so much to be thankful for: thanksgiving 2020

amongst all the drama going on, it's wonderful to be able to have a night thinking of our blessings, and offering thanks for all we have. tonight we did just that and had a lovely thanksgiving dinner with the pinker family.

starting of course with sport - cause that's how doug rolls hahaha

dinner was perfect

with lots of laughs and cuddles and kindness

and lots of love.

then we took turns writing what we were grateful for on autumn leaves

that would be hung on our gratitude tree

then we ate pumpkin pie...

argues with toddlers hahahah

laughed some more

and played about

until it was time to go home to bed in time for school tomorrow.

we know there are so many things for us to be grateful for - and today is a good reminder to count those blessings we enjoy each day. ❤

 

2020 in a nutshell... count your many blessings

you have to laugh or you'll cry... and that's the truth right now

cause here is my 2020 in a nutshell and it sounds like something out of a meme.

january - death and a funeral'

february - work (other people's funerals) and estate paperwork

march: the plague 

i seriously feel like i've lost 3 months of my life! i had so much to do, that it was all go go go and now it feels like there is nothing - and so much time in which to do nothing. the kids have been the strangest bit - we are, of course, keeping them home and do not leave the house unless absolutely necessary, as we've been instructed to do, but they complain a lot that they are bored. i am sure they are, they are used to being able to go outside as much as they want, across to the park - and run a muck and now, we have to stay home. 

so - i said to them this week that we need to think of some things that we are grateful for. because the best way to be happy, is to think of things that you've been blessed with. here are some of mine.

1. first and foremost. i am so grateful that we can still have church at home. that president nelson was inspired to create a home based learning program - and that my husband is able to administer the sacrament in our home.

2. i am so so so so so grateful that my husband not only has a job, but that it's an essential position and he is required to keep working through all of this. so while others may lose their job or struggle, his wages will remain the same and we will be okay. 

3. we have savings. so if something were to go wrong, we would be okay.

4. being a church member prepares you for all kinds of things. we learn to teach from the time we receive our first assignments at church, so we can teach! plus there are so many resources available online, so if it should happen that i need to start teaching my children at home, i can do so.

5. we are healthy and strong and i know we will remain so, because i was told we would be - and i have faith to believe so. 

this may be a scary and uncertain time, but i feel confident that we as a family will continue to be blessed. ❤

anzac day parade

madeline's school had their anzac day parade today. she came home earlier in the week, telling me excitedly about how she needed a flower for their class wreath... and about the anzac book that their teacher had read to the class. i know that she's not quite old enough to understand really what war is about,  but then can any of us that haven't experienced it really understand?

she stood still while i pinned these medals to her dress (which i can assure you did not go to school for the parade) for a picture to remember today, and then peppered me with questions about my grandparents as she held their picture. my grandfather, joseph goodlet fought in world war two and those medals belonged to him. war was something he never wanted to speak of and i know it's something that stayed with him long after the war was over... for the rest of his life.

i am so, so grateful for the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom. who saw things that will never be forgotten... and who bravely stood up and left their lives behind, so that we can have what we have today. we are blessed beyond measure.

lest we forget

they shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old

age shall not weary them, or the years condemn

at the going down of the sun, and in the morning

we will remember them

lest we forget