for putting me in piano lessons as a kid
85. the wii and wii fit plus . . . keeping us all entertained on cold rainy/snowy days
86. kids that sing in the car with me
87. my Wednesday nights singing with Viva la Voce
88. our fire pit for summer nights
    
89. our fireplace for winter ones
90. Elder Uchtdorf's talk on creativity
91. General Conference weekends
    
92. our family cookbook
93. my little box of random things that make me happy
94. Harry Potter
    
95. jeans
96. warm winter hats and mittens
97. snowmen
98. Candy Land
    
99. game nights with our families
    
100. the library

And one more-

101. I am so completely grateful for the life that my Heavenly Father has given me, and for the joy that I find in each and every day.

Happiness is . . .

a best friend.

Charlie & Ryan

Welcome to the World

Meet Brittany and Jared's new baby, our nephew . . . who is at the moment nameless. He is so sweet and tiny! And you all know how much I love little boys!

Congratulations you two. We're absolutely thrilled that he's here and everything went so well!

Picture of the day

Halloween Day

Favorite things about the day:

Making tacos!


Charlie playing with his friends at the church Trunk or Treat. I wish I had gotten a picture of him with any of them.


Peter figuring out that there was candy in his bucket and refusing to let go of it even for a second . . . unless he had a lollipop in his hand.

The kids knocking on their first door and trying to walk right in. I guess we didn't explain that we weren't staying.

Charlie ringing doorbells and then calling out, "Trick or treat! Trick or treat!" until someone answered the door . . . at which point he would politely ask, "Can I have a treat please?"

All the comments about our costumes.

All the wonderful costumes other people came up with!

Watching Charlie sort his candy when he got home.

And thus ends my favorite holiday . . . a magical night of make believe . . . Let us try to keep the spirit of Halloween with us always.

The Second Day of Halloween

Friday we carved a bunch of pumpkins. Charlie picked out the patterns that we used and helped us clean them out. Then we carved them. Actually I carved one and Mike carved four. This is his favorite part about Halloween.

The First Day of Halloween

We celebrated for three days straight. First, we went to Boo at the Zoo with my mom, Patti, Alan, Ryan and Mari. Charlie figured out how to get candy and Peter discovered the joy of the lollipop. It was VERY cold and crowded, but we had so much fun! It was a fantastic way to get in the mood for the "not-so-spooky" holiday.

We interrupt this family blog . . .

I know many of you already follow jessicasprague.com, but for those of you who have not discovered her yet, she has a free class coming up. I've taken two of her free online classes, and have loved them both. Such fun! So head over and take this class with me. You won't regret it!