An Abundance of Blessings and Turkey

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving, everyone!
Kent and I hosted dinner for my mom's side of the family again this year, and it was great! Of course, we cooked enough for a small army again, but I think that's why we get begged to do it each year. :) The begging is no exaggeration - I mentioned that my dad had invited us there, and my mom about had a nervous breakdown. I think I even heard tears falling.
Kent and I really do enjoy hosting dinners and parties. I love creating tablescapes, cooking large quantities of food, and watching everyone enjoy it all! Kent is very supportive throughout the whole thing - especially the clean-up! I think I would've made a fantastic Italian matron - force-feeding family and friends, cooking a mountain of pasta and appetizers. I'm actually glad my mom and grandma dislike entertaining. It gives me a perfect outlet for my domestic energies to be able to host all the family gatherings.
This weekend was also special because my adorable nephew, Garrett, was baptized. It's a moving experience to witness the power of the priesthood in action! I loved watching so many of the men in our family standing together in righteousness. All of these men were also in the circle when Garrett was blessed 8 years ago. I believe that Grandpa Duwayne and Grandpa Rick (who passed away a few weeks ago) were both on hand, too.
I feel so blessed to be part of a strong, spiritual family. It's just the last decade or so that it's been that way, which makes it all the more precious. I especially love the example my little sis, Chantelle, is setting for my girls. She's so sweet and spiritual, and a great role model for all her nieces.
I could ramble on, but suffice it to say that I'm feeling abundantly blessed, and inspired to draw even closer to the gospel than I have been recently.
Even Cub Scouts is seeming more exciting. :)

Really bad hair day

It's so stupid that I'm sitting here bawling over a bad haircut. I mean, it's just hair, right? Eventually, my bangs will grow out and the rest can still be pulled into a ponytail. It's just that....well, money's tight for us (and everyone else, too) right now so I've been trying to cut back on expenses where I can. So, I stopped getting my hair colored a year ago, gave up acrylic nails and started doing my own manicures. I switched from Clinique and Estee Lauder to generic makeup and cleansers, and I haven't replaced my burned-out favorite curling iron. The last concession was giving up a nice salon for Great Clips. This horrible haircut was the last straw. Somehow over the last few years, I've gone from relatively high-maintenance to frumpy housewife. A fat, frumpy housewife, no less.
It bothers me that I'm so upset over this. With the abundance of blessings my family and I enjoy, I shouldn't feel so deprived. I know in my heart that I am richly blessed with the things that matter most - a strong, healthy, happy family tops the list. So, in the spirit of gratitude, I think I'll write a list of things I'm thankful for until I feel better. It'll have to be a pretty long list, though. My bangs look that bad.

I'm truly grateful to the Lord for:
- my cute family - Kent, Lauren, Lindsey and Emily are my life.
- a strong, eternal marriage to my sweetheart
- a beautiful home with enough room to entertain friends and family
- my hair - a bad haircut beats baldness any day
- my health (although a good fitness program would help here)
- the gospel. No matter how much I gripe about getting up for church, I love it dearly.
- my extended family - even the nutty ones
- my crazy friends who like me no matter what
- being a stay-at-home mom
- Diet Coke and chocolate
- Cafe Rio salads
- Jill, Wendy, and Maddi for keeping me sane through cheer season (they also fall under the friend category, but I wanted to be more specific here)
- all the beautiful, spiritual women who have inspired and taught me over the years: mom, Becky Thomas, Sheryl Wilson, Andrea, Aunt Julie, and a dozen more from my childhood ward
- having a sister who total "gets" me. Usually.
- Kent's great job. Without it I'd really be making sacrifices! :)
- a husband who truly enjoys being a husband and father, and helps around the house, too. (I know you're all feeling jealous, huh?)
- the holiday season and all the joy it brings!
- Jill again for agreeing to try to fix my bangs later today :)

Okay, I feel a smidgen better now.

10 Years Down, An Eternity to Go!

Wow! Today, Kent and I have been married 10 wonderful years! It's truly amazing to me how quickly the years have come and gone. One day, we're blissful newlyweds, the next we're surrounded and outnumbered by little girls and cats!


10 years ago, as we stood before our friends and family, we could barely tear our focus away from each other long enough to repeat our vows! All I remember is looking into those gorgeous hazel eyes and seeing more adoration and love than I could have ever imagined being directed at me. Amazingly, we still look at each other that way. We still love spending time together, although we've learned that we're woefully unproductive as a pair. (Any yard work we begin together ends with us walking around the yard, hand-in-hand, planning and dreaming of what we'll do when we have more funds. Ditto cleaning the basement.)


Not that every waking moment has been joyful. We've had our moments, too. Thankfully, Kent is the sweetest, most patient, loving man ever created, so those moments are both rare and short-lived! Every day, I thank Heavenly Father for bringing Kent into my life. I love this amazing man more today than I ever imagined possible, I still think he's the sexiest man alive, the best daddy in the world, and my very best friend. I can't wait to spend the rest of eternity holding his hand, walking around, planning our next big project.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie. I love you!!!!!

Meet Midnight

Well, it's official. We have a new member of our family. She's a stray that adopted us a few months ago, but we hadn't decided to keep her until just recently. At first, we avoided feeding her when she came around, but she looked so small and hungry that we soon relented. That was the camel's nose in the tent. Soon, "Midnight" had a bed in the garage and food bowls. Then we started closing the garage door fully at night so she'd be protected from other animals. A litter box appeared in the garage. When Kent started leaving his car window down so she could curl up in his backseat to stay warm at night, we realized we had a problem. After a much-needed bath (at which point I discovered that she'd been declawed) she was given a trial membership to housecat status. We wanted to make sure she and our other cat, Tabitha, could co-exist relatively peacefully before we fully claimed her as a Riley. Of course, they still aren't exactly happy about the arrangement, but relations seem to be improving a little. She's quite a bit friendlier than Tabby, so the girls LOVE her, but she's also really pushy. We can't eat without her begging like a dog for food. It's cute. Sort of. Anyway, today the discussion was what kind of tree ornament we needed to get for her. In our family, that's as good as full citizenship, so please welcome the newest Riley - Midnight.

A Serious Case of PED (post-election depression)

I am in a major depression today. How could anyone who heard Obama IN HIS OWN WORDS talk about "choosing his friends carefully" and "discussing Marxism, Eurocentrism, and socialism in the dorms at night" not see that he is a complete socialist??? Why didn't it concern them when he said it was good for everybody when we "spread the wealth around"??? Oh. Right. The mainstream media was so infatuated with him that they failed to report any of it. Fact: Obama is rated as the #1 most liberal senator - surpassing a self-proclaimed socialist senator ranked as #4! In any other country where the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government were controlled by a single party - not to mention the education system and media - we would see it for what it really is. I can't remember which great man said it, but this quote keeps running through my mind:
"Those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither."
For everyone who voted for Obama because they think he and Pelosi will cut their taxes, increase their various government checks, and pay off their mortgages that they never should've qualified for anyway, I only have this to say: Thanks a lot.

Halloween and Cheer

It was a busy weekend with Halloween and our last cheer competition, so I'm a little behind and out of order. The girls had a great Halloween! I have to say, though, that I was once again disappointed in our neighborhood. We tried to go trick-or-treating, but only our cul-de-sac was even home! The little girls were happy to just go to a few and then watch a movie, and Lauren went with her friends up in Oakley's neighborhood (which was far more festive than ours, I might add), so they were all content. Kent and I were sad that we didn't get more trick-or-treaters, after all the decorating we did. :) Oh, well. More leftover candy for us! BTW, here is the long-awaited picture of the completed pettiskirts. Aren't they they cutest little witches ever?! (So, I'm a little biased.) Lauren finally decided to go as a Monster Bride - excuse me, a Monster Girlfriend. She told everyone she was too young to be a bride. :) The tiny blonde in the middle is her BFF, Oakley.

My cheer squad had their last competition on Saturday, and did MUCH better than the weekend before. This was after one girl quit Tuesday, and another broke her hand right before the last practice on Thursday, so we were quite pleased with how well they did. I know I'll miss the girls, but I'm also really glad to be done. I've been coaching twice a week plus games since last October (2 consecutive squads' seasons), and I'm more than ready for a break! Lauren starts a tumbling class this week, so she'll still be able to get her cheer fix.

The Tooth Fairy Cometh

Our sweet, little Lindsey lost her very first tooth tonight! She bit into an apple and out popped a little tooth. Very cliche, I know. :) She's so excited for the Tooth Fairy to come tonight, and to put her name on the Lost Teeth chart at school. So cute! She's been working on it for weeks now. I'm really going to miss all those darling, perfectly tiny teeth as they disappear. Kent will miss part of his paychecks when she eventually needs braces. :) But what we'll cherish always is her first adorable, gappy smile!

Several years ago, my dear Aunt Mary told Lauren that if she put her tooth in the bottom of a glass of water, the Tooth Fairy who came would dive in for it and leave behind a little of her coloring and fairy dust along with the money. (Apparently, there is more than one Tooth Fairy, which explains how they can handle so many children and their teeth.) Being the ultimate authority on fairies made her one of Lauren's favorite people, so of course we had to try it. You can imagine Lauren's joy each time she discovered what color HER fairy had been! The problem with this wonderous plan was with our cat. No, she doesn't seem to gobble up visiting fairies - and we get a lot of them! BUT she does love to dip her paw into unattended glasses and shake it all over the counter, and fairy coloring tends to stain. The question now is whether to continue this beloved tradition with Lindsey and Emily ( and 2 household felines), or find a new way. The House Fairy leaves fairy dust behind when rooms aren't clean enough for gifts..... Perhaps the Tooth Fairies could be persuaded to leave a little dusting with the money if they don't have to take a dip in a glass of water to retrieve the tooth? Hmmm....it's worth a try - if only to spare my countertops.