A Time of Thanks

This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for! We are so grateful for our many wonderful friends and our family, and for our little Gemma. We are grateful for our home, for our jobs, for electricity, indoor plumbing, & our health. For the love that we have for each other & for our eternal marriage. For this great country, the freedom that we have, & for all those who have given so much to keep us safe & to secure our rights and freedom. But most of all we are grateful for the gospel in our lives. To know that we are children of god, having the priesthood & the spirit constantly in our home. For our wonderful Prophet and leaders of the Church, for the many missionaries preaching the gospel to others. For our savior Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice for us all. For his humble birth and the exemplary life he lived.

This year we were able to travel up to my parents house. The trip up seemed so long - I was so glad that Gemma did so well traveling. We brought a blanket with us and she crawled right under it and slept the whole way. For Thanksgiving the next day we went over to my Aunt & Uncles place to eat dinner. My DeLeeuw Grandparents were also there. It was so good to see everyone & the food was so delicious! Both Brent & I ate way too much!

On Friday we hung out & watched movies. We didn't want to wake up early for the madness of "Black Friday" so we waited until we knew the rush would be over before we went. We didn't get much besides movies for Christmas. That night we went to the town light parade. It was short but fun to watch, they had a lot of clever ideas. They had the Polar Express, a bunch of Who's from Whoville & of course the Grinch and Santa Clause. We took Gemma with us ... she loved being warm & snug in Brent's coat.

On Saturday we went up to see Brent's parents. It was really nice to see them & some siblings. We ended up helping Karen make her wedding announcements (which turned out really cute). When we got back to my family's, we watched Star Trek & played the longest game of cards ever with my brother Cameron and his friends. It was really fun & we all laughed so hard!

On Sunday, Mom made muffins for breakfast. After we ate them all we had a hilarious fight with the foil liners. We turned a bunch into Frisbees & even more into foil balls. We were all laughing & running all over the house. Mom & Cam were being especially silly!

It we such a great weekend! I loved seeing & hanging out with so many family members. It will definitely be hard to go back to work and to snow after such a wonderful trip!

A new addition to our family

Brent & Megan welcome home their new little one ... Gemma! She has been such a joy to have around. We haven't had her for very long but we already love her tons and spoil her like crazy. Gemma is a one of a kind Chihuahua ... she doesn't bark at all! She loves playing around, especially with Brent and my little brother Cam. She is all ready potty trained and loves to be cuddled. She is very tiny, has huge ears, and very short hair.

Get a Clue!

For our awesome Halloween party this year we decided to get a clue ... a clue theme that is. It was really fun to have us all dress up as our clue character. Jenessa was Mrs. Peacock, Shanae was Mrs. White, Kevin was Mr. Green, Brent was Colonel Mustard, and I was Miss Scarlett. We decorated my apartment all out so it looked like an abandoned hotel or something putting white old sheets on my couches, melted candles everywhere, cobwebs galore, and wilted flowers. Shanae and I made some "spooktacular" coffin treat boxes and place holders. We ate spaghetti for dinner, sparkling apple cider, and had raspberry coconut bars and chocolate cupcakes decorated to look like cute spiders for dessert. After dinner we all played the DVD version of clue. It was so much fun! Brent (a.k.a. Colonel Mustard) was the thief. All in all it was a great party and we all had so much fun!

Congrats!

to Karen & Ryan. They have finally picked a date to be married. The happy day is December 19th. We wish you both every happiness and we can't wait to be there to celebrate with you.!

Cameron

I am once again amazed by the love Heavenly Father has for us. He always hears our prayers and is always there to comfort us and give us strength even when we feel we have non left.

My little brother Cameron had major back surgery on October 23rd. He was in surgery for a grueling 7 1/2 hrs and was in the hospital for 5 days. On day 3 Cam took a turn for the worse. His lungs started collapsing and filling with liquid. I was blessed to be able to go be at the hospital with him that day. It was so hard to see him in so much pain and not being able to breathe. They ended up having to hook him up to a ventilator to force him to breathe. He was given a priesthood blessing that morning and by that night he was doing much better.

I am happy to report that Cameron is making a fast and great recovery. He is now able to walk around without the use of his walker. He is such a strong person. I admire him so much! Cam I hope you know how much you are loved by us, your family, friends, and by your Father in Heaven. I look forward to seeing you fully recovered soon!

Autumn Time

The world is wonderful place. We were able to enjoy some of the amazing processes that take place. The leaves changing colors and the clouds. We went with some friends and were able to take pictures of them and they of us. Fall is such a wonderful time of year!