30 Day of Thanksfulness

I have seen many people posting on facebook the past few years about the 30 days of thankfulness.  This year I decided to do it as well but I wrote it in my notebook and will post it here rather than on facebook.  There are still 3 days left but I went ahead and added them in so I could have the whole list here.

I am thankful for.....
1. my savior Jesus Christ
2. my loving, supportive, hard-working husband Jeremy
3. my parents who have show me how to live as a Christian, be financially responsible, be a good wife
4. our church where I have the opportunity to volunteer and teach others as well as learn myself
5. our first born child who was the biggest surprise but the best thing I could have been given, Hayden Cole
6. my health, it isn't perfect but I am able to do what I need to do and so much more
7. our second child who challenges us daily but is also so loving and special, Nile Edward
8. our second surprise and third child who is my baby girl and loves to dance and sing, Aubrey Jane
9. our house, it may not be the fanciest house but it is more than we need and we have space to spread out a little now
10. our Hawkeye friends and fun times together
11. our Veterans and service members
12. my ability to cook yummy food for my family
13. the beauty of God's creation all around us
14. friendships that have stood the test of time and distance
15.the surprise of flowers just because
16. our small group at church
17. fun family outing together where memories are made
18. sunshine in the bright blue sky
19. my babysitting kiddos
20. my hometown, Pella, IA
21. the wonderful teachers my boys have had in the first years at school
22. fresh fallen snow, all glittery and perfect
23. my in-laws, I got a great "new" family when I married Jeremy
24. my brother Daron, who I get to see a little more now since he is back in the Midwest
25. forgiveness, from my husband, children, friends, and most importantly God
26. caffeine for days I stayed up to late studying
27. hot oatmeal on cold mornings
28. the smell and taste of fresh baked bread
29. meals shared with family and friends
30. dates with my husband, whether it is a weekend away or a meal for just the two of us

I hope you take the time to stop and count your blessing this Thanksgiving season before rushing into the Christmas season.

Iowa Basketball Game

Yesterday we took the kids to Iowa City for an Iowa Basketball game.  We stopped in Williamsburg to get Nile some new jeans since his tend to get holes in the knees very easily!  Then we headed to Olive Garden for a delicious lunch, so yummy!  On Saturday I ordered our Christmas cards from Costco and they were ready to be picked up when we stopped in Sunday!  And a good price - cant beat that.  We needed to get some new lights for the house for Christmas so we picked those up and hopefully they will last us a few years.  We don't seem to have very good luck with lights for our house.  

At the game we had great seats and the kids each got a fun item to cheer with.  Aubrey is in love with cheerleaders right now and had a great time using her own pom poms and watching the big girls.  It was a great game and a fun day as a family.  I took Aubrey down by Herky during the game but she wanted nothing to do with him.  Oh well.  On the way home we stopped at everyone's favorite McDonald's and then home to bed.

Weekend away for an Iowa football game

This past weekend Jeremy and I headed out to Indiana to watch the Hawkeyes play against Purdue.  We traveled with 8 other friends.  Jeremy had been out to Purdue twice before and saw the Hawkeyes lose both times so he was anxious to see them win in West Lafayette.  We headed out Friday after lunch.  We had to make a pit stop in a tiny town in Illinois and when we came back out we could not get the car to unlock.  We had to wait for an hour for a sheriff to come and open the door.  Not sure what the problem was but luckily we didn't have any more problems with the car the rest of the trip.  We got checked in to our hotel around 9 PM and headed out for a bite and a drink at Walt's Other Pub.  The next morning we ate a quick breakfast at Ihop and headed to tailgate til the game started.  There were lots of Hawkeye fans everywhere and we all had a great time.  I missed the kiddos a lot but it was nice to have some adult time as well!!

Halloween 2013

This year we took the kids to a few houses and then went through trunk or treat at our church.  The boys wore their transformer costumes that we bought in 2010 I believe, they will not be fitting into them next year!  Aubrey has more dress up dresses to pick from than she knows what do to with but ended up going as Princess Aurora.  She loves to dress up and wears her play dresses weekly if not daily!  I love having a girly girl but dread the "discussions" we will have in the future about what we can wear and where we can wear them.

at home before heading out for some candy

at trunk or treat - for some silly reason I am unable to save this file once I rotate it