Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year! We are so blessed! Life is great, and it was fun to have a day to celebrate all of our many blessings!


We are especially lucky that we have so much family close by, and we were able to have 2 Thanksgiving meals with those we love and are close to!




I am pretty sure there were big holes in everyone's hearts reserved especially for Grandma and Uncle David. I suppose those will always be there, especially around the holidays.


Dinner at Joanna's:

Joanna was so sweet to invite the whole family over for dinner at her house. She did an amazing job decorating! The picture does not do the tablescape justice!

The table





The kitchen preparations





Lora and the dog

Jillian

Delicious!

Priya

Natalie and Grandma Petersen

Our best attempt at trying to get all the grandkids together for a picture

Thanksgiving at Aunt Lisa's:

Priya, me, and Uncle Scott (and the cute blanket he had made for Priya)

Aunt Dana, Shaun, Emily and Scott playing games

Paul and Priya...mmm... Pumpkin Pie!

Rachel, Aunt Lisa, and Mom

Dad

One final word about Thanksgiving:

I don't feel like I would be doing the day justice if I didn't take some time to write about my blessings. We are so blessed, in more ways than we can imagine. Here is a *short* list of some things that I am so thankful for:

1. The freedoms that we have in this country. We are able to worship, speak, work, etc. as we please. We are so lucky to live in a country such as this, and I am so grateful to the men and women who serve to keep us free.

2. A nice, warm home, a bed to sleep in, food to eat, lights to turn on, medicine to take, roads to drive on, clothes to wear, water to drink, and money coming in. There are so many people in the world who do not have these things, and we are so blessed that not only do we have them, most of the time we don't have to worry if we are going to have them tomorrow, either.

3. I am so grateful for the opportunity that Andrew and I have had to receive an education. We are able to read and write, and expand our mind. We have access to books, computers, etc. We can choose to keep learning as long as we want. I am grateful that Priya will have an opportunity to be educated as well.

4. I am so glad that we have such wonderful family and friends. We are so blessed to have family all around us, and they play such an important role in our lives. I am gratful for aunts, uncles, and cousins that I have strong bonds with, I am grateful for nieces and nephews that keep life fresh and exciting, I am grateful for grandparents and their wisdom, I am grateful for parents who are always willing to help and have raised us to be who we are, I am grateful for siblings that care so much about us and are our best friends. I am also grateful for family that has gone before us and will be there waiting when we get to the other side.

5. I am so grateful that we are healthy. Occasional cold bug? Bring it on! It reminds me that we are healthy, happy, and alive!

Most of all, I am grateful for my relationships with:

And

And

Ooohh... I just want to squeeze those gushy cheeks!

Phoenix Trip

Since it has almost been two months since I have posted anything, I've decided it is now time to play catch-up. The last few months have been busy for us, with lots of small things going on, and of course, getting ready for the holidays!

At the end of November, right before Thanksgiving, my mom got word that her sister in Arizona had a seizure and would most likely not be with us for much longer. She wanted to go and see her, and Priya and I went along for the ride. I hadn't seen my aunt in a long time, so it was nice to be able to go down there and say goodbye. She passed away shortly after our trip to see her. It is so sad, but we also know that she is in a better place, and she is out of pain. Sometimes life can be so hard, but it is nice to know that Someone Else is at the helm.

My Aunt April flew in from back East, and my cousin James, his wife Laura, my Uncle Scott, and Nana also drove down from Utah to visit her.

I did not do a good job of getting pictures on our trip (I didn't get any of me). Here are a few of the pictures that I got around to taking:

Priya and her buddy sleeping on the drive down

This is what happens when a 1 year old is left in the back seat alone with a box of tissues (and mom and grandma in the front seat not paying enough attention, apparently)! Priya doesn't have a happy face here because when we discovered what she had done, we started laughing, and Priya DID NOT appreciate us laughing at her.

Priya and James playing at Uncle Brett's apartment

Nana, Aunt April, Laura, Uncle Scott, Uncle Brett, and my mom

Priya loved swimming!

Aunt April and Priya

The sky on the way home. We were racing to beat that storm that came in right before Thanksgiving.

Happy Birthday, Christian!

Wow! I can't believe that my little brother turned 15 last month! It seems like only yesterday he was linig up his toy cars and telling people he wants to be a tractor or a bishop when he grows up. He is getting his permit, and before I know it, he will be driving and dating. He has really grown into a great young man, and it is exciting to see glimpses of the man he is becoming.

Some things I love about Christian are:

1. His work ethic. He has really become a hard worker in the past few years, and he is a great help to the family.
2. How caring he is about others.
3. His love for learning and reading. I swear, he is going to find the cure for cancer some day or something. That kid is smart.
4. His goofy sense of humor.
5. How he is so willing to lend a helping hand.

Here are some pictures from his birthday get-together:

Andrew playing Paul's drums

Playing video games while waiting for everyone to show up

Andrew and Erik


I love this picture and wish it wasn't blurry. This was Christian's reaction when he opened up his present from mom and dad:

A laptop!

Our present to Christian:

Don't mind the writing. We found it on the side of the road on the way to the party. ;)
A triops aquarium thingy.

Personally, I think they look like big bugs, but Christian loves the critters.

His "lacrosse ball" cake.

Happy 15th, Christian. You are one awesome guy.

Halloween

What a fun time we had this year! It was fun taking Priya to all of the Halloween festivities last year, but it was even better this year, now that she understood more of what was going on. I am sure that every year from now on is going to get better and better. Our festivities started on Friday night, when our ward through a trunk-or-treat/soup night. After eating some of the most delicious chicken noodle soup I have ever had, we had a costume parade, then went outside for the trunk-or-treat. I felt a little bad about mine and Andrew's costumes this year (we went as a boring old mom and dad) after we saw some of the amazing costumes in our ward! One family was dressed as Alice in Wonderland characters, and the mom's costume was amazing! Her body was a tree, with branches sticking out above her head, and the Chesire Cat was sitting on one of the branches. Her head was the cat's head. I wish I had gotten a picture of it. It was so cool!

Here is the picture of the sunset Friday night. I guess the sky decided to get into the Halloween mood as well. Beautiful!

Priya getting ready to trunk-or-treat. We originally had a cute little nose on her, and little skunk-freckles, but they didn't last long.

Mommy and Priya at the Trunk-or-Treat

It took a while for Priya to get the concept- here she is giving candy to people. Of course, once she discovered that it was candy, there was no way she was sharing.

On Saturday, which we celebrated as Halloween, I went to a baby shower for my dear friend, Rachel, in the morning. After the shower, we carved our pumpkins.

Our normal partners in crime usually include Joanna, Calvin, and their kids, but due to a bug that was going around, we didn't get to see them this Halloween. It was definitely a downer on our day because we love spending time with them so much!

Christian and Paul came to carve pumpkins with us, though.

Unfortunately, they procrastinated getting their pumpkins, and after going to a few different stores to find them pumpkin free, they gave up looking. Priya decided to share her pumpkin with Paul this year.

Priya loved the pumpkin guts, and she did a great job trying to resuscitate the pumpkins as we gutted them by putting the guts back in as we took them out. To be honest, it was a little counter-productive.

Our finished products. From left to right: Jessica's pumpkin (Maleficent's dragon), Paul's pumpkin (pirate skull) and Andrew's pumpkin (trick-or-treat)

Priya showing off her Vanna White skills.

Look at those pumpkins!

Oh, no! You really took out all of those guts? And now you are trying to burn it?

After carving pumpkins, we got out our candy for the trick-or-treaters and got Priya bundled up in her costume. I love the furry animal costumes because you don't have to worry about the kiddos getting cold.

Our house on Halloween

We love our ghosts that grace our windows during the Halloween season (if anyone is interested, they are at Kmart every year).

It was a little rainy. Daddy went to a few houses with Priya, then stayed to man our house for the Trick or Treaters while I took her down to my parent's neighborhood for more trick or treating.

We had some delicious pumpkin soup at my parent's house, then went out with my brothers, my sister, my dad, and my mom.

I just want to get on my soap box really quick- I love it when teenagers go trick-or-treating! As long as they dress up and are respectful, I hope they do it all through high school. Why make them grow up faster than they need to?

Paul's costume

Erik's costume (he didn't go trick-or-treating with us, he went to a party)

Christian's costume (isn't the bird on his head great?)

Priya was fascinated with this pumpkin and sat looking at it for at least 5 minutes. She loved the gummy worms crawling out of it.

After the 3 minute drive home, this is what I found in the back seat. She was so tired!

Her Halloween stash

(She has kindly offered to share with mommy and daddy)

And of course, Grandpa couldn't resist an excuse to spoil her. Her Halloween "treat" from Grandpa and Namama.

After putting Priya to bed, Andrew and I ate popcorn and home-baked pumpkin seeds and watched, "The Watcher in the Woods." Weird movie, 'nuff said.

On Sunday, which was really Halloween, I made our yearly pumpkin dinner. After dinner, we went down to my Aunt Dana's house to work on some trees we are donating to the festival of the trees.

We had such a fun holiday, and it makes me excited for all of the fun holidays coming up in the next few months!