Flashback Friday - Gratitude!

As I tried to go to sleep wednesday night, I was caught up in all the things I was grateful for....I know with the economy the way it is, things are hard on everyone.... but I have been throwing myself a pity party for a while now. I have prayed and prayed about finding a job that would work with Jacob's schedule so that I can bring in some money and feel like I'm contributing more than just sitting around with Kira. So far, the answer has been NO... you are not suppossed to be working right now. This is a hard concept for me to grasp... we need the money, and up until I went out on maternity leave I have worked since I was 15 (with the exception of a couple weeks here and there with layoffs, or job changes). Jacob always says I hate working, which is true but at the same time, I'm feeling more like a mooch than an active partner in this marriage.


So, as I went to bed Wednesday night (or at least tried to) I was thinking about this time of year... specfically November... which I know is more than a month away, but I love November. I love Thanksgiving, it's always been my favorite holiday (maybe it's all the food), I love that it's finally cooler in California and Nevada (last Halloween, I wore shorts). I was also contemplating the milestones that November brings.... I was endowed in November. November 13th, it was a memerable experience I may get into later but this November also marks the 5th year of our marriage and 8th year together. I'm so grateful for those moments and those memories.

So, I wanted to take a minute to list the things I am grateful for... even though I feel a little hopeless right now.
I'm grateful for family who have always loved me and supported me no matter what...











I'm grateful for good friends who have helped me through thick and thin...








I'm grateful or an eternal marriage that helps me see the longterm goals.








I'm thankful for Jacob and Kira who make me laugh everyday whether they are trying to be funny or not.

I really do have a lot to be grateful for .... and really this post was for me to come to when I'm feeling low and see all the great things I have in my life. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense to anyone else but next time your feeling low, make yourself a list of all the things you are grateful for and concentrate on those... it will get you through the rough times.
what do you have to be grateful for?

Kira's Update and Kitchen

I feel that with my activity on Facebook you guys are getting double doses of pictures and stuff... so I thought I would give you guys a quick update and post some pictures and then decide if the blog is worth continuing....

Kira has been both a ball of fun AND a ball of trouble. She is talking like crazy, some of her words are R rated but she's trying and other than turning red at the store sometimes, I'm just glad that she's wanting to communicate.

Let's see, she is a very helpful girl. She actually gets mad if I empty the dishwasher on my own. She sets the table most nights and knows right where her hamper is when she is changed from pjs to clothes or vice-versa. She is not so afraid of people she doesn't see often, which is nice, Wade actually watched her for me when I hit the Zumba class last month with Sabrina. It was nice to be able to get away for an hour.

She's doing ok in nursery at church. Jacob stays with her often... not always having to do with Kira, sometimes there are just not enough leaders to take care of the 14 or 15 or 18 kids all under 3.

She's gotten over her stomach bug and is eatting a lot better. The other day, she helped me make macaroni and cheese for lunch. It was fun to be able to get her so involved. As far as potty training is going, we have sort of left it for the moment. I thought she was a little young, but wanted to see where she was with it....

Here are some pictures of Kira and the kitchen she got for her birthday. Sorry for the repeat, but we have been camera deficient lately. Jake takes his camera to work and the two I have don't always work.... I broke the one Korie gave me (sorry Korie) and my Sony is just dieing. After all the pictures we have taken with it I don't feel so bad about it, except a new one is out of the question and so I'll try to get a picture of her today in the outfit she picked out... it's not outragious.... I am just once again surprised by 1- how opiniated she is and 2- how girly she is at so young an age....

Anyway... pictures..

Flashback Dedication

So it was 6 years ago this week that my Grandma Brock passed away. She lost her fight against cancer after fighting so hard for over 10 years! I miss her every day. So to honor the 6 year anniversary of her death here are some pictures of her.




At age 8

In her teenage years

She loved her family, traveling, diet pepsi and reading as much as she could. She served her family without complaint. She truly is one of my heros and I miss her all the time.

Kira Update

Not too much is happening lately, we are taking another trip down to Cali this weekend to attend a friends wedding. This will be the last trip until Christmas probably. Jacob is determined to stay here for Christmas.... I think we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, I have some great pictures Jacob took when he and Kira went to the Water park last week and some pictures of her birthday present that Auntie M and GG got for her. She absolutely loves it!!


Having a good time with her "bubbles" and her phone.


Helping me unload everything so she can play



Checking things out.... couldn't wait til I was done unloading the whole thing!
WATER PARK PICTURES!!!

So fun running through the water!

Ok! Now where do I run?

Yay!!!

I love these pictures. The water makes a little star. I think it looks awesome and Kira totally adds to the awesomeness!

Fun Fun Fun!

Slowing down.

I know I have a picture similar to this on here already but I love that she thinks that all the letters on this board are either a B or a D

Taking a much needed rest from all the running

I LOVE this picture! She is just having so much fun and is so Happy!

I just wanted to take a minute to thank Jacob for being such a good photographer and for taking the time to take these pictures of our little girl! They really are irreplaceable! Love you honey!

... or maybe not

We recently went to Green Valley to meet up with some friends from Cali who live in Vegas too. We thought it would be fun for all the kids to ride the Merry-go-round. I was thinking, this would be great to see how Kira would react because I have been thinking that this would be a great age to go to disneyland (when that bag full of money drops at my door)

OR...

maybe not

Grandpa & Grandma Anderson's & Kira's Birthday Bash!

Kira and I have been traveling fools this summer. It has been both nice and very tiring. Every year Grandma and Grandpa Anderson have a big birthday bash to celebrate their birthdays. We have never been able to make it for one reason or another, until this year. So we loaded into the car Saturday morning and off we went to Utah... (again)
We spent Saturday afternoon visiting with Hanni, Zak, Austin, Mikey and Tatiana. Mikey and Kira get along so well! It's so fun to watch them together. They are only 4 months apart and normally kids that close in age don't get along but these two just click. He showed her around the "farm" as I like to call it, showing her his chickens, and picking strawberries right off the strawberry plant. We stayed for dinner and partook of freshly picked corn picked by Zak himself just minutes before it went on the stove.

The party was on Sunday, August 30th, which as it happens was Kira's 2nd birthday! We started the day off by opening presents. We didn't get her much as her bigger present is still to come (I'm working on it), but I wanted her to be able to open something for her birthday.

We got her two puzzles and an Elmo book, she LOVES "puzzlets" and she loves to read, so these were all a big hit!









After present time we had a homemade breakfast and went off to church. Kira did reasonably well considering that the ward (nearly dead) had no nursery. She hung for a while but was tired by the end. We came home and Kira and I took a little nap while Jacob helped Grandpa get things ready for the party.






Grandpa getting the scalloped potatoes ready to go.








The great-grand children. Although there were a lot missing.







The Grandchildren. Lots of those missing too.









Kira usually HATES swings, so this was a big deal






We sang Happy Birthday to Grandma, Grandpa, Kira, Katrina's husband Aaron and James. By the end, the candles were totally melted!



On Monday we left at around 10. Jacob decided he wanted to take a little detour and visit a place his has read about. Mountain Meadows is a place that has been talked about in the last year or so. They (meaning Hollywood) did a movie about it and there have been countless books written about it, if you are not sure of the history click here. Anyway, it's on the way from Cedar City to St. George. It was a beautiful drive, more interesting than the freeway and was very peaceful. It was nice to get out of the car and walk around some... Kira had a lot of fun racing herself down the hill...

After the stop in Mountain Meadows, we followed the road into St. George. Jacob asked if we wanted to stop at the temple, I said yes, as I had never been there before. It is beautiful. I had only ever seen from the freeway and never got to admire the beautiful building that it is... We walked around the building and took a tour of the visitors center. We are hoping to go back to do a session for Jacob's birthday.

It was a great trip and it was wonderful to see so many people that we love. We hope to go again next year and hopefully we will be able to stay a little longer!