First of all I just have to put out a big thanks to all who have and do protect this land of the free. What a huge blessing to live in the United States of America. I feel so privleged to do so and am so grateful. I know that we think a lot more about gratitude in the month of November, but I also feel like we pass by Veterans Day in the rush of the Holidays-I know I do at least. I've always liked Veterans Day, epecially growing up (possibly in part because it is also my little brother's birthday and therefore extra special) but also because of the reminder of how blessed we are! In school we always had a program which included patriotic music including taps and a veteran speaker or two. I guess these programs were especially memorable because my mom was (and still is) the music teacher (for elementary school) and was usually responsible for the programs. Consequently, my grandpa generally was a speaker and many times one of my brothers played taps so these programs really hit home for me. I am grateful for the patriotism that my family instilled in me that increases my gratitude and respect for those who help keep this nation free. In light of the opportunity we all had to vote recently, I really like this quote by John F. Kennedy that reminds us that our actions speak louder than words;
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
I'm appreciative to my grandparents and aunts especially, who have been such inspiring examples of patriotism and service to me.
I can hardly believe it is Veterans Day tomorrow! I know I always say that time flies, but it truly does. My little brother comes home from his mission three weeks from today, he turns 21 tomorrow and he is starting school at BYU-Idaho in January. I am so excited for him to be home and that he'll be close by. Nate and I kind of grew up by ourselves to some extent, considering that my brother just older than I is five years my senior. I'm really trying not to get too excited yet, but am looking forward to his visits and to have him meet Conner.
I guess I should back up and talk about Conner's first Halloween....well we forgot to dress him up and take pictures, so the only ones we have are from our ward party that was almost a week prior to Halloween. Conner was a puppy and the picture doesn't do it justice, but he was super adorable!!! However, it was a REALLY warm costume and it wasn't super cold the night of our party, so he didn't wear it much. We did have Amber and Graeber over on the 30th to play games and have carmel apples so that was fun. Maybe next year Conner will be old enough to go trick or treating and then it will be a little more exciting!
Conner also got to play in the leaves last week for the first time and his favorite part was eating them! : ( He also liked crawling through them and is really getting good at picking things up with his pointer finger and thumb. It's super cute when he is exploring something new, he holds up his pointer finger and touches it first before he grabs it with his hand. So many new and fun things!
We also have FINALLY decreased our cat hotel back down to TWO...WAHOO!! We were really getting tired of feeding all of those cats-yes I know it's our fault for not having Piper (the mom) fixed, but Dave thinks we should let her have one more litter and then fix her...whatever! We're super glad that Dave's cousin Ashley took pitty on us and took our last two kittens on Sunday. It was super fun to get together with her and her husband and get to know them. On the way home from their house, Conner was pretty cranky (since he didn't get a good nap) and cried for a majority of the trip home. I remembered that my mom had told me when I was a baby they had to buy me my own flashlight to travel with or I would cry the entire time in the car, so I grabbed my flashlight and gave it to Conner...and he loved it!! Poor kid was so tired and exhausted he rubbed his eyes the rest of the way home, but the flashlight really helped!! I turned to Dave after Conner stopped crying and said, "see, he really is my kid!" Maybe this doesn't make sense, but most everyone that sees Conner says he looks just like Dave-I think I've been told maybe twice that he looks like me-so to have him do things that I did when I was his age is really fun.
We've officially had snow come and stay. I think winter is pretty well here now, but I'm really hoping the roads stay good-to me that's the worste part of winter-icy roads. We're excited to see family and friends the next few months and for the Holiday season. Thanks everyone for all you do-hope you have a great November!
