A Love Story for our Anniversary

A movie for my little princess, to let her know that love and happiness are real but they're not found in perfect-fitting shoes or beautiful voices!

Best Ward Christmas Party

Last year, in our Vegas ward we had a lady in the ward that does catering so she was in charge of food for the ward Christmas party. No funeral potatoes or jello. No sir, we were spoiled with a fantastic feast! The food this year was actually quite good as well but this year was about the fun! The gym was set up as Whoville with a "skating rink in the middle and shops all around. There was a donut shop where fresh donuts were being fried; a hair salon where the young women were sculpting some creative "who-dos"; the post office for letters to Santa; "Who Studios" for pictures with the Grinch; "Whom Depot" for crafts; and my kids favorite, the pet store sectioned off with a gate and filled with stuffed animals with a short table for coloring and a trough full of crayons and a plate of "dog cookies" (bone-shaped sugar cookies). We had a very theatrical Grinch who really got into it! It was a lot of fun! There wasn't room for tables so they called families off a sign-up sheet to take turns eating in the Relief Society room (like a restaurant). At the end they shared the real reason for Christmas with the Grinch.

The "skating rink"-taped plastic sprinkled with baby powder

Weston at the coloring table, where he spent most the night.

Emma's best Little Cindy Lou Who

This cute little girl was happy to see someone her size and followed Andrew around half the night. She was trying to hug him and play but Andrew was to busy trying to skate and keep up with the big kids.

Dr. Emma on Decorations

Emma loves decorating! She loves when I pull out new decorations and gets so excited to see our house changed! I've never seen a child more excited to bring in a holiday. Our last home had a fireplace to hang the stockings over but this one doesn't so I couldn't find a place for them. Emma was worried that if we didn't hang the stockings Santa wouldn't leave any gifts for us, so she hung them on the doors. When she saw all the Chrismas decorations up she jumped up and down and squealed, "This is the most beautiful Christmas stuff in the whole wide world!" (it's really quite plain actually, but in the eyes of a 5-year-old girl...)

For family night we set up the Christmas tree and listened to Christmas music. The kids loved helping and every time Weston "poked out" a branch he'd say "I did it! Blow it out mom," as he shoved the branch in my face. I'm not sure why.

Our tree has fabric ornaments (compliments of Mama Steed) and stuffed snowmen and lights of course.

And here's the reason for the stuffed stuff. He can't resist and he loves taking the animals off the couch to snuggle. That white bear on the beanbag is his favorite!

This is the only nativity that the kids can reach. Shayla and Brent gave Emma this plastic nativity years ago and the kids LOVE it! Baby Jesus has been lost and found many times but wasn't found in time for boxing up last year. Hmm, I think there's a good lesson in this missing Jesus. Hopefully we can find Jesus this Christmas!

Dr. Emma on Being Sensitive

When I got back home from my grandpa's funeral in California, Emma excitedly informed me that in sharing time (the Sunday I was gone) the president said my grandpa died and I was sad. Then she says "that's sad your Grandpa's gone, but I still have my grandpa!"

Deliciously Blessed-day 27

Today I am grateful for:

Food With this being the final and most important day of my Days of Gratitude I was thinking of posting a bunch of things that bless my life and were never featured here. But it's late and I'm tired so I'll say whats been on my mind today (and now filling my tummy, and thighs, and...). We got together with some friends for the feast and there was some very tasty stuff to fill up on! Jamie made the traditional Steed "deviled snegs" and I did a variation on my mom's sweet potato casserole (thanks for the idea Christine) and Mama Steed's cranberry jello (with orange-thanks Deb). I also made an almond slush and pumpkin pies. Our friends made some wonderful dishes including the turkey and some yummy cashew green beans I'll have to get the recipe for. The only thing missing was mom's rolls :( . Maybe I'll be up to that next year. But it was delicious and I'm grateful that nourishing our bodies can be so very enjoyable!

Well, it's been a good experience and great for journaling purposes to write a daily post but I'm going out of town tomorrow and needing to take care of other things so I'm going on a blogging hiatus. Thanks for reading and commenting!

Brotherly Blessings- Day 26

Today I'm Grateful for:

Nate

My brother Nate is only 19 months older than me and we got along fairly well growing up as I remember it. Now, there were times when I was the annoying younger sister (okay, most the time) and times when he was a punk. Like the year a doctor told me I was probably allergic to chocolate so I gave up chocolate for a year. Nate and Rich (my younger brother) made chocolate chip cookies all the time and taunted me. Yeah, for rude! So we had our moments but whatever he did to me in my youth he has certainly made up for in his adult years. He is a really great brother and friend. He doesn't have kids of his own yet so he works hard to maintain a "Favorite Uncle status" amongst his nieces and nephews. Which, seems to work based on the squeals of delight from the children whenever he's around. Emma calls him "Uncle Nate with the crazy hair." There's a lot of names to remember with all our siblings, spouses, and their kids but my kids never forget Uncle Nate and I don't think it's just because of his unique hair. I guess that's part of the reason I like him so much, I'm a fan of any fan of my kids. What can I say, I appreciate a person with good taste :o)

Why's Uncle Nate so "coowah"? Well, I'm having a hard time stealing pics from his blog to really show you why he's cool so if you want to see some great, fun pics. go to Nate Cannon on my blog list. He's a world traveler and has plenty of proof. He's been to Somoa, China, Thailand, Japan, London, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa Peru, Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Korea, and many parts this country. In fact, tomorrow he's heading to Belize where he'll camp and hike some pyramids. Nate loves to learn and explore and do new things. He jumps out of planes, goes on humanitarian aid projects, spelunks, offroads, kayaks, rides elephants, camps in the wilderness, kisses giraffes (or rather lets them kiss him), and captures every moment. He's a work hard, play hard kinda guy. I like living the adventures vicariously within the warm safe walls of my own home. Nate's also way smart and works as an accountant (ha, bet you didn't see that coming)! He's a great writer and awesome photographer and makes the coolest videos of his travels, making his blog a sweet place to visit.

He's not just cool and superficially talented he's a warm, kind, and generous person. He doesn't take trips just to get a thrill but he's done a lot of service, like digging wells and installing pumps for small villages in Mozambique. But he does the most good for people, especialy these little people, right in his family. So why am I devoting an entire post to one brother (I have four and they're awesome by the way) and deeming him Favorite Uncle? Because Nate's goodness was directed at me this week. He used his knowledge, time, and resources to bless me and help the family when I know he didn't have the time. He saw a need and he filled it. And I know he didn't do it seeking praise so I'll spare the details but suffice it to say I'm grateful! Hopefully I'll find a way to return the favor but for now this video shout out to "cool Uncle Nate" will have to do.

Reasons to love my other siblings:

Jesse- he donated 4 cousins to the Cannon Clan

Chris- he just brought another beautiful boy into our family

Rich-he makes me laugh and he's got quite a musical talent

Brooke- she's always helping out and never complains

Eternally Blessed-Day 25

Today I am grateful for:

Heavenly Father's Plan for Families

I got a call from my mom earlier this evening informing me that my grandpa had passed away. He's been sick awhile now and having difficulty breathing so his release from his mortal body is actually a blessing we've been praying and fasting for. We love him and will miss him dearly but know that he was prepared to meet his Maker and had a firm testimony in the principle of eternal families. What a comforting message, to know that we will be with him again in the eternities. I'm thankful to my Heavenly Father for giving us that opportunity and thankful to my grandpa for the life that he lived, the example that he set, and keeping his family close!

Patriarchal Blessings- Day 24

Today I am grateful for:

The Birthday Boys

Today is my dad's and husband's birthday! I think it's kind of neat that the two most amazing men in my life happen to have the same birthday and it happens to be the same week as Thanksgiving. What better way to remind me how very blessed I am! Makes me think I better do great things with my life to be blessed with such wonderful men to support me! But I've already written about these awesome guys so I'll stop now and let you visit that post if you missed it before. Happy Birthday Dad! Happy Birthday Jamie! Love ya!

Families Blessing Families- Day 23

Today I am grateful for:

Home Teachers

We have a father and son team home teaching us (actually 2 sons today). They are always very good and accomodate the kids. They talk to us and show genuine concern. They know the kids names and keep up with the goings on of our household and leave us with a prayer. Home teaching at its' best! They usually bring a laptop to show the kids pictures to go with their simplified lesson but today we got a special treat. After the show the son even entertained the kids with a magic trick. Thanks guys, you're the best!

Blessed From On High-Day 22

Today (well yesterday) I am grateful for:

The Temple

Atlanta Temple

We had several things we wanted to get done yesterday but I decided to just ignore them and get to the temple. Jamie had things he wanted to do but knew it was important I went so he stayed home to babysit. Just before I left the house I went to pull the couch cover out of the dryer and found pen stains all over everything in the dryer (and the inside of the dryer itself). Apparently a Sharpie pen fell between the couch cushions and stayed in the cover when it went through the wash. I pulled out my Shout and started spraying the cover and then looking at the extent of the damage gave up and declared the death of the couch cover. It was frustrating but I decided to just forget about it and head out the door to the temple like I had planned. During my drive there I put in some pretty church music and forgot about the stresses of the week/day. The temple was so quiet and peaceful and perfect! Things were put into perspective and the couch cover didn't matter. I'm so glad I got to go to the temple yesterday! It always rejuvenates me and fills me with purpose!

Unexpected Thankfulness- Day 21

Today I am grateful for:

Blessings on Wheels

This 15-seater beauty pictured above is the same model Jamie drives to work every weekday, only his is white and says VPSI commuter vanpool. Jamie volunteered as the driver for this vanpool that takes passengers from Douglasville to Buckhead (the area in the city where Jamie works). Thanks to a subsidized program here in Atlanta Jamie gets to ride for free as the driver. He parks the car in our carport each night and picks up passengers at two stops and takes them to work and back again. And he gets to park for free. Before this came up he was taking the city bus and the MARTA (Atlanta's subway system). This obviously cost more, took a lot of time, and he either had to take the car for the day and leave it at the bus stop or I'd have to toss all the kids in the car at 6 in the morning to take him there. He drove to work sometimes but that's a lot of gas and it costs $8 to park. So we have been so blessed to have this monstrous vehicle. The kids love it too and call it "dad's bus." Sadly though the trial period is ending and they are still short a couple riders so they'll lose their funding. We'll be very sad to see it go and I suppose it's a blessing I took for granted until it threatened to leave. Poor Jamie's been working extra hard on finding solutions to make this work out and I'm so grateful the sacrifices he makes for our family and finances!

In other vehicular news. We are now the official owners of an '02 Ford Windstar (I'd say proud owners but I'm not sure that's the right word when you're talking about minivans). We previously owned a great little '06 Mazda5 (our mini-minivan) and actually loved it! Beautiful little van, reliable, and a fun ride (sniff sniff)! But I had this crazy idea that we could sell the car, buy an older and bigger minivan, then use the rest of the money to pay off our car loan. Jamie thought I was crazy at first but being the devoted family man that he is he gave in and helped me research the best option. And this is what we found. Not even close to the Mazda in looks or funness but it actually has less miles and more room! It's super clean and in great condition! The kids are excited to have a blue car and we'll be happy to have one less thing to pay for. Now if only someone would offer to buy our condo for twice what it's currently worth...(sigh)one step at a time.

My Cup Runneth Over-Day 20

Today I am grateful for:

Our Home

This picture was taken before the leaves started falling, but you can see why I'm grateful for our leafblower.

Jamie actually picked this house by himself for us to rent while I was still in Vegas so I didn't see it until late the night before our stuff arrived. I have to admit, leaving the house-choosing responsibility to my husband who doesn't even know where to put things away in the kitchen made me a little nervous. But, he did well, this house is perfect for our needs. I've enjoyed our peaceful neighborhood with kind neighbors, our large backyard with swingset (thanks mom), our basement with bikeroom and toyroom, the roomy dining room, great storage space. It really is just what we need and we are very happy here!

I feel the Lord has always manifested his care for us in the housing department. We've had to move quite a bit over the course of our marriage and every time something perfect has come up to meet our needs. When we were engaged, in school, and neither of us made hardly anything we weren't sure if we could find an apartment to fit our budget. But the Lord was mindful of us and provided a way for us to go forward with our plans. We found a studio apartment parents of an old high school friend was renting for $400 including utilities. It was tiny and we joked that we could MAKE breakfast in bed but was nice and clean and we couldn't ask for better landlords.

When we got pregnant with our first child there was no way to fit a baby in our tiny apartment and we were about to move into this yucky little two-bedroom with questionable landlords because it was all we could afford. But once again the Lord blessed us for starting a family and we found a great deal on a basement apartment in an awesome neighborhood (with our own washer/dryer unit!).

Since then we've lived with my parents for a time, in Jamie's grandmother's house, in a condo we rented by the school Jamie was teaching at, and we then bought a condo. And then we moved out to Georgia and found the right house, in the right place, for the right price. I never would have thought we would live in seven homes in seven years. Especially since I don't much like change. But I know each was where the Lord wanted us at that time, either for us or for others. It's a testament to me that if we do what the Lord asks, that we will be taken care of. Getting married and having a baby before graduating college didn't make sense logically but Heavenly Father was pleased and blessed us for that leap of faith. Moving across the country, leaving behind family and friends and venturing into the unknown was a very scary and sad thing for me but I could do it when I knew the Lord approved of the plan. I'm thankful that the Lord is mindful of our little family and has always given us a place where we can raise our children safely and comfortably. Hopefully we can enjoy this place a little longer before moving to our next adventure.

Life's Little Pleasures-Day 19

Today I am grateful for:

Leafblowers

Yes, this sounds like a man's thankful post, but no this isn't Jamie writing. After watching my poor husband spend an hour sweeping our long driveway with a couple trees hanging over it and the carport, I finally relented to his requests for a leafblower and told him to go pick one out for Father's Day last June. As we looked at all the trees hanging over our large yard we decided it would be well worth the investment. And actually it wasn't really that expensive. Ours has a mulcher attachment too which turned the four garbages full of leaves into one garbage full. And that was only a portion of the yard (which is now covered again). Today I went out and blew the layer of leaves out of our carport and off our driveway quickly and didn't have any backaches afterwards. The kids even joined me and enjoyed getting in the path to have their faces blown off. I feel very Georgian now owning this thing. I felt even more Georgian and hickish as we burned a pile of mulched leaves in our backyard. Leafblowers are pretty standard equipment around here and I'm shocked how many people own rider mowers, even the ones whose yards are much smaller than ours. Now I like the satisfaction and exercise of pushing my own mower and I'm far too cheap for a rider mower, but hooray for the leafblower!

Blessed From Above- Day 18

Today I am grateful for:

Hand-Me-Down Blessings

I was reflecting on the indirect sources of our blessings. Of course all blessings come from Heavenly Father but through what channels? Some blessings come through our hard work, like a promotion at work or a righteous posterity. But most often Heavenly Father works through other people to bless us. Our lives are richly blessed through the sacrifice and generosity of others! The fact that I live in a country with religious and political freedoms comes from no effort on my part. I suppose I may have earned that priviledge in the pre-mortal world but in this life I have not done anything to bring about these freedoms. Those freedoms are a hand-me-down blessing, a blessing generations past has earned for us. Having the gospel in my life is a hand-me-down blessing from my ancestors that recognized the truth of the gospel and made great sacrifices to pursue it. As I look around my home I see the results of the generosity and love of others, particularly our family. Pretty much everything we own is from other people. All our furniture (except our bed) are from other people. Most my kids' clothes (and a lot of mine) come from the generous shopping efforts of my mother and mother-in-law. Most toys, appliances, and decorations come through gifts of Christmas past. The other household goods come from kind wedding gifts. Even the stuff we do buy are usually hand-me-downs but still in good condition which means some kind stranger was generous enough to donate these to the stores we bought them from. Although new things may seem more valuble, there is much to be said of hand-me-downs. They hold sentimental value and remind me of the love of my Heavenly Father to place people in my life that bless my family with their generosity. And it gives me resolve to pay it forward. I think that is a greater blessing than having a lot of money to buy everything you want. This source of blessings teaches us humility, helps us acknowledge our Father's hand in our lives, gives others an opporunity to serve, give us a greater desire to serve, remind us in a very literal sense that all things are merely on loan to us from our Heavenly Father and we must be willing to share.

Emma's Grateful

I asked Emma what she was grateful for.
Emma- "pink stars that come and talk to you."
Me- "Is this in your dreams?"
Emma- "No, it's during the night when you and Daddy are in bed and you got stuff in your ears so you can't hear it."

uh, okay Emma, that's pretty weird.

Happiness- Day 17

Today I'm grateful:

That My Kids Are Friends

Sure they fight and get on each others nerves a lot but these two really have some great times together! Weston admires and copies his big sister and Emma's glad to have someone to follow orders. It's fun watching them interact. This is one reason I was hesitant about sending Emma to preschool, I saw their friendship starting to take shape and I didn't want that collapsing because sh'e d be gone all day every day. Sure she'll have to leave him and go to school next year but hopefully they'll have developed their friendship by then and they'll probably need some time apart. Right now they don't mind spending the whole day together. Emma even gets upset when Weston won't go downstairs or to the bathroom with her.

Emma's a good sister and is always loving and complimenting her boys! She helps out with them too. She takes Weston to read stories with her when he's tired and sometimes puts him down for his naps.

Andrew loves the kids and wants to get in on the action! Anytime there's a love fest Andrew has to be there.

I'm glad to see my boys starting to do things together. I even enjoy them being mischeivious together because, at least they're getting along.

This is a follow up to my Happy Co-workers post. Weston recently decided he wanted to start baking with us. Emma's been good to accomodate him. She sees that everyone gets a turn pouring ingredients and teaches him everything she knows about baking.

Andrew has the same love and admiration for Weston that Weston has for Emma. Until recently Weston merely tolerated Andrew for the most part. Now they have fun together. Andrew loves to get positive attention from his brother and Weston's glad some one finds him so entertaining.

Dr. Emma on things to do with your brother

While laying on the couch, "Mom, I want Weston to come dream with me."

Thankfuls- Day 16

Today I am grateful for:

Primary

We had our primary program today. This isn't it, this is at a pioneer breakfast, but it was the only primary pic I could find. I've been in the primary presidency awhile now and was in charge of the program. I asked the kids questions to get script for the program and some of the kids wrote their own talks and bore their testimonies. I love seeing the gospel through a child's eyes, so simple and perfect. Yes, it's good to be an adult and find deeper levels of gospel learning but how good it is to be reminded of how beautiful and pure it is in it's basic elements. Even though I wrote the program and read over it many times, I still got tears in my eyes as those children bore their testimonys in both word and song. What an inspired program Primary is.

Gratefuls-Day 14

Here's what I said (but didn't post) Friday

Today I am grateful for:

Pictures

I love pictures! I love taking them, I love sharing them, I love looking at them! I love that I can look at a picture and remember the moment and how I felt and feel grateful for my children and my life. If I were rich, I would be buying a sweet digital camera that takes pictures just as I see them. But I am very glad to have a digital camera that can also take sound videos. Memories are short, but pictures are timeless. So here's a walk down Gina's memory lane. Well, the Momma Years anyway- was there life before that?

My pictures help me remember...

the feeling I had when I held my baby girl for the first time. Bliss!

how tiny Emma was, 4 lbs 15 oz! My runt still scored a perfect 10 on her APGAR. Go girl!

how huge Weston seemed, 8 lbs 2 oz. He just looked so big and healthy and hairy. He still makes this oh-so-sad, big lips face.

what an adoreable baby Westie was. I loved his big eyes and hair and that round face I could kiss all day (and did, well still do).

how Emma has always been the scholar and the entertainer. She's cute and smart and she's gonna flaunt it. My boys are too but less showy.

how much boys love messes. Weston had a blast in this sand pit when it rained. He loved sandboxes. Don't know if he still does or not.

how grateful I was to see what a healthy, beautiful baby Andrew was. After labor complications, I was so relieved and happy to see how perfect he was I cried (which is not a regular thing for me). I'm sure part of it was because of what I'd just been through but my heart was so full of gratitude at that moment and I marveled at the miracle of a perfect little being!

how fun-loving Andrew is.

how quickly my kids are growing up and I need to capture every moment I can.