Thanksgiving Gratitude

For Family Home Evening we a few things we were thankful for on paper leaves with the intentions of making a cute "thankful tree". Well, at least we did the leaves! :) I never actually got to the tree part. I think posting it on here will last longer anyway, so here's what our family is thankful for this year~
Daddy: I am thankful for my kids, the Atonement, my mission, a/c and indoor plumbing, my family heritage, motorcycles, my US citizenship, my wife.
Mom: my home, good music, family night, my husband and kids (being a mom), playing games with my family.
Teeny Bopper: my blog, my friends, my glasses, my ipod (albeit the fact that I don't have one yet).
Sweet G: all animals, the Atonement, my violin, flowers, the Prophet, an education.
Blondie: my parents, my home, the army, my friends, my bed.
Little Miss: "my famley", mom and dad, (a few other things we can't read or remember what it is supposed to say).
Dr. D: robots, cars, ice cream, fish and crabs, books.

What up, kid?

OK, not sure what Dr. D had in his corn flakes this morning, but he was full of it today! The kids were all playing out front and I look over to see him drop his pants and pee in the neighbor's cactus. (sorry, Debe!) Then a while later I was in the kitchen and I hear the baby giggling in the family room. He was laying on the floor playing so I went to see what was so funny and Dr. D was full-on STANDING ON TOP OF HIM! What the baby thought was so funny I don't know. Maybe his feet were tickling his ribs? I yelled, Dr. D quickly got off and I explained that he could break his bones by doing that. He didn't get it, and thought that because Tailgunner liked it, it must be ok. Ay-yay-yay.

Kids say...

Just jotting down a few funny things my kids are saying at their tender ages. teehee

Dr. D calls Lightening McQueen "Lightening of the King".
Little Miss pronounces annoying "annoring".
Sweet G was telling a bedtime story last night and told Dr. D to choose a color for his horse. He picked black and named it "Shebita".
Teeny Bopper makes up Secret Agent bedtime stories for the kids and Dr. D remembered one of the evil characters from a while ago, named "Dark Nightus". One of the newer bad guys is "Pillow Fightun".
Upon waking up from his nap the other day, Dr. D woke up saying, "Who took my crackers?" That was pretty funny.

I hate forgetting these funny little things. Now, I won't forget. :)

NieNie

I met her. I met Stephanie Nielson and her husband Christian! Today at the Blissfest in downtown Mesa. And she is sweet. Super, super sweet. And beautiful. They were both incredibly beautiful people. There was so much I wanted to say to her and ask her. But, alas, I am never good when it comes to speaking in the moment. The lady standing by the line to meet them had us (Teeny Bopper and I) use hand sanitizer before shaking their hands. Then when we got to them Stephanie said, "We're giving hugs" and hugged me. I wondered if I was supposed to have used the hand sanitizer all over my body, but figured it was mostly a token attempt to prevent spreading germs in this season of colds and flu. She is such an approachable feel-good type of person. One of those people you feel drawn to be around because they are just so pure and good. I basically wanted to just sit on a couch by her and express the feelings of my heart and hear all about hers. All the stuff Oprah left OUT of her interview. (there was a lot left out, if you ask me)
So what DID I say? Well...I hugged her and Christian, stood there looking at them for a second and then said, "Well... I love you guys!" I just couldn't put into a few words what I wanted to say, so that's what I came up with. I also didn't want to seem like a star-struck teenager meeting a rock star or something. It wasn't anything like that. I don't feel like she's a celebrity, but a huge inspiration. She smiled and said, "We love you too! We really appreciate all your prayers and support." And, that was about it. I also took a camera with me and then FORGOT to take a picture! If I wasn't so busy tomorrow I would go back and try to get a picture with them.
So that's my grand experience today. Is it possible to want to be a better person just by spending 30 seconds with someone? That's the kind of person I want to be. I suppose it's because I know her story and all, but still. If you don't know her story, by the way, I have a button on my sidebar that should take you to her blog. Or ask me in person and I'll tell you all I know.
And thanks for the hug, Stephanie!