Thanksgiving and Santa!

During this time every year, I try and stop in all the chaos and remind myself how blessed I am. I try to look around at what all I have been given. Recently I have been so thankful for my job as a mother. Not everyone gets this job and not everyone is good at this job. I feel honored to be a mother and thank God everyday for allowing me to be a mother. There are so many times I get caught up in the chaos and routine of everyday activities that I try to remind myself to STOP and spend QUALITY time with my girls. Just the other night I was sitting in the living room, looking down at the rug. You couldn’t even see it because of all the toys on it. As I sat there thinking of how I needed to pick it all up, I stopped and remembered that one day the toys, baby dolls, balls and whatever else won’t be there. My girls mess will be somewhere else and I am sure I will want these days back. Although I am very tired most nights, I am truly grateful for my little messes! I am very grateful for my two healthy, beautiful girls. And of course our family would not be complete without my wonderful husband. He takes such good care of our family. I am so thankful for my family of 4.

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We went to Dave’s family for lunch and mine for dinner. All the food was wonderful. After lunch Lydia and I snuck out and seen the movie Tangled. It was a great movie and Lydia enjoyed every minute. As it was going off, she asked could we watch it again! The girls spent the night with Nannie and Langraddy Thursday night in order for Dave and I to go shopping Friday. We didn’t start real early but we were able to get most of our shopping done. Dave and I had a great time just the two of us. On the way home we stopped and watched a movie, a perfect end to OUR day! Saturday morning we took the girls to see Santa. Lydia jumped right up in his lap and started telling him all she wanted. She is not shy one bit and has always enjoyed the Santa experience. Layton was VERY hesitant. She wasn’t really sure if she wanted to sit in his lap. She did sit there long enough for a picture and that was it. I was proud that she didn’t cry!! We enjoyed a nice lunch with Aunt Chris and her girls and then headed home. On the way home we stopped and bought our Christmas tree. The rest of the afternoon and night was spent decorating the tree. I have been very pleased that Layton has not tried to climb the tree…YET! She does bring us an ornament about every 5 minutes. I am sure once it has been up for several days she will leave it alone. I am getting excited about Christmas. Lydia wants EVERYTHING and Layton doesn’t have a clue what’s going on!!

Layton looking at Santa!



WHO are you?







Layton was "talking" to some Fuzzy Chinese chickens.



Sweet girls!





So thankful for my family!



Such beautiful girls!!



Layton was talking back to me in this picture. You can see one of her many bruises on her head.