Gratitude--Days 20-26

Sorry. Things have been a little crazy around here. But I have been SO VERY GRATEFUL for SO MANY THINGS. Like . . .

The cute little creatures in my life. I've loved snuggling up with Rachael and listening to her read her little "Take Home Reading" books assigned from the school. I've loved walking the dogs every day because it gets me outside even when I don't feel like it and then I'm always happy that I did. And I love it when Rachael comes running outside in her pajamas to meet me and the dogs:

Will's awesome orchestra program and the concert they put on last week:

The little girls playing school in my kitchen:

These earrings that remind me of one of the best summers EVER when my friend Amy (Bunny's mom) and I found ourselves running the kitchen of the APS fish cannery (well, she ran it, I just did what she told me), cooking 3 meals a day for everyone who worked there. The stories those earrings could tell!

Time Out For Women. What a cool event, and I was lucky enough to attend the Salt Lake session which featured none other than Ann Romney as guest speaker on Friday night. What a class act! I'm still so sad for the false persona that was created of her husband during the election. He never stood a chance against the liberal media machine and the cool factor of Barack Obama. (Because it's important for the president to be cool, right? That does a lot for all the problems our country is dealing with.)  She wasn't there to talk politics, though, but to talk a little about her new book, The Romney Family Table. Still, questions were asked about her experience on the campaign trail and she was nothing but gracious. You could tell from a few things she said, however, that it was hard not to be affected by the things that were said about her husband. Ah, well. Now we've got Obamacare in all it's glory, our still abysmal employment rate, and more people on Food Stamps than ever before. Who needed the guy with actual business and leadership experience? Sorry! I digress from the loveliness of Ann Romney, would be First Lady:

And the fun slumber party at Little America that night with some of the ladies from the 'hood. We stayed up talking until 2am when I fell asleep sitting up:

My mom's potato soup recipe (bacon added) and THIS rosemary bread recipe:

Trader Joe's in Salt Lake:

Can you say HALLELUJAH?

 I should just go up there more often:

Will doing his edible cell project 100% by himself. Believe it or not, he bought that nucleus gobstopper last summer with his own money (ten precious dollars for that thing) and has been working on it ever since:

Being featured on the Donny Osmond Home website. Little does Donny know, but I had a MAJOR crush on him when I was a little girl. (Kind of like I have on Ann Romney now--it's a Mormon celebrity thing.) So much so that I wore a purple ribbon on my baptism dress . . . because it was Donny's favorite color. (True story. I know. Ridiculous.) 

Another opportunity to do a Studio 5 segment on this article that I wrote about being an extrovert raising an introvert:

This list of C.S. Lewis quotes I read while walking the dogs on a beautiful morning. 

Shallow and lame, but the new dining set that got delivered just in time to host some of Brandon's family for Thanksgiving. This is what the last one looked like under the tablecloth and the one before that was even worse. For some reason, we've had a run of really bad luck with dining tables that can't take actual use (maybe because we've always purchased CHEAP tables!) so I don't feel at all bad that we finally spent a little more money on a nice one we will have for many, many years. But I'll save a picture of the new one for my Thanksgiving post. Let's just feel sorry for me for a moment while gazing at the old one:

Going to see West Side Story last night with Will (a high school production but you'd never know it--it was fantastic!) and Hunger Games tonight with Kate. (SO GOOD!) 

And last but not least, this beautiful world we all get to wake up to every day: