How I LOVE OCTOBER!

What is it about October that I love so much? I think one of the reasons that I love October so much is because of this! It has been a great week as my testimony of the gospel has been buoyed up and strengthened and as I have recommitted myself to being a righteous daughter of God.
I especially loved this by President Monson: "We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” To read more of his talk go here.

Plus on top of that, the weather has been beautiful!

Hotter than Haiti Benefit Concert

I am currently in the process of planning a Till We Have Faces concert to raise money for Ruuska Village on Sept 25! It will coincide with the Hotter than Haiti fun run held earlier that day. More information about the run and Ruuska Village can be found here at Mandi's Blog.

On another note. The kids have all been in school now for about two weeks and have settled into the routine. All is going well and they are enjoying it! The Hubby is in Poland right with the National Guard. He will be there for the month. I finally was able to talk to him for a few minutes last night and all is going well. They did have a few hang up getting there. It turned out that it was easier for them to fly into Germany and then take a train to Poland vs. flying into Poland. All of this had to be changed at the very last minute and when you are talking military personnel, weapons, orders being changed, etc. it turn into quite a headache. But so far all is well!

Play Date with Kaylee

Hannah invited her cousin Kaylee over to play. They like to pretend to be princesses, doctor up sick animals, catch butterflies, do gymnastics and generally make a bit of noise. So when the house was as quiet as a mouse, I became concerned and went up to check on them.

This is what I found...

Ahhh, the magic of a book!
Awesome isn't it!

Rulon Gardner- Stop beating up my family!

Do you see these bruises. That one up there is my husband.
This one down here is my son.

Do you want to know who gave them these bruises?
Rulon Gardner did!
Yes, that wrestler with the missing toe who crashes planes into Lake Powell.
(Those were my sister's words)
By the way, he also won an Olympic Gold Medal and he can pick up
my husband like he's nothin. And my hubby is a good sized guy with lots of muscle.
I told them that the next time they go to wrestling they should
NOT volunteer to be the one Rulon demonstrates on!

Insightful Girl and Notes From Hannah

Today in church Hannah wrote this note for me:

You are prettier than a flower
You are prettier than a daisy
You are prettier than a heart
You are prettier than a heart chocolate chip cookie
I Love you so much

McKell has been blessed with wisdom beyond her years.
She is insightful.
She is beautiful and kind.
Sometimes she feels out-of-touch with other girls her age,
but I am so glad to have been blessed with such a wonderful daughter who
always wants to do what is right!
She will get it all figured out and in the end I think that she will be very thankful to be the incredible daughter of God that she is!

Hannah is Seven

Hannah's Birthday Highlights!

Hannah had a luau party for her seventh birthday.
It was so much fun!
She was so excited to have her friends over to spend this special day with her.

Laura, Kylee, Hannah, Sara
Mckenzie, Cousin Kaylee, Aleena

Lots of Awesome decorations, a super cute cake, Hula dancing and games!
Hannah I am so Proud of YOU!
This past year you have learned and grown so much.
You finished first grade and you didn't miss a night of homework.
You have the funniest sense of humor I have ever seen in a child your age.
You are our little girl in this family of teenagers and adults and I love that you can
tease right back!
You make us laugh. You make us happy.
You learned to ski this past year and you are AWESOME!
I love it when you get air on those little jumps.
And I love it when Grandpa Day tells you that you are going to get a speeding ticket for skiing so fast and you just laugh and tell him that he is going to get a "slow ticket" for going too slow!
Thanks for being such a wonderful part of our family!
Happy Birthday Hannah!

I am the weather.

McKell shared her testimony yesterday at church.
She talked about the importance of family
which is something which has really been on her mind since Dillan left.
She also said that I am the weather.
If I am happy then there is sunshine in our home.
If I am not.... well you get the picture.
I hope that most of the time I am sunshine- I think that I am.
But I am determined that there will be more sunshine, more pleasant breezes.
Or even those days where you have sunshine, light rain and beautiful rainbows.
I am sure there will be a few thunderstorms here and there.
But I want my children to remember sunshine and warmth when they think of me.
They certainly are the sunshine in my life!