Thanksgiving Thoughts & Devastating Disagreements

We had a great holiday weekend here in Arizona despite a few disappointing setbacks. Talia and Ryan planned to come up with their kids and share Thanksgiving with us, but unfortunately they had to alter their plans due to a devastating disagreement between Ryan and his stomach. . . His stomach won. After stopping overnight in Palm Springs, Ryan was still not feeling well after a long episode of working through the night at the Hospital the day before and a pulled muscle in his back, so they decided to turn around and head home. Bummer!!! We had already bought all the food, so we have TONS of leftovers (I'm not even kidding, I feel like we're in a replay of 50 First Dates, only on Thanksgiving day. And without the whole Hawaii, island romance thing. Okay, bad comparison. But I can whip out a mean plate of potatoes & gravy, stuffing, ham, and turkey and re-heat it for two kids in 3 seconds flat I've done it so much!)

Our turkey, now that's a story all in its own. A guy Buck works with is over the Boy Scouts in his Ward and they slow-roasted our turkey overnight in a big barbecue pit ~ it was so tender, the meat was literally falling off the bone! So good. It was fun though to spend time as a family and just relax. Buck was supposed to go back to work for the whole weekend because his Project he is working on is closing soon so they're in crunch time right now. He has a tooth that has been giving him alot of pain though lately and ended up staying home for most of the weekend, which I didn't mind! (He is either getting a root canal or having it extracted this week, compliments of the result of a previous football injury that went untreated. But it was still all worth it, right babe?! :)


So that pretty much wraps up our holiday weekend, besides Buck playing in the Turkey Bowl with our ward (which he cut short on account of his tooth) and finding a few sweet deals for Christmas presents for the kiddos. The stores weren't nearly as crazy as I thought they might be. We usually never do the whole "Black Friday" event, but I thought I would gain my rite of passage and brave the masses this year. After hearing about a temp. worker being trampled to death on the East Coast I was alot more apprehensive and discouraged about going; it is just so sad how thoughtless and senseless people can be, and all for materialistic posessions! I suppose with things like this, you just have to remind yourself of all the good people out there too, and to be positive and have faith in mankind, but it sure can make it tough at times.


President Hinckley was such a good example of optimism and faith. I often think of his quote, "Life is not just to be endured, but enjoyed." Although at times the state of mankind can be upsetting, if we let ourselves get pessimistic and hung up on all the negative things in the world, then we will only miss out on all of the many wonderful things also. Focusing on what's wrong never helped make things right. Not to mention it certainly doesn't lend any help towards our own personal improvement by doing so either! If we are too busy worrying about others shortcomings, we aren't very likely working on our own. I know I've definitely got room for improvement in this area! :) So in short, I am so thankful for leaders who remind us of what is really important and to find joy in the journey. I am so thankful for my family and the support and joy that they bring me, and for all of the many abundant blessings in my life. I hope everyone else has had a great Thanksgiving holiday and were also able to get a renewing spirit of gratefulness! All our love~

 
How can you not find joy in THIS?!!

     
A few pics to enjoy!