With all the moving around we have done in the past 20 years of my life I have always managed to make great friends...the best. There are the ones that will be there for you when you need a favor, the ones that will immediately text you back the minute you press "send", the ones that will answer their door, invite you in unexpectedly thinking you're only going to say hi, but end up visiting for hours, and the one who was your child's kindergarten teacher three years ago who has now become a part of your family. That's Maryann. We love this woman so dang much. She is a gem in every aspect of the world! She seriously is like an aunt to all of my kids. Not only does she spoil them with hugs, and gifts...she is there for me when I need someone to talk to. She truly is like a sister to me, and if I had the room would have her move in with us in a heartbeat. She has too much fun with Chelsea. She constantly takes her out to the movie theater, shows, and eats at her favorite restaurant Friendly's afterwards. I swear I think Chelsea has seen more movies than anyone in our entire family! She'll even come over on a random evening bearing gifts for Chelsea & Noah.
Last week she bought Chelsea this cute little hat. It is the cutest thing in the world. When you squeeze the pink pompoms on each side the ears on top pop up! Made everyone laugh. Last night we had our family home evening, & it went a little bit like this... We had Maryann over for dinner, and Jon made us some yummy chicken caesar salad (sorry no pictures.) We then gathered around and made caramel popcorn balls, and was amazed at this awesome stainless steel top popper that we used to pop the kernels.
We make these every year, and it is always nice to have had Maryanne over to experience one of our family fall traditions. We made two batches...one for us, and one for our trunk or treat which is being held at our church tonight. We also had someone "boo" us while we were making them. It had been two years since our last "boo" and we are always happy to pass it on! It is so much fun having Maryann around, and I'm so grateful to have her in my life, and in the lives of our children. Living aways from immediate family is hard sometimes...especially when both grandmothers are literally across the country. So...this is just a little bit of our pre-Halloween fun that we are having so far this week. **Hope it is the same for you wherever you are!
Here are someof my favorite moments that happened this past week in which I'm extremely grateful for that happened throughout the week... Family Home Evening...
I love it when it's Chelsea's turn to teach the family home evening lesson. She is becoming more bold, and outgoing when it comes to teaching. She really makes it interesting, and I just love her enthusiasm as she teaches us! Her lesson was on Kindness, and to do an act of kindness for a family member, friend, neighbor, or anyone!
Letters...
I love sending them as well as receiving them, and I had a lot of catching up to do this week. Writing is always at the top of my "to do" list. That time has come for me to mail out our Thanksgiving cards, and before we know it it'll be time to mail out our yearly holiday cards, as well as care packages.
Simple little things...
Such as press on nails. Can you guess who's nails these are? I'll give you a hint. She's our sassy girl. Yep...you guessed right. They are Chelsea's. I personally would never buy these for her, but my dear friend got them for her, and Chelsea just couldn't wait to put them on. She loved them, and seeing the smile on her face after putting them on was priceless.
Learning...
Here's Noah kicking it old school with a leap pad from 1999. He plays it almost every day. Hey...it still works, and he loves it!
Technology (sometimes!)...
Here is Noah ditching the leap pad for today's technology...sneakingly playing games on one of dad's phones.
Time...
I love finding time to spend with the girls. I have three, and sometimes it's hard to have a one on one with just ONE! Chelsea wanted to help make a batch of popcorn balls. We originally only made a batch for our trick or treaters, and didn't think to save us any. We've been making these every year since we moved to the east, and all the kids at the trunk or treat just love them. It is a great recipe from my mother in law. You can have them sitting in a bowl a week after Halloween, and they never get hard! We will always keep this tradition in the family.
Education...
This past Wednesday Sierra, along with the NHS veteran class of 2013 had the privilege of introducing the new National Honor Society Inductees of 2014. She was inducted last year, and had a little bit of deja vu on this night. It was so nice to have seen these three girls hugging, and smiling, and expressing love towards one another. This is such a great accomplishment for all of them, and it truly is a huge step forward to their successes in the future!
Service...
This video brought tears of joy to my eyes. Tears of joy because of how compassionate all the members of the LDS Church in New York have been in giving of their time, and efforts to help serve, and clean up all the debris from the storm. Truly the work of the Lord, and it's so beautiful that we can make a world a better place no matter how hard the trial.
And their trial was enormous.
God continue to bless the hands that help our fellow man.
After watching this video I can't complain. It's been a good week, and I have a lot to be grateful for.
