Thanks giving

I thought I would share some of my gratitude list this Thanksgiving. It will probably seem silly and obvious to some of you, but this year I am especially grateful for these things. (I won't give you all of the reasons, but know that there are many.)

I am grateful for . . .
My husband and sons
My parents and siblings
My in-laws
Friends, near and far
Education, both mine and my husband's
Shelter, even if it isn't top quality, it is better than a lot of other people have
Prayer
Miracles for those I love
Enough to eat
Clothing
The gospel
The Savior
The Church
Inspiration
Motherhood
The United States of America
Technology (especially computers and mobile phones)
Good examples
To be able to serve others
Prophetic counsel
Peace (wherever and whenever it occurs)
Safety (and those who make it possible)
Certain trials, I can't be thankful for all of them yet
Temples and the covenants made there
Books
Generosity
Tax returns and stimulus checks
My comfy bed
Music
Dancing and reading with my boys
Family Home Evening traditions

Pie Night 2008

For years my family growing up had a party with pies and games the night before Thanksgiving so that the pies could be fully appreciated. Since being married, my husband and I have celebrated pie night, in one form or another, every year that we have been in the United States. (And the year we missed, good friends held pie night in our honor.)

This year, we tried some new pies. But, as always, I forgot to take pictures of every pie but the best shoofly pie I have ever made. So you'll have to take my word for it that I made all the pies.

We served:

Shoofly pie (I made it)

Apple pie (I made it)

Honey chiffon pie with ganoche bees (I made it)

French silk (I made it)

Banner banana pie (I made it)

Pumpkin (I made one and DS made another)

Black bottom chocolate pie (AC made it)

Cream cheese chocolate pie (SD made it)

Pecan pie (KBF made it)

Key lime pie (AC made it)

Vanilla ice cream (EK donated it because her mom was frazzled)

Gotta love the South

A few weeks ago I was chatting with my oldest sister as she drove through a white-out snowstorm in Utah. I was bragging that the boys and I were sitting in barefeet with the sliding-glass door open to the porch and that we were wearing t-shirts. Today, the boys are a little more dressed (long sleeved t-shirts for the boys, but the oldest always kicks off his shoes to play in the sand) but the door has been open all afternoon even though it is rainy and cool. Gotta love the South.

Nothing big . . .

This isn't one of those amazing posts, where I have pictures and details. My husband is at a conference and the boys and I are home with colds. We've been playing with feathers—yellow feathers someone left as part of a craft kit for too long in the church lost and found. I was sitting on the floor and the oldest was running circles around me (literally). All of us were laughing. The youngest crawled over to my lap and sat between my legs and leaned back. I had become his cushion. (He's been doing this lately sitting down by me and then leaning back as if my legs were his pillow and he were relaxing.) The youngest started laughing with me as we followed the oldest circling around us. It made having a cold and being homebound worthwhile. Sometimes I really love being a mom.

My First Pony (Ride)

A friend told me that one of the local senior assisted living centers was hosting a fall festival, and since we were out and about on Saturday, we decided to drive by. It was low key in some ways, but it made up for that by having pony rides. My oldest thought it looked pretty neat, and even submitted to being put on the pony by the guy in charge. Immediately after getting on, he patted the pony. He rode around with me right next to him (with the youngest in arms) for two rotations. Then the pony he was on stopped and my oldest decided he was done. Since I had had the youngest in arms, and I hadn't wanted to leave my little boy walking around on a pony without anything to help him balance (no reins or anything to hold on to), I hadn't been able to snap a picture of his first pony ride, so I stopped the ride for a minute while I got a few pictures.

Mmmm

My oldest has started climbing over the baby gate to get into the kitchen, where he opens the refrigerator and decides what he wants to eat. Sometimes, he will dump out a bucket of toys, throw the bucket over the gate, climb over himself, and use the bucket as a stool. (One Sunday, while I was at general conference, he did this to his father, grabbing a dozen eggs and accidentally dropping them on the floor. Or maybe it wasn't so accidentally; he loves breaking eggs.)

The other day, he did this and discovered almost-ripe pears on the counter. He grabbed one, peeled off the sticker, climbed back over the gate, and started to eat. When he was done, he dropped it on the floor. His younger brother found it and decided to try it out. His verdict: delicious!

Halloween

We went trick or treating with some friends in their neighborhood. There were seven children: an almost 6-year-old Anakin Skywalker, a 5 1/2-year-old race car driver, my 3-year-old Pancho Villa, an almost 3-year-old Darth Vadar (complete with a bow on her helmet), a 2 year-old octopus, an almost 2-year-old cat, and my 1-year-old frog. They were adorable! Darth Vadar and the race car driver LOVE the frog. The frog only wanted to be held by Mama (a mouse).

It was Pancho Villa's first experience trick or treating. (He's only gone trunk or treating, and there is a big difference when you are ringing doorbells and asking strangers, "Trick or treat?") You'll notice in the pictures that the sombrero made Pancho Villa a very wide load. If he was at the door, no other children were there, and if he was walking up the stairs, he walked up alone.

We also tried to emphasize safety: hold hands, make sure cars see you, no eating candy until Mama and Papi have checked it, have fun.

Darth Vadar (you can see her bow in this picture), the octopus, and Pancho did a great job holding hands. And then, when Pancho's sombrero fell off—which it often did—the octopus was sweet enough to help put it back on.

Here I am walking with the two boys. That's right: no sidewalks (or relatively few).

In the end, Pancho Villa, the cat, and the octopus trick or treated the longest. And they would have kept going but the frog was ready to go to sleep. We went back to our friends', ate delicious cinnamon rolls and chocolate cupcakes, and drank wonderful cider. What a wonderful time with friends.

My only complaint about the evening were the few houses who had decorated their homes, lit their pumpkins, left their porch light on, and left a light on in the house, but didn't answer the door (or weren't prepared for trick or treaters—the "Oh, I'm having a party" lady who eventually came through with some candy comes to mind). I don't expect anyone to participate who doesn't want to, but if you don't want to, turn off your light.