Out of the mouth of babes

On Thanksgiving Ethan woke up and said, "It's chicken day!"

On the way to school Ethan asked me how Heavenly Father created us. I said he is our Father in Heaven and can create anything. The conversation then went as follows:

Ethan: I know what happened. He created the earth and then everyone on the earth.

me: Yes, that is right.

Ethan: He thinks for a min and says: If we are going to live with Heavenly Father again that means we will not be living on earth. How does that happen?

Me: When we are down living on earth we go to heaven. People go to heaven when they get old and someday Jesus will come to the Earth again and we will all live together again. I reassured him we will always live together as a family.

Ethan: What about our house? Will someone else live in it?

Me: When we live in heaven our home will be in there and it will be very nice.

Ethan: Will there be toys?

Me: I think there will be toys. You will like it. 

I was surprised at all these insightful question and the connections Ethan was making. It was a very grown up conversation and he seemed to understand what I was saying. It was neat to have a conversation like that with him.

As we pulled up to the Goodman's home they had their Christmas nativity on the lawn with Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus. Tanner surprised us by saying, "Hi Jesus" while waving to him. We were pleasantly surprised to see that he knew that was baby Jesus without anyone saying so ahead of time, and it was the first nativity we had seen for the Christmas season. Kids are so smart!

Picture recap of Thanksgiving weekend

Happy Thanksgiving!

My last thankful post will be on one of the most important blessings and that is Jared. I am grateful to be his wife and for his love and support. He truly is my everything and I don't know what I would do without him. I am grateful for his testimony of Jesus Christ, and for the example he shows to me and the boys. I am grateful he honors his priesthood and we can call on him to bless our family at any time. I respect his work ethic and I'm so amazed how hard he works and never complains. Residency is not an easy thing but Jared makes it look easy. Even though he has put in a long and hard day Jared comes home and is so engaged with each of us. He is so humble and smart. Jared has a lot he could brag about but he never does. He gives all the praise to God and realizes everything we are or have comes from Him. I am grateful for our happy marriage and that we will be together forever. I am eternally grateful for him. I am one blessed and lucky girl.

I am also grateful I once again got to come down to Tustin today to spend the week with family. I am grateful Heather and Doug came down for Thanksgiving and we got to spend this evening playing games and visiting as a family. I am grateful that Keena is spending several days with us. I have many many blessings! I am excited for our big Thanksgiving feast tomorrow and am extremely grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a rich life. Happy Thanksgiving!

Technology

I am grateful for modern technology such as the internet, TV, radio, and cell phones to name just a few. The world is constantly changing and I don't know how we lived before we had some of these modern conveniences. If I have a question about anything I can go to the computer and with a click of a button have my answer. I am grateful I can keep a record of my family's daily activities here online. I am amazed and very grateful for the ever changing techology of today!

The sweetness of a child

As I was putting Tanner down for bed tonight while walking past a picture of Jesus Tanner says, "Night night Jesus" while waving. I love the pure love of a little child. As we drive in the car he can be found waving and blowing kisses to the stranger next to us. I love how Ethan gives all of us hugs throughout the day while telling us he loves us. I love the bond I have with my boys and it's something I'm grateful for every single day.

Health

I am grateful for my health. I have never had any major physical condition that has been a long-term problem for me. It is such a blessing and something that can easily be over-looked until we have a bad cut on our hand or have a knee problem and realize just how much we use each part of our body. I am also grateful for the health of the family members around me. What a blessing to be able to walk, see, smell, touch and taste.

Special outings

Today I am grateful I got to go to the California Utah Women's boutique and luncheon with Kay and Carly and got to meet up with Laurie. I enjoy this event every year and it was fun having Carly and Laurie join us for the first time. It's funny because of course Laurie and I show up wearing exactly the same pants, undershirt and sweater. Neither of us knew the other owned this sweater so it was quite unexpected but definitely not the first time something like this has happened. What can we say, we have great taste!

In the evening Jared and I went on a double date with Joel and Carly to the temple and then to see Breaking Dawn. It was such a fun day and I'm grateful for wonderful family members.