Feeling Thankful

 The world is a crazy place with a lot of crazy things going on. I have been stressed about the election. I have been frustrated that the effort and progress I am trying to make seems to be wasted.  I took a moment and looked back through my pictures the last couple of weeks and found I do have many things to be thankful for. Here are my thankful pictures.  I am grateful or Kate. She loves to read and she is usually a happy person showering me with hugs and kisses. Who doesn't like that? A kid that happily does her school work is my favorite.

Hayden and Kate happily cleaned up some leaves off the lawn. Work got done and minimal fighting happened. That is a good day.

I am especially grateful for Keith. I hate heights. He is willing to get the leaves off the roof. He takes care of all the icky jobs I just don't want to do. It's nice having a teammate to work with that takes the icky jobs without complaining.

He also spent all day on Saturday juding a debate tournament. Giving up a Saturday is a very hard thing for Keith. Spending an entire day on zoom is probably the worst way to spend a Saturday but he did it.  I am grateful for that.

Speaking of debate.... this is a picture of Sariah finding out she won FIRST PLACE in student congress at the tournament. It was quite a shock to the system! I'm so proud of her and how much progress she has been making in so many areas.

While Keith, Sariah and Hayden did a virtual debate tournament, Kate and I had a girls day. Naturally, we went to Hobby Lobby.

I like watching the kids learn new things. This girl watched a YouTube video with Keith and learned how to cut open a pomegranate. She now does it by herself quite often.

I took this picture for Corrine. It was right before a stormy day. I knew we had limited time of the fall leaves on the trees. I love how pretty they are. I love fall. As much as I HATE winter in January and February, I do love the changing of the seasons.

Freedom. I'm a sucker for freedom. This latest election cycle and mask mandates left me feeling like freedom might be a thing of the past. I'm such a rebel. I fly this flag whenever I feel bothered by the direction of the government. Its a small rebellion and no one notices, but it makes me feel better inside. 

GOOD FRIENDS. I am so thankful for the friends Jakob and Corrine have. These are my people. These are my kids. I love them all so much! All but Adam are return missionaries now. One is married and another one is engaged. Adam invited us to go through the temple with him and it was such a sweet treat for so many reasons. It was good to see these kids (my kids) together again.
 

The temple was so healing for me. I know you can't tell because of the lighting, but this is Keith, Jakob and I. It was so nice to drink up the spirit at the temple. I felt like I had been wandering in a desert for 9 months now and was finally given a little sip of water. It was so needed.

 

I am grateful for  lessons in overcoming hard things. This girl has been trying to do a standing back handspring for 19 months now. ALMOST TWO YEARS she has been working on it. Last night.... she did it! I promised her a shake when she did it so here ya go! If she can get her round-off back handspring she gets another shake.... expect a picture soon. She is super close.

November hasn't been too bad. I'm glad I'm a crazy picture taker because it does help me to look back and see the amazing things my kids are doing and the many blessings we have. Someday my kids will be grateful for the pictures.... at least I expect them to tell me they are.