Happy Thanksgiving one and all!  This year we find that we are all scattered about in both Dave and my families... we have family celebrating in California- L.A to S.F, Texas, Colorado,UTAH- St. George, Orem, Riverton,Pleasant Grove, NEVADA, Idaho, Arizona and NYC!!  We are missing you all at this time of year!  It's hard not being with all the family for TURKEY DAY! I shed a tear or two yesterday feeling homesick for family!  BUT THEN- We were SO happy to find out that Rich & Heidi cancelled their plans at the last minute to go to California (due to pregnancy precautions) and stayed here!!! YEA!  Now we're not alone!  Also a BIG thanks to our Bishop for his invite!  We have SO much to be grateful for so I thought I would have each of our family members say the TOP things they are grateful for:

Dave-- the gospel, family& friends that love us and my job.

Leslie-- health (medical care), my family, the gospel and a roof over my head.

Matt-- My family, the church & good friends.

Lindsey-- My family, friends, church, being happy.

Katie -- My family especially, good friends and a good school, the gospel.

Ellie-- My family, the church, my school, my house & my dog.

We realize that this is a very brief summary- the list goes on and on. Especially in the tough economic times we are in right now.   Here are some more ideas from the whole family. The Savior,  our educations, our parents teaching us correct principles, support from loved ones, love in our home, good childhood memories, good influences in our lives like our grandparents, our cousins, woodworking,aunts and uncles, family vacations, family reunions, a computer, a camera, Holidays, good health,the missionaries, going to the park, freedom of religion, being able to read, understanding who we are and why we are here, the scriptures, music, art,the piano, the beautiful world that we live in (nature), homemade food, having fun,warm beds, comfy pillows,clothing,learning, good teachers, brothers and sisters, living in the USA, a temple, a great bishop, people who help us, husbands/ wives, guitar,children, cleaning, cars that work, joking/laughing, work,the restoration of the gospel, play, phones, homemade rolls, turkey, pioneers, the pilgrims, the founding fathers, cooking,our prophet, rain,football, soccer, running,swimming,hiking, camping mountains, and that's just the tip of the iceberg!  You get the point!  

We are very grateful for all we have been blessed with!  Happy Thanksgiving!!!

MY DAD

My Dad is so awesome. He drove down 2 1/2 hours from Cedar City to see me this morning.  He is 78 (almost 79) years old and was worried about me, so he got in his car at 6:00 am this morning and drove down here to check on me and see how I was doing.  He only stayed for a couple of hours because he doesn't like to drive after dark and needed to be home tomorrow.  It was so sweet and it moved me to tears as he drove away,  thinking "I don't know many Dads his age who would come so far just to comfort their "little girl" in a time of need".  I also can't help but cry when I think about the fact that he won't be here on this earth for a whole lot longer-- The house next door is for sale and I am doing my best to talk him into buying it!!! I hope I succeed!  I have truly been born of goodly parents!  Oh, how I love my parents. What a blessing to have parents who love you!  It's a feeling you never outgrow- SO- THANK YOU DAD!  You are the best.  I love you so much!!! You made my day!!!!!!!!!!!! 

EXCITING TIMES!

Tonight we are having an "investigator" over for the first discussion... we are so excited!  This has been a long time in the works and we hope that it all turns out.  We think the world of this person and really hope he accepts the message that the missionaries will give him.  Our whole family has been praying for this tonight and are very excited!

Tomorrow I am going in for my long awaited/dreaded surgery-- YIKES!  I am getting ready to join the "happy and hollow" club! 

We had a fun visit last week from Debbie & Rob and LeeAnn & Nathan!  It was fun to see them all and hang out together! Yea!  

The girls got to see HSM3 finally and LOVED IT!  Dave, Matt and I saw 007- good stuff. - It was a fun weekend! 

HALLOWEEN TIME!!!

Look at those "cat eye" glasses- see ya at the sock hop Lindsey!

Ready-okay- CUTEST CHEERLEADER award!

Oh- she is soooooooo mean looking! Don't mess with this pirate!

Our "awesome" Frankenstein cake--

The awesome Jack-O-Lantern Dave and the girls carved while Matt and I were boogie-ing.

The movie party on the tramp Thursday night- yea! It's the weekend!

Halloween started a couple days early for us this week. Wednesday was the tri-ward dance for our YM/YW. Matt looked "smokin hot" as a 50s "greaser". The dance was fun and even his dear old mom busted a move or two and Matt was kind enough to cheer for me instead of laugh at me! :) ha ha.

Thursday was the school carnival and party since we didn't have school on Friday! Katie was a cheerleader and looked so cute!(go-fight-win!) Ellie was a pirate- "arghh". They had a lot of fun at their class parties. Lindsey joined us there at the school when she got home from Middle School and she was able to visit some of her old teachers. She said that the elementary school seemed so small to her now! :) Thursday night Lindsey invited a couple of friends over and they watched a movie outside on the trampoline piled in blankets-FUN!!!

Then Friday we had a fun day~yea~no school!! We ran a bunch of errands and then spent the rest of the day making our chili for the ward party and our cake for the Cake decorating contest and lots of cupcakes for the cake walk. The trunk or treat was a lot of fun. Lindsey was a 50s girl and she said it was her favorite costume she has ever had (probably because she looked so stinkin cute in it!!) HAPPY HALLOWEEN!