Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving this year.
This is the part where you get bored while I ramble about things I'm thankful for. Should I do it???
Okay fine.
Last Sunday Scott and I had to give talks in our church about Thanksgiving, and gratitude. We both had to talk at least 20 minutes since our talks were supposed to last for the entire meeting, so we both had to do a lot of research in order to find things to ramble about for 20 minutes each. The good news is, that it helped us both be extra aware of the things we're both thankful for this year. The bad news? I think it broke my pregnant body to stand there in heels for 20 minutes and try not to pass out, but oh well.
One of them (things Scott and I are grateful for) is each other. Everybody's story of how they met is different and unique. Ours is one that we both know we were led to. We both know that God worked things and circumstances out in both of our lives to help us find each other. Throughout our friendship and eventual courtship, we were both given continual promptings about each other. When we were still just friends, Scott would pop in my head a random times like when I was praying, and I would pop in his at random times like when he was taking the sacrament at church. For both of us those random moments surprised us because we'd never thought of each other in that way before. Our patriarchal blessings also talk about each other, and one line in particular is almost word for word identical when it comes to criteria for choosing our spouse. I'm a stubborn person, and when I was young and dating I was also easily distracted and marriage was the last thing on my mind. If it wasn't for those random moments when Heavenly Father basically told me to pay attention to him and him to me, I would have never known what an amazing friend I'd have for the rest of my life.
Here is our first thanksgiving together...back in 2004 when we were young and and first in love. We look drunk. We probably were...but drunk on being in love and all twitterpated:
This of course led to the other thing I'm most thankful for this year, Family. My siblings and parents, and of course Scott's siblings and his parents too. It's led to so many awesome memories over the years.

2005 Thanksgiving season (Las Vegas style):

2008 Spending time with my Mom's side of the fam:

Thanksgiving 2010...the first year Scott and I had our own little Thanksgiving with our kids in our townhouse last year:

Of course I have to post pics of THIS year or I'm an idiot. This year we hosted Thanksgiving for my side of the family in our new home. My Parents and brothers did an amazing job at helping prepare the food, set things up and clean up since my big, pregnant body has been handicapping me lately.

I LOVE FAMILY!!!! I love that my family has gotten bigger ever since I met Scott. I love that I have both his and my sides of the family to spend weekends, holidays and random craziness with. The best thing about having a bigger family since marriage?

My kids. Obviously.

This right here is what makes my home and life complete:


The world needs more kids dancing in living rooms!!!

EVERYone told me and Scott to wait to have kids when we got married. They all provided a long list of good and logical reasons from school, to finances to the fact that newlyweds should just enjoy each other company first without adding to it...why it would be best. We listened to them for about 4 months, and than did exactly what we once again, felt that Heavenly Father wanted us to do. People ask me to this day if getting pregnant 4 months into my marriage was an accident. Nope.
How could THIS face ever not exist???? Yeah right. Look at those eyes!!

(DISCLAIMER for the easily offended: I'm not saying that everyone should do what we did...that decision was something between Scott, me, and our Heavenly Father and we chose to listen to him instead of what everyone else said. Scott and I have always had a very special and unique relationship, and what's made it work over the last seven years from hooking up in the first place to where we are now. Blocking out everyone else's advice, and making our own decisions with our Heavenly Father is what has helped us to grow as a couple, and stick together during the hard times. Both Scott and I are very stubborn, persistent and passionate individuals. Had we not listened to the promptings that came from Heavenly Father regardless of what seemed logical at the time, I don't know where either of us would be today. Allowing God to control our lives when it was time to make tough decisions has been the glue that has kept us in love, kept us together, and made things work, and you know what? They've always worked out for the best, even if it wasn't always obvious at first. Anyway this is MY blog and this is what I'M thankful for. If that bugs you than you missed the point.)

Of course I have to give a shout out to my temporal, worldly things that I've been given in this world because, though they don't last, they too have been blessings.
Like I said, people thought Scott and I were nuts to have kids right away on our budget, but you know what? It worked out. Somehow there was always a way to pay the bills. Same with Seth, and this year not only are we blessed with a new guy, but we got blessed with a new house in the same year.
Yes the economy is bad, yes things are hard right now in our country...but this is what I came from when I lived in Bolivia for a year and a half.
Streets like this:

And bathrooms like this:

Some places had no running water at all, some no electricity. Lots of homes made out of adobe with tin roofs. Sewage/drainage system sucked. When it rained it caused floods. One flood that occurred while I was out there killed over 70 people.
Anyway, when I came home that first week, I saw my neighbor lady burst into tears because her automatic garage door opener wasn't working. I'm not saying that it's my right to say what kind of a day she'd been having...but it was hard for me to sympathize also.
I'm thankful for the country I live in. I'm thankful that in spite of what this country is going through that Scott me and the kids have been blessed with SO much.
We have each other, we have our family, and we have our kids. We have our temporal blessings too, but even if those go away we still have what matters. What a fantastic life we have!!