cell phones

amy is scheduled to have her c-section this friday, which will bring another member to our family. (yay!!!) brad's cell phone has died, it is really dead. so, she had been fretting about being able to get ahold of him while he was on campus or at work. no worries now that we are here! he has her phone and she is using mine, for the time being.

it is so different than how it was for pat and i when we were having our children. pat would call me from school during lunch, or breaks when we were having sam and craig. with amy and rachel he would call me from work. thankfully the only emergency c we had was sam, but pat was home when i went in to labor. the other c's were all scheduled, and that is when they came!

i am grateful for cell phones and how convenient they are, and the blessing they can be in our lives.

Rachel

Rach is amazing. While we have been at Amy's she has been taking care of everything! She is Gavin's and James' #1 go-to, aka favorite aunt 'sissy'. (and no we never called her that when she was growing up, James pronounced her name that way when he first learned to talk, and it stuck) Rachel has been cleaning up whenever there needs cleaning up, she puts the groceries away, helps with meals or makes them herself. She is our all-around service machine!

I am so grateful for her. I don't have to ask her to do anything, she thinks of it all on her own and goes forward and does it. She even thinks of things I don't think of! Imagine that! All in all, she is the greatest. There are so very many reasons I love her, this is just one of them.  :)

for the love of

i have said it before, and will say it again, and again, and again...i am one lucky girl. i am blessed to be married to literally my best friend. he treats me well, because he loves me, pretty much unconditionally.

he loves me so much that he drove up to oregon with me, and he supports me supporting our children when needed. he also loves me so much that he gave me a Priesthood blessing prior to leaving for home today. not only was the blessing wonderful, but his love for me and our family came through as well.

i am grateful for this wonderful man, for the amazing father and grandfather he is.

i am one lucky girl. =)

wherever you go, it's the same

today we attended amy's ward here in eugene. i am always amazed that wherever we are in attendance in the church it is the same. the people are different, the building is different, other than that it is all the same. i love it, and am grateful for it.

Bumpa!

there are certain scents, sounds and places that can remind you of a circumstance or a person. today as we ventured to oregon we stopped at the klamath river rest stop i felt such an experience. whenever i am there i can't help think of my dad.

he was an attorney by trade. he was an honest, hard working man who shared much with many. though he was an attorney he had a great love for white water river rafting, and he shared that love with many. he happily arranged for many church members and non members to enjoy a week on the rapids, several times each summer. those who went didn't realize how much he paid for the trip out of his own pocket. he simply wanted to give them an experience to remember...and did he ever!

he and my mom made all the arrangements. you know the saying "behind every great man is an even greater woman"? this was true of my mom. she was the behind the scenes person, figuring out all the menus, doing all the grocery shopping. it was a labor of love for the two of them.

so, while i stood next to the klamath river today i could imagine my dad, where he may have put those rafts into the river; i could see him standing there with his crazy fisherman hat, his plaid shirt and his cut off jeans. but what i could imagine the most was the joy on his face that showed through his excitement at being there.

Bumpa's White Water Rafting adventures were many - but the best part of it was that he was given that name by his grandchildren, and they were what mattered the most to him (besides my mom and the gospel of Jesus Christ). i am so grateful that there are times when i can be where my dad loved to be, and i can feel him near.

fun soap!

about a month ago rach went to bath and body works and picked up some of their foam hand soap. it is my favorite and we have kept it in our home since they were first sold. :) (i have converted others along the way too!)

while she was there she noticed that they come in halloween packaging. so she bought several that are super cute. one has a haunted house on it, the other is a jack-o-lantern, there was another one, i think it may have ghosts on it.

anyway, i love their soap, which is pretty obvious since i am a regular customer. but how fun is it to have holiday ones? i don't care if they are commercializing things, it is just plain fun! i would buy their soap anyway, since i love it so much...why not have fun with it!

i am grateful for fun soaps and for other fun holiday things. simple, i know, but still fun!

be of good cheer

i am grateful for all the good things in our lives that bring us cheer. we have an abundance for which to be thankful for. and i am not referring only to material goods, but to the things that really matter. we have our family, the gospel, and many friends. we have the ability to walk, talk, think, feel, and just be. we have our senses, some may work better than others, but we have them! we have the opportunity to grow and expand our minds, our spirits, our talents and our love for others. we are blessed to be able to serve others in so many capacities!

indeed, we have much that we have been given that we are grateful for, and that helps us to be of good cheer.