Thanksgiving

We spent the holiday this year with the McClures. As tradition, we got all dressed up and went to Little America for brunch. My dad had gone early to get a spot in line so that we wouldn't have to wait with kids. So by the time we got there, we walked right to our table in the Idaho room. A perfect quiet spot with some room for the kids to play in the corner without bothering anyone.

The only drawback to this spot was that we passed the dessert table before we got to the food. Paige was enthralled by the bowl of maraschino cherries at the ice cream bar, but I insisted that she eat real food first. However, after filling her plate with mashed potatoes and mini corn dogs, I gave in on the way back and let her fill her plate. It's her thanksgiving too and if I can eat a dozen croissants for dinner, why can't she have a bowl of cherries? We also found the chocolate fountain, a new item this year, and as you can see it was a hit! We had a great time dipping strawberries, marshmallows and macaroons.

I am so grateful for the time we were able to spend together as family. I love being with my sisters and am so grateful to my sweet dad for keeping family traditions. I am also so grateful for my nieces and nephews and the close relationship all the cousins have. It was so hard to pull them apart at dinner we went upstairs and let them run! We also met up the next day for a movie together. By the way, Enchanted is not just for kids! I thought it looked dumb but knew my girls would love it and Steve even loved it! On top of everything this Thanksgiving, I must say that I have the best husband ever who rarely complains and does almost anything to make me happy.

Anniversaries

November is such an emotional roller coaster for me. It is the time I start to get excited for the start of the holiday season. I often feel selfish having sad days this time of year, I have so much to be grateful for.

Anniversaries are usually thought of as fun and exciting, but not the one we have today. Four years ago today was the day my sweet mother passed away. I miss her so terribly. The past four years without her have been so hard, yet also such a growing experience. One I would never wish on anyone however. I can't imagine what my relationship with my dad or my sisters would be like without an event like this to pull us more tightly together. We lean on each other as our rocks through our hard days and have come to realize that everyday together is a gift.

Since it is Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for the 24 years I had to spend with her. Yet the selfish part of me is not satisfied with that...I want more. I think the hardest part is that I didn't truly appreciate her until she was gone.

I am so glad to have the knowledge of eternity. I teach in Primary that faith is believing what you can't see. I know she is watching over us, preparing our mansions in the Celestial Kingdom. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of her. Everyday I try to live my best for her. I want for us to be together again so much! I named my baby after her so that when I look at Linda Claire I think of mom's sweet hands passing her through the veil. My sisters and I always ask each other, "What would mom say or do?" I am so glad to see some of mom in each of them. I watch myself raising Paige, who really has a personality much like my own growing up and it makes me only appreciate mom even more. I am so glad for the ways she has directed my life. She knew Steve was my eternal companion before I did. She raised me to be polite and proper and Christlike. She forced me to take those darn piano lessons for years, which pay off every Sunday.

My good friend Melissa and I were talking about this earlier this week (incidentally her father passed away three days after mom, Why didn't we know each other then?? We could have been so therapeutic for each other) We decided that the grieving process only gets harder. I find myself forgetting the sound of her voice and her contagious laugh. I miss all of her idiocyncrasies that drove me to ground myself from her! I miss her quirky advice and I miss her Misty Mauve fingernail polish. I miss the way she called me BrookieLynn. And I miss watching her love my babies. I miss our daily phone conversations about nothing. But most of all I miss her beautiful smile.

I LOVE YOU MOM! TODAY AND EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!

If roses grow in Heaven, Lord please pick a bunch for me and place them in my mother's arms and tell her they are from me.

Tell her I love her and miss her, and when she turns to smile, place a kiss upon her cheek and hold her for awhile.

Because remembering her is easy, I do it every day, but there’s an ache within my heart that will never go away.

Rainboots and Hold Your Applause

Can I first just say...

How stinking cute are these boots???

I found them at Payless when we were looking for new tap shoes for Paige and totally fell in love with them! Claire did too, especially since she can pull them on herself. When Steve and I were first dating, my cute nephew-to-be Rhett always ran around in bright yellow rainboots and these just reminded me of him. So I had to buy them. In fact I bought two pair, (it was BOGO) so Paige has some too!

Anyway, Claire woke up one morning last week saying she was "Shoaked". This means her cheap-o diaper leaked and her pants were wet. I took them off and changed her, but didn't bother to put more on. Does that make me a negligent mother? We dropped Paige off at preschool and then went to the clubhouse to work out. No one is ever there and Claire just lays on the couch and watches a movie. However this time, she insisted on wearing not only her pink argyle rainboots with her jammy shirt and diaper, but also her Minnie Mouse hat from Disneyland so she could be a "cowboy girl". It was too cute not to catch on film!

Paige came home from preschool last week with the Brag Bag. This gives each child an opportunity to bring a show and tell and a treat for the class. She chose to take this giant lipstick she got for her birthday that was full of stickers and stamps and Hostess chocolate cupcakes, like those are smart to keep in the house when I am on a strict eating regimen! When I picked her up, I asked her about the brag bag. She told me, "Everyone was like WOW!! And I just said, Thank you, Thank you! Hold your applause!" I busted up laughing. Apparently it is a line from Meet the Robinsons that I haven't caught on to yet. Now both girls say it constantly because they know I thought it was so funny!

More Halloween Fun...A Little Bit Later

I played around a little with the settings on my camera and LOVE how this picture turned out!

Kind of SPOOKY!

We spent Halloween morning trick-or-treating at the Salt Lake County Building with our cousins, Keaton and Karlie. The girls were so thrilled to be "twitches" (twin witches) but we missed our other cousin, Addy, who was also a witch. She was at her brother's Halloween parade in Eagle Mountain.

The kids got so tired going from office to office, we had to take a break. We came home with over 10 lbs of candy! (Steve and I are kind of into weighing things lately!)

One last cute shot of the girls and my spooky Ghost Mom pumpkin. Dang, carving is so messy, but we managed to save some seeds for roasting, which was so yummy!