Happy Thanksgiving (a few days late)

I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short, but I just wanted to recap my Thanksgiving and just highlight a few of the many things that I am grateful for. This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to go up to Dustin's Family Cabin in Fairview which is just 2 hours away. We went up Thursday morning and came back Saturday. Even though it was short, it was nice to get away and spend some time with family. I made up my Praline Sweet Potatoes and headed up. Although it's amazing how an almost 3 month baby triples the amount of things that you can't leave home without. This is a very new experience for both Dustin and I.

Taylor with her cousin Mia whom she finally got to meet. (Only two months apart, can you believe it?)

The cutest nephews in the whole world (Bo, Bryson and Tate) making their scary faces for Uncle Dustin.

On Friday night we went to a light parade near the temple in Manti... so cute and so fun! The kids got excited to Santa on top of the fire truck!

Quique was very mad that we went four wheeling without her so we had to be sure to take her on a ride of the souped up golf cart. She loves having the wind blow in her face, no matter how cold it is.

Dustin and I had some time to talk on the way home from the cabin and we are just amazed at what 2008 has brought us. It started out to be a really rough year, not only with the miscarriage, but other things we were going through at the time and despite it all, it ended up being the very best year and made us realize just how much we had been blessed with.

I am grateful for:

Dustin - I can't believe this is our 7th Thanksgiving as a married couple. The holiday season definitely brought us some stress the first couple of years, but I look at how much both of us have grown over these years and that I love him so much more every day (well almost everyday.. love you honey). He constantly makes me want to be a better person and I have seen such a sweet and sensitive side come out with Taylor in our lives.

Taylor - As I have said before, she is our gift from God. She is smiling all of the time and I love her so much. My life has made a 180 since she came to us three months ago and I wouldn't want it any other way. My mom always told me that the love for your children will be different than anything else and I am seeing that more and more every day! But I can't be grateful for Taylor without being grateful for her birth mom Jami. Without her, we wouldn't have been given the most amazing blessing in our life. She sacrificed so much and did one of the most Christ-like things that anyone on this earth can do. She is in our prayers every night and she deserves to blessed with all that she desires.

Quique - I know that she's a dog, but she is full of love and fun and I just love her like she is my child. She was my baby when I didn't have one and she cuddles with me and loves everybody, especially dogs and little kids. She has the cutest personality of any dog I have ever met and she fills my life in so many ways.

My family - My mom and sister are coming in a couple of weeks and I am like a giddy child waiting to open her gifts for Christmas. It's so hard that they don't live near me, but I love them so much. My mom is my greatest example of sacrifice and love. She is a role model for me as to the mother I can only hope to be. My sister is my very best friend. She is so much of what I am not. She is courageous and carefree, yet she has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. I'm sad that I only see my Dad maybe once a year or so, but I love hearing about all of the new recipes he has come up with. My dad can fix anything and he is one of the most creative people that I know. I always had the best when it came to my dad, whether it was a synchro stage or swim-suit or a graduation all nighter. He always got involved in all that I did. Thanksgiving just isn't the same when I don't have my family to share it with. But I am so grateful to them for all of the memories they have given me to treasure year after year.

My in laws - It's nice to have some of my family close and I am so grateful that they have just taken me in as their own and love me so much. I am so blessed to be so loved and to be given so much from my in laws. My life wouldn't be full if I didn't have my nephews and now my niece and soon to be nieces. I was laughing all weekend at everything that they were doing. I am sure it will come back to bite me one of these days, but sometimes I can't help but laugh!

My friends - They are my rocks. I could never have gotten through these past two years without them. I have been lacking in the friends department since I moved out to Utah, but I am grateful for my friends that have moved away from UT (Autumn) or that I have moved away from (my swimming and high school friends) and I am grateful for my neighbors who have become some of my very best friends.

My faith - The gospel has gotten me through so much in my life and it has given me the opportunity to work with some amazing people that have impacted my life forever. I am grateful for the teachings as to how to live my life and for all of the many ways that it blesses my life and gives me the faith and strength I need to constantly move forward and progress.

The list could go on and on, but these are the staples of my life. I am who I am because of the list above, well at least the good parts. I am fully responsible for the not so good parts...