One more hug...

We received some very sad news when we came home from the football game yesterday. Our neighbor (who was 31) had been killed earlier in the day in a motocross accident leaving behind a pregnant wife (due in 2 weeks), a son who is 3 and a daughter who is 2. He was a great guy and his little boy just idolized him. We are heartbroken over this news and it has put life back into perspective. We always get so caught up worrying about the daily grind and responsibilities and this is a reminder that it's more important to take the time to give one more hug, one more kiss or say one more I love you. We so often take our life for granted and it's unfortunate that it takes a tragedy like this to remind us of what's most important.

So to my family, friends and neighbors that read this I love you and I am grateful for each one of you. My life is better because of each of you. I appreciate the love, laughter, kindness, and examples you bring to my life. Give those extra hugs to those that surround you and never take a moment for granted! Please also add the Buttars' family to your prayers!

Thankful Thursday

With Thanksgiving tomorrow I thought I would write my Thankful Thursday tonight before all the cooking and chaos begins. :) I am thankful for so many things and it's always nice to have a day every year that directs you to reflect on those things. I'm thankful that I came across this "Thankful Thursday" idea in someone elses blog so I purposefully reflect each week on those things for which I am most grateful.

This year I have been continually grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family. My friends and family constantly lift me up, perform selfless acts of kindness, are always willing to listen to me vent and help me move on, and provide hours of laughter and fun.

I am thankful for blogs where I am entertained, enlightened and inspired. I'm thankful for the blogs that help me keep in touch with my friends that live far away and for the ones that help me get to know my neighbors better. I'm also grateful for the blogs of those I don't even know but feel like I've lived through a year full of struggles and victories with them.

I'm thankful for my husband and children. I'm thankful we are all healthy and happy and I'm especially thankful for the days when the kids actually remember they love each other! :)I'm thankful for a year full of memories together and I'm thankful for the opportunities we've had to learn and grow together.

I'm thankful for so many things but I am especially thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for his atonement on my behalf. I'm thankful for my knowledge of Him and for the role He plays in my life. I am grateful to serve in the primary with such wonderful women who are great examples to me and to be around the kids with their purity and innocence...even when they don't seem so "innocent". :)

I am thankful for my life and for everything it entails...the good, the bad, the blessings and the trials. They are all a part of what makes my life mine!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for those "Perfect Moments" in life that don't happen very often but sure are great when they do. They are the simple moments that make all the other chaotic moments worthwhile. I had one of those simply perfect moments one night this week...we were all in the living room - Nick and I were reading and talking about his book for school (it's a little hard to understand so we're reading it together), Hailey was working in an activity book doing puzzles and crosswords, etc., Brian was reading the newspaper, we had the football game on in the background, and the puppy was laying on his bed chewing on a stick he loves. No one was fighting or arguing, we all weren't running in 5 different directions, no one was chasing the dog down to get something away from him, we were all just doing our things in the same room together peacefully. It was a great moment. :)

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for humor and laughter in my life. I'm thankful that I laugh so much when I'm out with friends, at work, and at home with my family. I loved a comment Hailey made the other day when Brian and I were joking with each other and she said, "You guys sure laugh a lot together." What a great compliment that after 13 years of marriage we're still laughing and have our fun jokes with each other. I'm thankful I'm married to a guy who loves to laugh and have fun with life and I'm grateful that each of my kids have such a great sense of humor...they make me laugh everyday with things that come out of their mouths! :)

One of the things that made me laugh this week is something Brian did...awhile ago he was commenting that his hair was getting too long and that his "bangs" were in his eyes. The kids and I started laughing as we were looking for these bangs that were in his eyes. He is the first to admit that his hair has receded a little over the years and we're thinking the hair on top of his head might have CAUGHT his eye, but it certainly couldn't have been IN his eyes. :) We also let him know that we weren't sure he even HAD bangs. :) He was not appreciating these comments but we were all (including him) having a good giggle over it. Well he went to get his hair cut this week and apparently the gal cutting his hair asked him how he wanted his bangs done. He perked up and said, "I have bangs?" She assured him he did so he asked if he could get that in writing.

When he walked in the door that night he handed me this...

Too funny!!! :)

Opinions Needed

Our dishwasher (that I hate by the way) died yesterday so we're deciding whether to put money into repairing a dishwasher we hate just to keep it going awhile longer, or if we save our pennies and invest in a new one. Since I've never really shopped dishwashers (the one that died is just the one that came with our house when we built it), I wanted to get opinions on some great dishwashers/brands/models that are also a great price. :) I know that most of you that read this don't actually blog so you never leave comments, but you can send me an email with any info you think might be helpful. :) Thanks!!!!

Thankful Thursday

This is more like a Halloween post then a Thankful Thursday post but I am very thankful that the kids had a fun and safe Halloween! I am also thankful for the lesson I learned in being patient and going with the flow with my daughter this year. I don't know why I expect it to be different every year, but each year as Halloween approaches and I ask Hailey what she wants to be for Halloween I should just come to expect that what she originally decides and what she actually is are ALWAYS going to be different. :) She is not big on dressing up so we try to come up with something that won't require an elaborate costume. I thought I had it nailed this year when I suggested she be a Jazz Fan (the Utah Jazz basketball team for those that live outside of Utah and aren't big into sports). :) She was excited about that at first and we bought a plain blue sweatshirt from Walmart and used fabric paints to write "Go Jazz" on it, we got blue hair spray and face crayons to write Jazz on her cheeks and we had some wrist bands and a head band that have the Utah Jazz logo on them. Simple enough right? Well she wore that to a church party but the morning of the Halloween Parade at school she said she didn't want to be a Jazz fan anymore. My first reaction was to get frustrated that once again I wasted money buying anything for her for Halloween. But I took a deep breath and just tried to support her new ideas she was coming up with and I thought she ended up with something pretty creative that allowed her to stay within her comfort zone of not wanting to "dress up". She got a white face crayon and drew a milk mustache on her upper lip and made a sign to wear that said, "Got Milk?" I NEVER would've thought of that!!! :)

The funniest costume we saw this year though was our neighbor Travis who dressed up like Woody Harrelson's character in the movie Kingpin. (I can't remember his name.) Travis actually shaved the middle of his head bald and glued his longer hair across the top for a comb over...it was HYSTERICAL!!!!!

His right hand is a fake hand with the big championship bowling ring on it just like in the movie. Needless to say when I saw Travis out in his driveway yesterday his whole head is now shaved bald...I guess he didn't want to keep the comb over look. :)

Rocko even got in on the act this year and dressed up. Brian walked around with Hailey and her friends for trick or treating so he took Rocko with him. :)

This is Hailey and her friends when they came to our door trick or treating. The funny thing is I didn't recognize the shorter girl dressed up like Twister so I just assumed she was one of the others girls friends or cousin or something but I found out afterwards that she just came to the door at the same time and they didn't actually know her. :) She was nice enough to pose for the picture though. lol

Nick and his friends getting ready to go out trick or treating.

This obviously has nothing to do with Halloween but I thought it was so funny that Hailey had Rocko sitting on his bum on her lap while she was playing the piano with his paws. :)