Thanksgiving and Jordan's Birthday

This year for Thanksgiving my family and I went up to Snowbird to The Aerie at the Cliff Lodge and enjoyed their wonderful buffet Thanksgiving Dinner. It was Jordan's "Golden Birthday" he turned 26 on the 26th and chose there to have dinner. It was so good and so beautiful to see the skiers out on the mountain and the watch the sun go down from the 10th floor. It was wonderful to have my parents together too and not have to try to share time this year and enjoy their company. I'm so grateful for so many things this year and its a wonderful time to reflect on those things that I have been blessed with:

1. Family: I'm so grateful for family and for their example, support, unwavering love, understanding, and playfulness they bring to my life. My brothers are my best friends and its so wonderful to know they would be there for anything and that I can share anything with them, and laugh, sing, and share our secrets together. They have been the ones that throughout my life and trials I have gone through, each one has been by my side like the picture above. They are amazing men and so loving and sweet to their sister. They are great examples of steadfastness, endurance and give me so much encouragement in my life and my dreams. They are pure gentlemen who are full of passion and grace. Most of all they are bundles of laughs and have the best sense of humor and have the best one liners you will ever hear! I seriously should write a book with all of them. They are my rock and motivate me to be better and are my lifesavors!

2.Employment: So many have lost their jobs this past year and I am so grateful for my job and love what I do. I work for a wonderful doctor who is not only my boss but my friend and we are constantly laughing at work and have made some great friendships at work. I'm so grateful to have a job that supports me to do all the wonderful things I enjoy doing and provides me with a beautiful, warm home.

3.Health: I'm so grateful to be healthy, to thrive in life and to live to its fullest and to be able to serve others and be there for others in need. I think I take that for granted be pain free and at times just being able to run, jump, dance, smell, WATERSKI, travel, surf, do steamroller, and biking and hiking and to experience God's creations. I feel like I have been so protected at times where a major catastrophe could have occurred and I'm so grateful that so far so good! Knock on wood.... (on my table I am sitting at)

4. Friends (A girl can't make it through this life with out her girlfriends) I mention my friends in my prayers everyday and specifically for their strength, their testimonies, and their encouragement they have in my life. They are my guardian angels where I see through them who I want to be. Some have become wives and mothers and are the best Mom's I have ever known. They amaze me with how much they juggle in their life and have it all together and amongst their busy lives I get notes in the mail, phone calls, and emails checking in on me seeing how I am doing and how life is and a new guy they want to line me up with! Haha They are always looking out for me and are so interested in what I am doing and it means more then they will ever know. My roommates! Wow, I couldn't be lucklier to have such amazing friends. They have shown me to stand for truth, for righteousness, and what really matters in life. I can get distracted easily or get going in my day of my list of things to do and they remind me to stop and smell the flowers and remember why we are here and what my purpose is and what really counts. I think that is a lifelong challenge for me to put off the Natural Man and they have shown me charity, love, and what it truly means to Stand as HIS Witness in this time we live in even when its uncomfortable.

My First Christmas Tree!

My First Christmas Tree! What do you think? There is something about Christmas Trees and Camp Fires where I can just stare at them for hours. It makes our front room so cozzy! Shae and Becky and I decorated it this last week and we were pretty impressed with ourselves and we used odds and ends of Christmas ornaments people had given us and it turned out great. I'm ready for the holiday and just finished wrapping this weekend and now am just counting down the days till Christmas. This morning I went to the Music and the Spoken Word that the Tabernacle Choir put on and saw a mini version of the Christmas Concert they did this week. It was beautiful. Natalie Cole was so good. I took the girls I visit teach and after we made German Pancakes. It just got me that more excited for this time of year and all the new snow we are getting is just a bonus. I'm grateful for this time of year to reflect on those things that we are grateful for and the Spirit of Christmas and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have so many great Christmas Traditions too that I am looking forward to. We Snowski on Christmas Eve and watch our favorite movie, Miracle on 34th Street, Read the Christmas Story and all sleep in the same room and wait for Santa and play games. Yes, I am still a kid at heart and love my Christmas Pajamas and I still BELIEVE!