Thanksgiving Gift from our little man

Hudson gave Drew and I a Thanksgiving gift. He was so excited to give it to us Thanksgiving morning.He gave us the sweetest letter and I have to admit, it made both of us tear up.

It says;
Dear Mom and Dad,
I want to thank you for being the best parents. One of the reasons you are the best parents is because you support me in my sports at every game and practices. I would also like to thank you for making me food and taking good care of me. Another good reason I am thankful for you because you always play with me.I am very thankful because you help me with my homework. The reason I am most thankful for you is because you love me. I am so thankful that I ended up with you for my parents.
Love,
Your Son,
Hudson
I am thankful for such a sweet and thoughtful little man inside that very loud and active little boy.

Thanksgiving Program

On Wednesday Devyn had her Kinder Thanksgiving Feast and program.The kids were dressed as Pilgrims and Indians. They had a feast in the Cafeteria then did songs and poems in the auditorium.
Devyn did such a great job. She had a part in the thanksgiving poem. Her group recited: I am a little Indian
I hunt with arrow and bow
If I see a turkey run by
Swoosh, my arrow will go.

Devyn with her friends Zoe and Lydia.

Happy Birthday to my Hun

His birthday was actually yesturday but it took till late in the evening to get the picture of him. I'd say he had a typical busy parent birthday. He worked all day, came home to see his birthday signs the kids made all over the wall, quickly had his favorite pizza(Eccos), rushed over for a basketball parents meeting for Camryn, went and visited his Dad at the hospital, came home, got a back rub then fell asleep watching Eli Stone. Not a super exciting birthday but he'll make it up a little playing golf on Friday.

Be more concerned what God thinks about you than what people think about you

Never have these words been more true in my life than right now. On Thurs. as word was being passed that our ward building was to be protested my first thought was I've got to have my camera for this, Second thought was I hope it's peaceful, third was I hope the kids don't get scared, and fourth (although I hate to admit it) I hope I don't run into someone I know. But as Sat. and Sun. approached my worries of running into someone I knew were gone. I remember as a youth being taught that as a member of the church we are called to stand out not to blend in. To stand up for what we believe in and not follow the crowd. As a teenager I just thought of it as having to living the gospel standards but now I understand that it means stand up and speak out for what is right.
Here are some pictures from the protest.

This is about 10:30am when it started.

Here's a few of the signs. The protest stayed peaceful and quiet except for some minor name calling. One of the protesters twisted his ankle while walking and some of our Priesthood went over to make sure he was alright. of course that nice act will never be reported.
This was one of our favorite signs of the day.
And yes it says Mormons: Americas Taliban. This was the first time I had seen this one.
And of course the Long Beach police dept. was stationed at each corner of the church along with some on bikes. Luckily they just got to sit and watch since there were no incidences.
10th ward is always interesting, exciting, and unpredictable.

New hair, new attitude

I finally got my hair done. It's been about 6 months since I've had a haircut and over a year a year since I've had a real change. The past 3 months I've been making exercise more of a priority and trying to eat a lot better. I've really been able to accomplish a lot more even with very little sleep.( thanks to a high-achiving overloaded teenager). I've been able to see a very slow but steady weight-loss but came to a point of just feeeling BLAH. In my eyes the weight-loss is barely noticable, my hair always back in a ponytail, I rarly wear make-up and I'm always in my mom uniform. I desperatly needed a pick me up. I put a new color on my hair and then off to Megan I went for highlights and a fresh new cut. I showed her a picure of how short I was willing to go and a picture of what I thought was to long and let her have free reign of the rest. As expected, I love it. It's just what I needed to get me freshly motivated to keep going with my new habits. It's amazing how a new haircut can really lift you up. Thanks again Megan!