Little Wonders Round Two

So after we said goodbye and thought Jon wouldn't be able to be here for Thanksgiving...a tender mercy happened.  He was given out-of-state leave to come for the weekend of Thanksgiving...so we spent pretty much every second at my Mom's again playing with them.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and it was the first year I tried to make it "kid friendly" so we had fun with some kiddie projects.  So here's some more pictures of all the fun we had and the "small hours" that still remain.  Jon is now in Afghanistan or somewhere close to it, getting ready to settle in to a year's deployment.  We sure are proud of him and GRATEFUL to all the servicemen and their families! 

 Making Butter from cream

 Tired arm from shaking the butter

 Crazy Kids Table

 Chelsy watching her handsome hubby in uniform

 Playing with Jon's new knives after a day of knife shopping

 What a great Family!

 Getting ready to load the bus

Love him!

Little Wonders

My brother Jon is in the army and his unit will be deploying to Afghanistan in December.  The good news about this was that he had 2 weeks leave and he and his family were able to come for a visit.  With such a big separation about to happen, naturally we spent every second we could playing with them.  My boys are in LOVE with Uncle Jon and can't get enough playing time in with him, and Silas understands that Uncle Jon is leaving.  It breaks my heart when he says, "Mom, I'm gonna miss Uncle Jon when he's far away!"  And of course, I had to take pictures of everything we did...what a great time we had.  The only lousy part was the saying goodbye.  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I said my goodbye, then put my shoes on and headed to the car I was driving home by myself.  As I sat alone in the car, bawling my eyes out, my Mom and Chelsy came outside with Daniel to let him get some fresh air.  They watched over him (Jon was out for the evening) and it gave me a glimpse of the sacrifice that Chelsy is going to be making as a "single mom" for the next year, and the absence Daniel and Andrew are going to have from their Dad.  I listened to one of my favorite songs, "Little Wonders" and the lyrics were so perfect for the situation, and for life really. So just know that these pictures and this whole trial have the theme song of "Little Wonders" attached to them.  And through the next year while Jon is gone, these small hours will still remain. 

Let it go,
let it roll right off your shoulder
don't you know
the hardest part is over
let it in,
let your clarity define you
in the end
we will only just remember how it feels

our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain

Gratitude

What a crazy week and a huge eye opener!  This week there was a huge wind storm that hit Bountiful and Centerville where we live.  There were hurricane-like winds (100 mph) for a good part of the day.  The freeway was closed because of semis tipped over on it.  Our power went out at 6 am on Thursday and wasn't restored until around 2:30 am on Friday.  As I sat there and listened to and watched the wind, I thought for sure some windows were going to break.  I kept worrying about my boys and if they were going to freeze (I think really I was the coldest one).  Stepping outside after the storm and hearing updates from other people revealed a lot of damage.  Huge pine trees were ripped right out of the ground pulling up, foundations, grass, and landing on houses, cars, and power lines.  Having this disaster hit our area gave me a huge eye opener to the many blessings I have. 
Here's a glimpse of some of the damage others experienced:







Having the power out all day taught me how grateful I am for electricity!!!  On a normal day, I get to enjoy:

• Heat (at whatever temp. I choose)
• Fridge and freezer to keep my food cold
• Microwave to warm up my food (fast!)
• Lights
• TV (let's not lie...to put my kids in front of when I need some sanity)
• Computer (communication, entertainment, and business)

Seeing the after math of the storm, I saw that blessing had been poured out on my family, and I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for watching over us!

• Everyone in my family was safe
• I had a charged cell phone that allowed me to communicate with Tyrel (who was at work) throughout the day, as well as check in with my sisters, mom, neighbors, friends, and family
• Our house, yard, car...all of our property was undamaged!  We had probably 5 sticks in the front yard, and our garbage cans blew over. 
• My parents' and sister's places and property were also undamaged
• We were not without running water or flushing toilets
• Most of Centerville was without power throughout the night, but my parent's house was a random block in Centerville that had power, allowing my family, and Izzy and her family to have a warm place to sleep for the night, and a freezer and fridge to put our food in
• I had a FULL freezer of food I have bought, made, or stored...none of it was ruined
• Tyrel gave me a flashlight and a kiss before he left for work.
• Garbage day was on Wednesday, so we didn't have full garbage cans tipped over and blowing all over the neighborhood!
• Our little peach tree that we planted in September was unharmed
• We were prepared with flashlights, lanterns, and food we could eat that didn't have to be cooked
• We have a fireplace and a wood stove in our new house so we were able to stay warm
• Our whole neighborhood was out helping each other and checking on each other