November

 Gratitude month

Going into November I had a lot of conflicting emotions. I know it all stemmed from last November when our world was shook that Kelden passed away. I was anticipating lots of feelings. However, the word gratitude wasn't too far from my thoughts. We really do have so much to be grateful for. Even when there are hard times. 

I'm grateful for facetime and that I still get to see my nieces even though they don't live close by. I'm also grateful that memories like this pop up. I love seeing baby Avery. Her and I have always loved seeing each other. 

I'm grateful that Emmy loves dance. Dancing holds a special place in my heart and I love that it holds a place in Emmy's heart too. She is so confident when she dances. I appreciate that they do their recital in November before the holidays. I am also grateful for professional photographers that get pictures of my kids. 

I'm grateful that even at away games I still get pictures of Addi. I'm grateful for how dedicated she is. She is always giving it her all and is such a good kid. I'm grateful for coaches that dedicate their time. I know it's not always easy for them. These are pictures from the maple mountain game we won at maple mountain. 

I am grateful for orthodontics. I have benefited (twice) from braces. Parker now get the benefit of them. He was NOT happy about getting them. He told us multiple times that he was not going to get them. He pouted and also gave us the cold shoulder. However, after all said and done, he realized they weren't too bad and hasn't really complained about them since getting them on. I feel like it made him look a lot older. 

At the high school they did a little video of the players to play during when the starting line up is announced. Addi didn't know they were doing the video and is totally embarrassed by her hair. However it is still fun to see her up on the board and also on the TV/billboard out front flashing her name. 

They won their playoff game for state and Pete Hansen posted this photo he took at the game. We didn't make it past the playoff game last year so this really was a big deal for us to head to state at UVU. 

We helped decorate the bus for the girls and it was fun to cheer them on before heading up. 

UVU is a big venue and you could feel the girls nerves. They sadly lost their first game, but the tournament was double elimination and so we didn't get out out. 

The girls ended up coming all the way up through the consultation bracket and taking 6th place at 5A state. HUGE HUGE accomplishment. Especially when no one thought we would do well. They played hard and ended really well. 

Dad was able to get tickets from the bank to the suite at Disney on ice. We always have fun at Disney on ice. We are grateful for how hard dad works for our family. We are also grateful that Zions has so many perks that we get to use sometimes. 

I am grateful for Kelden coins. In one year we found $34.74. We are always looking for coins now and it is so special and cute to hear the kids say where they found a Kelden coin and then they go put it in our special Kelden jar. It really is amazing to see all the little reminders of him. My kids are closer to Kelden now than when he was alive. It makes my heart hurt a little to realize that it took death for us to be close to Kelden. Addiction is real. It is sad, it is hard, it is painful. 

For Kelden's angel day we were able to all go out to Vernal and spend time as a family. I am grateful for my family. Having them near on this day was what we all needed. We went and had lunch with him at the cemetery. Then Bre went to go get our dad to bring him back to let go of balloons. My dad I don't think really understood why or what we were doing. He is sadly starting to forget Kelden. Dad's memory keeps slipping about every 3 months. It is really hard to watch. 

When we all let go of our balloons we definitely could feel Kelden there with us. After the cemetery we went and got come ice cream. Ty ran into some classmates there and he told them why we were in town. The guy said oh I knew Kelden. He was such a good kid with such a giving heart. Kelden really did touch so many lives. He knew lots of people. I hadn't really cried much until that moment. I was holding it together for my dad and my mom. Then the flood gates just opened. He is missed. 

I'm grateful for teamwork and teammates. We had Addi's end of year volleyball banquet and she was recognized for earning a Varsity letter. And to both of our surprised she was nominated for Honorable mention region team. She was nominated by other coaches in our region. There were only 3 girls nominated from our team. You have all region, 1st team, 2nd team and honorable mention. We were really happy for her. 

I'm grateful for genes. The genes that are passed down from generation to generation fascinates me. We found out in September I think that Lyn had an extra tooth. 3 out of our 4 kids had extra teeth all in the same spot. Up top. Like mama. She was a brave little thing and handled going under anesthesia so well. Coming out of it she did decent too. She got pretty emotional but after a nap, she was back to herself. She only had to have 1 baby tooth removed. It was pretty sad though the next day to see how swollen her lip was. That lip stayed swollen for a couple days. I'm also grateful for modern medicine!  

I am grateful to have so many colleges near by. We were able to take Lyn and Parker to the BYU basketball game thanks to the bank. We had fun cheering them on! 

Lyn received this eye mask from grandma shelly after her surgery and she sleeps with it quite a lot now. I'm grateful that she still likes to snuggle with me. 

I'm grateful for thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been a fun holiday for me. I love getting together with family and just being together. We were with the Jensen's this year and it was fun to eat and play games together. Lots of laughs and yummy food! I'm grateful for my in laws and that they are involved in our lives. 

I'm grateful that Emmy is willing to try new things. She was asked to be on a basketball team and without a second thought she went sure I'll play. Even though she has never played before. Her first game was a little rough because she was a little nervous. However the 2nd game you would have never known she cried in the first game. She was so confident and was trying to swipe the ball away. She is one of the smallest ones out there, but that doesn't stop her! 

We really do have so much to be grateful for. You don't have to look very far to see the miracles and blessing in your life. I'm grateful for my father in heaven that he cares about me and my family.