Thanks for Thanksgiving

This is a book I've been reading to Brynn a LOT lately! It's called "Thanks for Thanksgiving" by Julie Markes. And since our camera isn't working, I hope you don't mind all the old pictures! It was fun to go back through all of them.

Thanks for Thanksgiving, for turkey and pie.
Thank you for fall and gold leaves floating by.

Thank you for school. I love to feel smart!

Thank you for music, and dancing, and art!

Thank you for play dates, for swings and for slides.

Thank you for hopscotch and piggyback rides.

Thanks for umberellas, for rain boots and puddles.
Thank you for Mommy and warm, cozy cuddles.
Thank you for daddy and rides on a sled. (ha ha)

Thank you for kisses and tucks into bed.

Thanks for the moon and the stars up above,

But MOST of all thanks for the family I love!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

All Brynn wants for Christmas is her two front teeth

Wow, it has been SUCH a long time since I posted anything! Our camera is throwing a tantrum and we are having a hard time importing pictures, so this will probably not be my most exciting post ever. But then I did leave a post about a vegetable up for 2 weeks, right?

This has been a rough week for Brynn. She has been teething and about a week ago the poor girl cried all night long and there was nothing we could do to calm her down. We tried oragel, infant Tylenol, teething toys. We finally just put some ice in a baggie and let her chew on it. The outside of her mouth and her nose were bright red, but anytime we took it away she would SCREAM! It was heartbreaking to see how miserable she was, but she has now officially cut her teeth and she is feeling much more like herself. Which means LOTS of cute games, giggles, smiles, kisses, hugs, melting mommy's heart and wrapping daddy around her little finger!
As for Marty and me, we have been busy trying to get our little 2 bedroom town home ready to accommodate SIX guests (yes, that's in addition to our three!) over the Thanksgiving holiday. We are SOOOOO excited to welcome Marty's brother and sister in law and their adorable twin boys as well as another brother and Brynn's Grandpa Neil! I can't wait to see you all!
As soon as we figure out what's wrong with our camera, I will be sure to post some pictures - we have some REALLY fun new ones!

I have a date with my squash partner

I actually do have some idea about how nerdy this is, and yes, I will probably regret posting this later...but I'm doing it anyway! Ok, so I am borderline obsessed with squash. It is one of my absolute favorite foods and one of the reasons I was excited for fall this year. Unfortunately, there are not many (including Marty) who share my...passion for this food. So you can imagine how excited, no - ECSTATIC I was when I discovered how much Brynn loves squash. I can put just about type of food, even sweet foods, on her high chair and she will eat the squash before anything else. So, everyday for the last couple of weeks Brynn and I have been eating squash for lunch and it has been SO fun! As Brynn has been growing and learning how to play games she has really become my little buddy keeping me company during the day. So now I just have a couple of questions. 1. Does anyone out there have any good squash recipes? I have a really good acorn squash recipe, but pretty much all other squashes I just bake. 2. Why is it so hard to find banana squash around here? And 3. Did I lose any friends with this post? :)

Welcome, Oldhams!

About a month ago my parents and my brother Corey came to visit us. It was SO fun and so good to see them! I feel bad that I didn't post it earlier, but I realized I didn't take any pictures with my camera because my parents camera is so much nicer. Well, on Saturday my mom sent the cutest Halloween care package with a few pictures from the trip inside, so better late than never, I guess!


We visited the Arizona Museum of Natural History. The only thing Brynn loved more than the dinosaurs was Grandpa!

There is nothing in the world that is sweeter than a big, wet kiss from Brynn!

Yes, it was September, but Brynn tried on her Halloween costume for the fam since they wouldn't see her until Christmas. That is my brother Corey in the background. Handsome, I know, but sorry ladies - he's taken!

And true to character, my mom TRIED not to send any pictures of her, but I did find one with her ARM in it, so...I win!

I was trying to think of a reason to post this one, but to be honest I added it just because I thought it was CUTE!

Thank you so much for coming to visit, guys! I love you!

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

I just read a good book by Mitch Albom (Tuesday's with Morrie author) called "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and thought I would post a quick quote from the book.

"Sacrifice," the captain said. "You made one. I made one. We all make them. But you were angry over yours. You kept thinking about what you lost.
"You didn't get it. Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to. Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices. A mother works so her son can go to school. A daughter moves home to take care of her sick father.
"A man goes to war...."
H stopped for a mement and looked off into the cloudy gray sky.
"Robozzo didn't die for nothing, you know. He sacrificed for his country, and his family knew it, and his kid brother went on to be a good soldier and a great man because he was inspired by it.
"I didn't die for nothing, either. That night, we might have all driven over that land mine. Then the four of us would have been gone."
Eddie shook his head. "But you..." He lowered his voice. "You lost your life."
The captain smacked his tongue on his teeth. "That's the thing. Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."

I recommend the book. Mitch Albom isn't trying to be "the authority" on heaven. He just presents some really nice concepts in the book, and I respect him for putting his "wish" (as he puts it) of what heaven is like out there.

New Carpet!

We finally have new carpet in our upstairs and it feels SO nice! The carpet was in pretty bad shape when we moved in and I have since discovered the unsettling feeling of not knowing what caused the stains that your little baby is crawling on. Brynn and I spent pretty much all day on the floor today!

Missouri

I know it's been a REALLY long time since I posted anything, so I will try to keep this as brief as a long-winded person like me possibly can. I've been a little under the weather this week so this post of our Missouri trip is a little overdue. But here we go!

Last week we went to visit Marty's sister Kris Anne (and family) in Kirksville Missouri. While we were there we were lucky enough to visit many of the church history sites in that area. Unfortunately, about half of our pictures are on Kris Anne's camera, so I will post a few pictures that I have and add others later as I receive them.

One of the first places we went was the Women's Memorial in Nauvoo. I vaguely remember it from a trip we took there when I was ten. But this is the first time I have been there as a mommy. It was such a sweet experience to be there with my baby. The spirit was so strong. It just confirmed to me once again that this is what I am supposed to be doing with my life right now.

The temple site at Independence.

Brynn getting a taste of pioneer life at the Independence Visitor's Center.

The Community of Christ (RLDS) temple.

The dedicated temple site at Far West.

One of the cornerstones of the Far West temple.

Nothing can brighten your day like matching yellow and pigtails...

and chocolate chip pancakes!

Is it too terribly bad that a nine month old baby has developed a taste for chocolate? How else were we to know if we were really going to keep her? After all, if she didn't like chocolate, I might have to send her back!

Like I said, I'll post pictures later that include the highlight of the trip - the NAUVOO TEMPLE!!!!