Thanksgiving

It's been a while since I last blogged. There are two main reasons: 1 - Julie makes staying at the library VERY diffcult now, so it is virtually impossible to do anything online that takes more than 5 or 10 minutes. 2 - We haven't taken very many pictures this month, so although we have done lots, there is not a lot of visual evidence. Anyway, moving on.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I LOVE this holiday. I love getting together with family and relaxing and eating lots of GOOD food. It also marks the beginning of the Christmas season, which is quite possibly my favorite time of the year. I cannot wait to set up our Christmas decorations next week. Here are just a few things that I am grateful for:

- My wonderful husband. He is so busy with school and work (he just got a second job working for one of his professors which is so amazing for him!) but he is so good about spending quality time with me and Julie when he's home. I can't imagine going into engineering and working two part time jobs and doing his scouting calling and everything. He really is amazing.

- My beautiful, BUSY little Julie. She keeps me busy but is so much fun. Here's some of what she's been doing the past few weeks since I last blogged:

She is a mouth-oriented girl. Has been since she was tiny. Whenever I look away, the next time I see her she has something (like this) in her mouth.

About once a week Julie has a play date with another little girl in the ward. And despite their lack of smiles in this picture, they tend to have a lot of fun together. Each time we get together there are less temper tantrums and they are getting better at sharing. And I confess that I enjoy being able to visit with another mom once a week.

Julie LOVES pb&j sandwiches. She has one pretty much every day. She finds so much joy in eating them, it always makes me smile to watch her.

- Both Arek's and my families. All their love and support and all the laughs we share with them. And especially my brother who is serving a mission in Russia. I am so proud of him! I try to show his picture to Julie at least a few times a week, so hopefully she'll kind of recognise him when he comes home in 18 months

- My church calling. I LOVE teaching music to the primary kids. It is sometimes daunting to come up with new ideas and ways to make singing enjoyable to them, but I love hearing their voices sing, and see the love that they have for the primary songs. I know most of the teachers get tired of singing it, but I love it when the kids get to pick a favorite song and a child says "I am a Child of God". Its message is so precious and important, I love that they love it.

Finally, here are a couple of family pictures that Jenny (Arek's sister) took of us last month. We just ordered some, and I cannot wait to put them up around our apartment. She really did a great job, we really appreciate her sharing her talent for photography with usHappy Thanksgiving Everyone!