I AM GRATEFUL FOR....

...Grandpa Roy and Grandma Evelyn. These two are truly remarkable people. Robert and I always comment on how blessed we are that we have great families. These people would do anything for anyone. They have taught me a lot about service and love. They are great grandparents. My kids adore them and they are such wonderful examples to us. This is a picture of them with their mission calls. They are going to serve an 18 month military relations mission here is San Diego. They will be so great. We love you guys!!!

I AM GRATEFUL FOR....

....MAKE-UP FLOWERS. ENOUGH SAID=)

I AM GRATEFUL FOR....

....my wonderful husband. There are so many reasons why I am grateful for him. Here are just a few. He is such a wonderful husband and father. He is a worthy priesthood holder and he honors it. He is a hard worker and the most motivated and ambitious person I have ever met. He is friendly to everyone he meets and he would do anything for anybody. He has a love of the gospel and a love for learning that I admire. He is not scared of anything and he embraces challenges and new experiences with enthusiasm. So this is just to name a few qualities about him. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for bringing him into my life. I don't know how I got so lucky. I love you Robert.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR....

...DIGITAL CAMERAS. I know this sounds really lame but I love what digital cameras have allowed us non scrapbooking folks to do. I love that they allow us to stay in touch with our friends and family. I think it is so fun that I can keep in touch with friends from Junior High and friends from Indiana and Pennsylvania. We can watch each others families grow up. I love that. Another bonus is that before digital cameras I would have had to pay for the following pictures that my 4-year old took. Then it would not have been as cute. But now my little guy can explore his artistic side and I don't have to pay for it:) So today I am grateful for the technology of a digital camera.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR....

I am grateful to live in one of the most beautiful cities in our country. I love living in San Diego. There are so many beautiful places to visit. The weather is absolutely perfect and to top it off we live by our families. It doesn't get better than this. So today I am grateful to live in paradise.

p.s. I did not take these photos but I am sure that is obvious:)

I AM GRATEFUL FOR....

the opportunity I have each Sunday to go to church and renew my baptismal covenants. Today we had a great sacrament meeting and the children were all quiet enough that I actually got to listen to the talks today. I love feeling renewed each Sunday. I really need that each week. I am grateful for worthy priesthood that can bless and pass the sacrament each week. They are great examples to my boys. I am grateful for the sacrament.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR....

A beautiful Autumn day. Ok so maybe our autumn days don't really look like this, but I have lived places where they do and they are beautiful. But I am grateful for the beautiful fun autumn day we had today in the desert with a few friends.


So our beautiful autumn day consisted of a marshmallow roasting, 4 wheelin, dune buggying, sand playing, card playing, bush peeing (not me, I haven't mastered that skill yet), cricket eating day. Yes friends I said cricket eating. See photo below.
Nothing quite like an ooey gooey marshmallow to warm you on a frigid 85 degree day in the desert. The fire was left over from the night before so they enjoyed roasting marshmallows for breakfast.
Erin and I took off on the 4 wheelers for about an hour. We had so much fun. We fed the babies and left the dads in charge. I think they were about ready to send out a rescue party. It was a great time.
Scary Jerry took all the kids for rides in his dune buggy. They had a blast going all over the dunes.





Finding some relief from the sun inside the RV. Hey nothing passes time like a good old game of blackjack right?



Kyle wanted to drive so bad. Maybe in a few years buddy.
Robert worked with Tanner on teaching him how to drive it on his own. He learned really fast and really enjoyed himself. It is a little tricky working the pedal clutch and brakes but he did a great job.
Ok so let me explain the crickets. Some of our friends that were there stopped at a gas station along the way and they were selling different flavors of crickets. I was not about to try one. They were whole crickets, antennae and all. You could see their beady little eyeballs looking at you. I mean they were dead and I think fried but still eeww!!! Anyway a bunch of people were eating them and I was still refusing so Janice came up behind me and shoved one in my mouth. It was pretty funny. They actually didn't taste as bad as I had thought. They were like burned potato chips with a gross aftertaste, which I actually tasted the rest of the day. Oh well afterall how many people can say they have eaten a cricket?
The next picture is a little blury sorry. It is the nutritional information for the crickets. Wierd. Did you know that about 8 crickets is 9 calories and 1/2 gram of fat. Not bad huh? I still think I would rather eat a Tic Tac.
So I am grateful for a great fall weekend in the beautiful desert with friends and family