Happy Thanksgiving

I know that I should be thankful for all of my immensely abundant blessing all year round and not just on one day a year. But life gets busy, and I am ashamed to say that I don't always look closely at my life and take time to appreciate all that I have been given. I guess that is why I love this humble holiday that is squeeze in between the revelry of Halloween and the merriment of Christmas. I love the smells of the Turkey basting in the oven and the sounds of laughter and the buzz of conversation that fills the house. There really is so much in our lives to be celebrated. All the small things that make me smile on a daily basis add up to a rewarding life full of love.

I am thankful for my Chad. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't look at him and feel my heart grow. I am so grateful that one day, a boy from the T.O 5th ward saw a little red headed girl from the Westlake ward. A girl that he just had to talk to. His eyes, his smile and his voice were all a testimony to me that I was looking at my future. One girl, one boy, and one mortgage later-he is still here and still my future. I am more in love with him today then on the day he took me for a walk outside of his dad's house and gave me our first kiss.

I am thankful for the two little people who have changed my life in a big way. I love my baby girl and my buddy boy with all my heart. It is a strange and wonderful kind of love. There is no other love that is so all consuming and immediate like the love I feel for my children. I love my piles of laundry and I love all of the toys I trip over 20 times a day. I love there little finger prints on the mirrors and windows. I love the smell of their hair and the feel of their breath as they whisper "I love you Mommy". I love how gently and completely they fall into my arms when they get hurt, or are scared, or just want a hug. And as much as I dread the years flying by faster then I want them to, I feel so blessed that it is me that gets to watch these two amazing little people grow.

And that brings me to an other thing I am thankful for, and that is time. I have all of this time with these people that I love so much. Time is such a precious gift. One to be cherished and not wasted. I live everyday full of gratitude. I know how fast time goes by, and I will not waste it thinking of all of the things I should have, could have, or would have done. I do look to the future, but I live in the present. And at present, I have a cornucopia of beautiful moments that surround me daily.

I am also thankful for the trails in my life that stretch my resilience and force me to grow. I might sound like a masochist, but don't get me wrong. I find no pleasure in the things that try me, but I am grateful for the person I am on the other side of the hardship. I have become more acquainted with not only the person I am, but also my savior. It would be nice if I could travel this life without having neither heartache nor pain, but that is what this life is all about. The people we become by learning and growing and not becoming embittered to our circumstances can be a reflection of meekness and strength, if we let it. I have loved stronger, prayed deeper, and stood taller all while standing in the eye of a storm.

Not the last thing I am thankful for, but the last that I will write about tonight is family. Family isn't just a father and mother, sister and brother. It is made up of step parents and half siblings. It is made up of good neighbors and life long friends. I don't believe anymore that there is such a thing as a functional family. I think we all have a little dis-function is all of us. As there is no one who can claim to be perfect, likewise, no family is either. We may think that the "Jones'" have it all together, but we really don't know. How do you measure a functional family? Is it prestige and positions? Is is a laundry list of accomplishments and abilities? I for one, think that no matter how a family is built-whether your parents sleep in the same house, or two separate houses-the thing that binds us all together is love. I am thankful for my dis-functional loving family. There isn't a lot that I have figured out, but one thing I know that we have is a lot of love. Unconditional love.

As you can see, I have so much to be thankful for. I look back on the road I took to get to where I am now. I see so many forks in the road, different decisions I could have made. And I know with all my soul that I am where I should be. These beautiful children, my wonderful husband, my as-close-to-perfect-as-you-can-get life, they are all witnesses of the fact that I have made all the right choices in life. I have no regrets. I have always acted true to myself. I can't change the actions of others. The happiest man on earth will tell he has nothing he desires, he would have it all already. I keep good company with that happy man, because anything else that might come my way would be a bonuse, because all my dreams have been realized. And that is something to be truly thankful for.

(and on an other note, here are some pictures of Thanksgiving Day. We went to Chad's sister's house. It was a great day. I love my family.)

Haircut

Stop the presses! I have done it. Something I said that I would never do, and I did it. It has been ten years since I had the guts to do it last, but I finally did it. I got my hair cut! And if it wasn't for McGraff's, I would still have my long hair. I kept getting head aches every time I worked. My hair is so thick and there is so much of it that by the end of the night, my head hurt so bad. So I got it cut. I do like it. It feels light. But I miss my hair. My hair has been so much a part of me that I kind of miss it. I am having phantom hair syndrome. I keep trying to flip my hair back or pull it out of my coat after I put it on, only to discover that there is no more hair there. So what do you think?

Thank You.

Chad and I have been strugling with money for awhile now. Our fridge hasn't been working since september. Thank goodness for my dad. He has this little drink fridge that he let us use, and we have been using that. I had to get a job because we just wern't making it. We have been months behind in all our bills. I am grateful that it really wasn't a long process to find a job, and the people at McGraff's have been very good to me so far. Already, we are feeling the benifit of having a little extra money in the house. Hopefully my job will only be a temporary situation. I am sure that we are not the only family that is really struggling right now with unemployment above 10% and everything going up, except everyones income. So we just keep doing what we need to do. The way we look at it, we have no room to complain. We love each other and support each other. We have two amazing little kids with big hearts and imaginations. They are happy and healthy. We can do this. Chad and I can do anything together. And everyone has their own trials. This one, I can handle because I have my family, and at the end of the day, isn't that what is the most important?

I bring all of this up, not for sympathy and not to vent. I am very positive about our future. I believe that this is just a little bump in the road, but not the whole road. I just want to share with everyone a little something. Chad and I are a little overwhelmed with graditude this night. Our home teachers came by yesterday after church to visit. Unfortunatly, I was at work and missed their visit. They asked Chad how we were doing, and asked Chad to be honest. So Chad was. He told him that we have no food in the house. I have a stronger testimony in tithing then ever. It is amazing that when it seems like all the chips are down, you are more able to focus on all the amazing blessings in your life. And little miracles find their way into your home.

I was not home tonight. While I was gone, our home teachers came by again. This time with bags of food for our home. They bought us food. Bought with money that came from their own pockets, not from the bishop, because-as they said-the process takes a little while and they wanted to make sure we had food right away. As I am writing this, tears of graditude are running down my cheeks. I love words, but I have none. At many times in our married life, we have been blessed by many people. I knew that these men that have help us through out the years have helped others, but for us, it almost seemed like they got called to certin postions just for us. Bishop Wadman from the University 2nd ward was one such man, and these two humble home teachers are two more. Not only for the food they brought by, but also the love they have shown our family. They never gave up on us, and for many reasons-the food just adding to the long list-we in the Triplett house love these good men. I only hope that one day Chad and I will be in a positon to follow in their example.

Lauren says...

Those of you who have ever had to sleep in the same room as Chad for whatever reason will know that he snores-and loud! It doesn't normally bother me. I guess I have gotten use to it. In fact, when he isn't sleeping close to me, it is to quite for me to sleep. Every now and then, his snoring is to loud. Usually when he is sick. The other night, it was to loud for me, so I crawled into Lauren's bed and slept with her. In the morning, Lauren asked me why I was sleeping in her bed with her and I told her it is because daddy was snoring to loudly. To which she responded, "Daddy was snoring as loud as a volcano?"


Lauren wanted to know what shape gravity was. I love the way her mind works.


Lauren told me that she wanted to be a mommy when she grows up, and she wants lots of kids. I told her that someday, we were going to have more kids in our house. She surprised me by saying "No! I don't want more kids!"
"Why?"
"Because they will hit me and Evan."
Then it got quite, she didn't really say much more. About 5 minutes passed and she came up to me and said-rather forcefully I might add, "Fine Mommy. You can have more kids. I don't care. I will just stay in my room!"


Lauren loves to say prayers. She wants to say them all the time. When she does pray, she ends up saying the funniest things. Not only has she prayed that "mommy would fit into her prom dress again someday" she has also asked that "mommy will have bright white shinny teeth." I am not sure where she got that from. But I think the funnest thing she has said lately has to do with our cute little puggle Radly. We always say that she is a sweet dog and we love her, but she has such a small brain. So, the other night, Lauren-very seriously-asked that "Radley will get a bigger brain." And speaking of Radleys small brain, according to Lauren, all Radley thinks about is bones!

She is a funny girl and I love her! She has such a unique way of looking at the world. Her observations on life makes me look at things in a different way. What a great little girl she is.

Weeee're Baaack....

Ok, so I know that is has been a long time since I have put anything new up on my blog. And lots has happened since the last post. One major thing is-I got a job!! Yeah. I am now in the employ of McGraff's Fish House! I am busy trying to learn the menu so I don't look dumb when someone asks me a question. I havn't had my own tables yet, but I think by this weekend I will be getting my own. I can't wait to start making tips.

Some others things have happened, but I really don't want to go into all of that. I just want to show off my cute little spooks! Halloween was fun. And just like last year, we spent it with my Dad and Rita at their house. My dad has gone Trick or Treating with Lauren since her very first Halloween. It has turned into a tradition. We usually spend Christmas and Thanksgiving with Chad's family, but Halloween we get to spend with my dad.

We got there pretty late. It was already Evan's bed time by the time we made it up there. I didn't have a costume for Evan. This past month has just gone by so super fast for me. So I ran to Wal-Mart just before it was time to go and grabed the very last boy toddler costume they had. He had no choice, he had to be a blue ninja. Although, Lauren kept calling him her super hero. So we will go with that-Evan was a Super hero for Halloween.

Lauren was Snow White for Halloween. She changed her mind everyday up untill the morning of Halloween. She was going to be Cinderella, then a fairy, back to Cinderella with a sharp twist into being a katydid (yes,a katydid. You know the insect.) She considered Fancy Nancy but finally settled on Snow White.


We went from door to door in my dad's neighborhood. Evan didn't get out of his stroller the whole time. He was to busy trying to open up his candy and eat it. He had no intrest in actually aquiring the candy. But I think that is because Lauren was being a good big sister. Everytime she would go up and get a piece of candy from a house, she also grabed one for Buddy boy. It was so cute. She even would tell people that she needed a candy "without peanuts for my little brother." (Evan is allergic to peanuts. I thought it was very sweet that a four year old was making sure that her little brother got candy without peanuts in it.) We only went for about a half an hour, but it was long enough for toddlers.




I got these fun make-up things from Wal-mart. I put it on and freaked Chad out. It was fun. If I had more time, I would have found a white trash type of costume for me to go with the white trash make up.



It was a fun night. I love my cute kids, my family, and spending time with them.