Thankful...

Our "Christmas at the cabin" celebration was canceled this year due to illness -insert frowning face here :( Although our family was extremely disappointed to miss this beloved tradition, we are very thankful to live close to our Papa and Nana and this past weekend we were able to swing over to their house for a little belated holiday dinner. It was a treat to be with them, enjoy a delicious meal (including the best dang ice cream cake I have ever had...YUM) and open Christmas gifts.

Ellie was enamored with those gloves and couldn't take her eyes off of them to take the picture!

On Monday, my parents stopped by for a visit. I say 'stopped by' but in reality they drove about 3 hours to get here just to hang out with us for the day and then drove 3 hours to get back home. I'm thankful for their love and willingness to travel so far to be with us. We hung out all afternoon playing Wii games...Ben taught Grandpa how to play Mario Kart and we all got a kick out of watching the kids get down with Just Dance 2 for kids. It is a stinkin' hoot to watch Ellie bust a move. Her favorite song is "5 Little Monkeys". I'll post a movie soon...it's adorable. We ended the day with a wonderful talk about the Gospel and how thankful we are for our Eternal Perspective which gets us through the difficult times in our lives.

 I'm blessed to have such amazing parents!

I'm thankful for the beautiful sunshine we have had over the last couple of days! It's been extra chilly but the sun is glorious. The kids and I have bundled up and hit the streets. Ellie just got a brand new bike for her upcoming birthday (Grandma and Grandpa dropped it off during their visit) and we have been out trying to teach her the ropes. She hasn't quite figured it out yet but she sure loves having a big kid bike like her older siblings. 

While we were outside, Megan pulled out her new Barbie scooter that she got for her birthday in December. She loves loves loves it. I mean, what pink lovin', girly girl wouldn't? She can strap a Barbie on to the front of the scooter and carry it with her as she treks around the neighborhoood. A little girl's dream :)

And my Ben got a new wrist-watch for Christmas and he is loving the stopwatch feature. He timed himself over and over again as he sped up and down the hill. He's quite competetive, even with himself, as you can see from the intense look on his face as he races to the finish line!

I really, really like to play with my kids! Whether it is running to the mailbox on a sunny day, laying on the floor to play a board game or racing Mario Kart on the Wii...I like to play and I'm thankful that Heavenly Father blessed me with a playful spirit! It has brought so much joy into my life :)
Happy Day!