Our Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a special holiday for our family this year because Lloyd didn't have to work. I convinced him to run the Modesto Turkey Trot 5K (3.1 miles) with me. Since Lloyd hadn't just ran a marathon last month like I had, he needed to work up to running 3 miles. I am so proud he took my challenge and ended up being able to run the race on Thanksgiving morning. We also got Katelyn and Kylie involved in the fun. They ran the kids' half mile. Here we are before our runs.

The girls' race was first and here's a shot we got of Kylie near the finish line. Katelyn was right behind her and I missed her finish all together because I was taking pictures of Kylie. After the girls' race, Lloyd and I lined up for the 5K. It was pretty crowded; there were over 1100 people who ran the 5K. Since this race is shorter than most of the others I run, I tried to start out a bit faster. Yes, it was only three miles, but it was still a challenge. I wanted to sprint at the end, but just couldn't. I ended up finishing in 24:44which is a 7:58 mile average. Lloyd started out slow and ended up passing a lot of people at the end. I loved cheering for him as he crossed the finish line. He finished in 31:54 with a 10:16 mile average. It was a great way to begin the day for all of us. It may just have to become a family tradition.

After our "fun run" we had the missionaries over for a Thanksgiving brunch. It was wonderful with eggs, hash browns, ham, and crepes. We love to have the elders over especially on holidays. We want them to feel loved and have plenty to eat. They came over for Halloween too and will be here Christmas Eve.

After brunch, we headed to my mom's for Thanksgiving dinner (yes, more food to eat) in San Jose. We had a simple and relaxing Thanksgiving with Bryce, Chareen, Susan and Josh Anderson, and Ray. We tried something different this year - a deep fried turkey. It was okay, but we think we'll go back to the traditional way next year. It was a day to be with family and enjoy our many blessings.

In this picture Kylie is showing her true colors. I know I can be a real nag with the camera. I do feel so very blessed and grateful for my beautiful family. I just want to capture every moment before these kids are all grown up. My blessings make me so joyful.

Thanksgiving All Year Long

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday for me. Yes, I do love that it involves eating, but that's not the main reason I love it. I love the concept behind it. I love taking time out to count my blessings and express gratitude for all that I have. I really try to make "thanks giving" a daily event for me. I've heard that people who are grateful for what they have experience more happiness in their lives. I saw a quote on a church's billboard that said, "Thanksgiving leads to thanks living." I try daily to have a thankful heart and realize that all my blessings come from the Lord. One way we can show the Lord we are grateful for our blessings is by expressing gratitude when we pray. Elder David Bednar discussed this in his conference talk, "Pray Always." He spoke about offering prayers of only thanks. I've tried this challenge before and it's amazing how many things there are to thank the Lord for. President Thomas S. Monson spoke about gratitude in his talk "Finding Joy in the Journey" I just want to share a couple paragraphs from his talk:

Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.” May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed.

When I taught third grade I always enjoyed teaching my students about the pilgrims and how they came to America for religious freedom. I am grateful to them, the founding fathers of America, and the Mormon pioneers. Because of all of them, I have the gospel in my life. For a few years now I've made a blessing mix that reminds us of all the sacrifices of the pilgrims. I got the recipe from my mom and like to layer it in a quart jar.

I attach a tag with these descriptions to it:

BLESSINGS MIX

*Bugles: Shaped like a cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, a symbol of our nation's abundance.
*Candy corn: Sacrifices of the Pilgrims' first winter. Food was so scarce that settlers survived on just a few kernels of corn a day.
*Nuts: Promise of a future harvest, one we will reap only if seeds are planted and
tended with diligence.
*Raisins: Harvest gifts of our bountiful land.
*M&Ms: Memories of those who came before us to guide us to a blessed future.
*Pretzels: Arms folded in prayer, a freedom sought by those who founded our country.

Even when I have a bad day, I always realize how very blessed I am. I just wanted to list a few of my greatest blessings. First, I am most grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and His atonement for me. I would really have no purpose without Him and His plan. I am so
thankful that because of His atonement I can be forgiven of my many sins and mistakes. I am grateful for Jesus and the perfect example he set for me to follow. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. I am so thankful we were able to be married in the temple and are sealed for eternity. Lloyd is a very patient, loving, and loyal person. I feel so honored to be his wife. I am so thankful for my five healthy children. I feel so blessed that I was able to have five children. My heart goes out to couples who aren't able to have children. I am so very blessed! My children are my greatest challenge and my greatest blessing. I am so grateful for my healthy body. I love to exercise and feel so thankful I can. I am also thankful for our jobs, especially in this economy. I am grateful for our warm home, our clothes, and our food. I often realize how much I take for granted and how so many others have less than me. I could go on and on about my many blessings. I am so thankful for all that I have been blessed with.

Midnight Showing of Twilight

Thursday, November 20 was the ultimate Girls' Night Out. It was the largest and most awaited Girls' Night that I've ever attended. It was the midnight showing of TWILIGHT! There were over 30 people who attended with our group (some teenagers, lots of Moms, a Grandma, and even a husband). We all bought our tickets in advance to attend the movie downtown at the Brenden Theaters. All of us love the Twilight series and could not wait to see how the movie would be.

Fourteen of us went out to eat before the movie. Kelly, Tanda, Lori, and Sherry

Lisa and Regina

Natalie, Ann, and Melinda

Amber and Julie

Jessica, me, and Stacey

More of our friends met us in line at the theater. There was a lot of excitement in the air as we waited outside the theater for about an hour. The line went around the block and was shown on three different screens. Several fans wore their Twilight shirts or dressed up like a vampire. It was amazing to see how many fans there are.Once they opened up the doors, we all scrambled to find the perfect seats. It was a bit crazy and chaotic. A lot of us got separated from each other, but we all found a seat. Then we just had to wait until midnight for the official movie date release (11-21-08). I felt a little wired. I think I had too much diet Pepsi at dinner and my body didn't know what to do with all that caffeine. Finally, a little after midnight, the waiting was over and the movie began. It began with Bella in Arizona (loved all the cactus plants) and showed her moving to Forks. Bella narrated throughout the movie. It was interesting to see how different characters were portrayed. I felt like Carlisle and Jasper were a bit over the top. I think Esme, Alice, and Rosalie were right on. Rosalie could have looked more model-like though. I think Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) did a thorough job with their roles. I guess my biggest disappointment came from the overall quality of the film. It seemed very low budget to me and the special effects weren't that great. I tried to go in with low expectations, but was still a bit disappointed. I thought the scene in the meadow where Edward shows Bella how he sparkles in the sun was weak. Jacob also seemed a bit awkward with his wig. It was a little over the top when they showed Carlisle biting and changing his family members, and when Edward sucked Bella's blood after James had bit her. I didn't really care for some of the cheesy comments throughout the movie, like when Eric shows Bella a worm at the greenhouse or how silly Jessica was when she tried on her prom dress. There are some things I really liked about the movie though. I really enjoyed the baseball scene. I thought James and the other vampires were interesting to watch. I was surprised at how nice looking Chief Swan was; I hadn't pictured him that young or good looking. I think the funniest part was when the Cullens were trying to make dinner for Bella and Rosalie broke the glass bowl when Bella said she'd already eaten. I did like the last scene at the prom. Bella looked really pretty in the blue dress, but I didn't like the sweater she wore with it. I read "Midnight Sun" the week the movie came out and I enjoyed reading everything from Edward's perspective. I think the movie did a good job incorporating some of the feelings and events that were described in "Midnight Sun." So there's my little review of Twilight. I've only seen it once and would like to see it again in the theater. A few friends told me they liked it better the second time. I guess they will be making "New Moon" into a movie. It will have a different director and I don't know if they'll be getting a different actor to play Jacob. I think it may have a bigger budget so the special effects may be better. "New Moon" is my least favorite book in the series, but of course I won't miss the movie. Thanks to all the Twilight fans who attended the midnight showing with me. I didn't let Courtney attend the midnight showing, but she saw the movie Saturday morning. By the way, we ordered some amazing Twilight bookmarks from ebay. Click on the link to see them. We especially liked #14 Twilight Bookmarks

An Early Christmas Present to Myself

I told myself when we were done having kids I'd get us all matching stockings. So I indulged this year and ordered these from Pottery Barn. I got an amazing deal by ordering early (November 10). They were on sale and I got free embroidery. I love looking at our new stockings. Even though they are for all of us, they're really an early Christmas present to myself.

Soccer Season is Finally Over!

Tonight we had the pizza parties for Courtney's and Katelyn's soccer teams. Kylie's party was last week which means soccer season is officially over! Soccer season runs from August to November and has proven to be a very busy time for our family. Three girls in soccer meant five practices a week and three games every Saturday. I felt lucky that the three locations of the girls' games were pretty close together. Lloyd worked a lot of Saturdays so it was always a trick for me to get the girls to their games and watch out after the boys. Each of the girls loved playing soccer. I have mixed feelings about it. I love to see the girls play, but it also turns our life upside down. I have to admit that we haven't had Family Home Evening in months mostly due to soccer. We are looking forward to having more time at home and improving on our Family Home Evenings and scripture study. We'll see how next year goes because Cameron will be playing next year and that will mean four in soccer. Yikes!

KYLIE

Kylie is definitely the most competitive of the three girls. She is elated when she scores a goal and when her team wins. On the other hand, she is very upset when the opposing goalie blocks her shot on goal or when her team loses. Luckily, her team only lost a couple games this year. I guess I can admit that Kylie was the star player of the team. She scored the majority of goals. This was her third year playing soccer and she seemed more experienced than the other girls on her team. However, having your seven-year-old daughter as the "star" isn't always a good thing. We had to talk to her about being humble and giving all the girls a chance. She began the season by doing a cartwheel after every goal she scored. Lloyd told her she wasn't allowed to do that any more because it showed poor sportsmanship to the other team. I did enjoy watching Kylie's games. It's a bit humorous to watch six and seven year olds play soccer. Kylie's team - The Pink Panthers

Kylie celebrating after she scored a goal!

Kylie received a medal from her coach at their pizza party. They don't have tournaments or rank teams in her age division. She would have liked to have gotten a trophy like her sisters did.

KATELYN

This was Katelyn's third year playing soccer. She absolutely adored her coaches this year. They are a husband and wife who coach as volunteers; they don't even have any of their own kids on the teams they coach. The last two years Katelyn had coaches who yelled a lot. She really liked her coaches this year because she said, "They actually taught us how to play soccer instead of just yelling at us." Her team didn't have the best record. They won a couple, tied a couple, and lost the rest. We felt bad for Katelyn because it seemed like Courtney's and Kylie's teams won almost every week. Although Katelyn's team didn't have the best record, their team was very unified and close. Katelyn contributed a lot to her team this year. She has made a lot of improvement in the last three years. She mostly played midfield so it was hard for me to get a lot of action shots of her. Katelyn's team - The Purple Bruisers

This picture was taken during the second game of their tournament. They tied the first two games of the tournament, but lost the third. They didn't qualify for the finals and didn't end up placing in their age division.

They had to play their second tournament game in the dark!

Katelyn's coaches, Wendy and Larry, gave all the girls a Bobble Head trophy at their pizza party. We will always remember what great coaches they were!

COURTNEY

This was Courtney's fifth year playing soccer. She is a very talented soccer player, but doesn't brag about it (like someone else). Courtney tends to have a fairly reserved personality, but when she gets on the soccer field she isn't shy at all. She's our sporty girl! Last year Courtney played on a traveling, competitive team called AJAX. This year she was sick when they had the AJAX tryouts and wasn't put on the team. It ended up being a blessing for us. The AJAX team was costly and a huge time commitment. We're glad Courtney played on a rec. team this year. She was so excited when she went to her first practice and she saw that a lot of her friends were on the same team as her. Courtney loved her team (The Shockers) and they loved her. She played forward for a lot of the season and was able to score several goals. I enjoyed taking these action shots of her.

Her team qualified for the final game of their tournament. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, and they were forced to do a shoot out as a tiebreaker. Courtney's team ended up losing the shoot out 1-2. They got second place in their age divison and each of the players got a trophy. They had a great season!