Thankful

I decided to list 26 of the things I am most grateful for. (Yes, it is my age). And as I began writing, I filled the 26 very quickly, and there is so much more I could add. It is also difficult to designate an order (beyond my top 3 of course! They are definitely my top 3!) We have so much to be thankful for, especially how the year has progressed and we are ending on a definitely fabulous note. I don't think it is a coincidence that Thanksgiving preceeds Christmas. In order to fully appreciate our Savior's birth and life, I need to reflect on all my blessings. And the greatest blessing of all is of course, Jesus Christ.

26: Temple and other places of worship
25: Diversity: I love different cultures, backgrounds, opinions, etc.
24: Deep discussions and long conversations
23: Medical Advances
22: Ancestors
21: Trials (crazy I know, but I appreciate the stretching process)
20: Sleep
19: Inside jokes and laughter!
18: GREAT Friends (and this would be listed earlier...but too much effort to switch the numbering!)
17: Power of Prayer
16: Comfort Food
15: Good Books
14: Memories: usually triggered by smells. Is that odd?
13: My home
12: Modern Technology (from internet to washing machines)
11: Healthy family
10: A purpose
9: Scriptures
8: Freedoms
7: A Prophet and personal revelation
6: A job that makes my husband happy (and pays the bills!)
5: In-laws: amazingly blessed with in-laws which go against the stereotypically obtrusive and annyoing in-laws. (for the most part! wink, wink!)
4: My immediate family, especially my parents
3: Brenna and Cannon (I couldn't put one above another!)
2: Ryan
1: My Savior

Happy Thanksgiving! We love you all!

TOO funny!

I know this has NOTHING to family, friends, or Thanksgiving, but I laughed so hard I cried...and tinkled when I watched this. There is nothing funnier than masculine men dancing in leotards and kitten heels. Especially when they are as unnaturally coordinated as Justin Timberlake (and the new SNL regular, the larger guy in back is hilarious!) Enjoy!

Favorite Past Times

This past weekend Ryan gave Brenna the brilliant idea to build a fort. We used loads of blankets, kitchen chairs, and personalized the interior with pillows and books. Brenna could have played in it for days. King Kong Cannon attempted to climb on top of our own Empire State Building, bringing some of the blanket walls down. But once we showed him what it's for, he sat and played with Brenna for longer than I thought possible!

I loved building forts as a child. Especially during General Conference. It gave us some annonymity. Our parents didn't really know what we were doing, secret projects like coloring or reading. So devious, we were. It was our house within a house. And Brenna seemed to thoroughly enjoy her space as much as I did. She didn't even want to pop her head out to smile for the camera. Little stinker!

Our angel

(Patron Saint of Health, Arch Angel St. Raphael)

In a week, our Patron Saint of Health, will leave his Bushman family observation deck. Yes the long 8 months of being uninsured will come to a close next Monday, December 1st. And with the earthly insurance policy finally coming into effect, the divine 'insurance policy' will expire. We have felt on many occassions the influence of divine power, protecting us from injury and sickness. It has not been a clean bill of health for the past 240 days, but we have escaped major issues and feel extremely blessed. (And no, I haven't recently converted to Catholocism, just wanted to put a face to the way we've felt.)

I look forward with anticipation to co-pays and deductibles and frustrating phone calls to the evil insurance company for not covering what they said. Yet, I'm a little concerned for our guardian angel to leave us! I personally have 3 doctors appointments lined up, Brenna and Cannon their wellness checks, and 3 dental visits all in the already busy month of December. One of my appointments is even scheduled for December 1st! And the great thing about starting coverage in December, is we have a years worth of medical savings plan (if that's the right term) to use in one month. And I am taking full advantage of that!

I love Autumn. I love leaves changing colors. I love crisp, cool nights. I love the smell of cinnamon. I love baggier comfy clothes. This is my time of year. We have perfect tree in our front yard. Perfect for climbing. Perfect for shade. Perfect for dropping loads of leaves across our entire front yard that provide a mornings worth of raking! (Thanks, Ryan!) Our leaf pile was about 6 feet across and 3 feet high. Brenna jumped right in, Cannon was surprisingly hesitant. Was it the noise? Was it the feel? Or maybe being waste deep, unable to move freely! This satisfied my hunger for driving up a nearby canyon in my home town, with the entire mountain covered in red, orange, and yellow trees. I am enjoying the Fall weather and scenery, to help me make it through the brown and cold winter! (Actually, I look forward to the cold. Just not the brown!)

Just because...

Brenna and I came up with a fun project we could do together. It was titled, "Just because..." We planned to 'heart-attack' Ryan's car while he was at work, and leave a note that we did this, "Just because...we love you!" (A lot of this devised by my sweet girl, Brenna).

The day came, and everything was working against us. Cannon fell asleep in the car, and woke up part way there upset we weren't done errund running. Brenna dropped the markers, lids off, in our new and still somewhat clean van. (I definitely over-reacted!) I forgot the actual hearts at home, and had to turn around, getting stuck behind not one, but TWO extremely slow trucks. We finally made it, and I began searching through the parking lot for his car. As I came around one corner, who crossed the lot in front of me? Of course, RYAN!

He is the master of ruining surprises. (Record: Guessed outloud where his brother was taking his wife on the honeymoon, guessed the same sister-in-laws wedding gift for her new groom, before he opened it, our first Christmas guessed the extremely difficult to obtain gift I proudly found for him, the list goes on...) He is guilty of intent to foil plans, ruin surprises, and unlawful guessing of gifts! So of course, he spotted us, and waltzed forward grinning ear to ear. Brenna exclaimed, 'You ruined our surprise!' I told her to be quiet, and we'll proceed after we have lunch. We had a great lunch, and dropped him off at his building, after I asked him where his car was parked! To Brenna's relief, our heart-cutting and coloring did not go to waste. We left the hearts, note and cookies in his car, to tiredly drive home.

Pretty Girls

Dear Kaden, 14 years from now;

I am so sorry my daughter played dress ups with you. I am sorry she outfitted you with a pink camo-skirt and Cinderella underwear. I would even like to further apologize for being coerced by your mom to take pictures of you, some of which were not particularly appropriate to post to the world! The only benefit of this experience, is you learned how to strike a fierce pose in anything!

Work it!

Oh yeah!

Yes, my husband is amazing. He comfortably and effortlessly sat amongst screaming teenage girls and moms to watch a vampire romance movie. And enjoyed it! And I loved it! I went in with no expectations, put the freshly re-read book out of my mind, and just enjoyed. It is a different style movie, more artsy, Sundancey, gritty, almost 70's-ish cinematography. I loved the soundtrack, which played into the theme. It was cast extremely well, with the exception of Rosalie. The high school scene played true, the actors of Mike, Jessica, Angela, and Eric were actually the age of teenagers and were very high school. Which added a great comical element. Edward and Bella were great, (amazing chemistry, which is what it is all about!) there were a few awkward acting moments, but considering their characters are very awkward, it seemed to fit. All of the Cullen's were awesome, especially Alice and Carlisle. I absolutely loved Charlie, much more fit than I pictured, but he was the perfect awkward father of a teenager in love. And Jacob, although his role is small in this movie, his performance actually made me like Jacob more than I did in reading. Very interesting.

Tell me what you thought!

And my husband is a child...

No, this is not a picture from last year. This is today. And no, you are not seeing things. That is our Christmas tree. And our stockings. And our lights. And our ornaments. And our Christmas pillows, and snowman.

Ryan is a child when it comes time for Christmas. He would rather spend money on Christmas decorations than on presents. He loves snow. And Santa. And the manger scene. And lights. And egg nog (yuck!). He has actually been begging me to get the Christmas decor out since November 1st. I was able to hold him off until he recruited the ultimate begger, Brenna. Her puppy dog eyes and innocence made me vulnerable. He plays dirty. So yesterday after Church, he pulled out everything, and put it all up. So far we have 2 broken ornaments and pinecone pieces on our floor. One word: Cannon. This is going to be a long few weeks trying to keep Cannon's chubby hands from grabbing everything shiny and new. I don't mean to sound 'Grinchy', I love Christmas. Just when it 'tis the Season'!

I'm a teenage girl...

Yes, I am very excited for this movie to come out. We already have tickets. Friday at 7:30. And yes, I said 'we'! Ryan is braving a theater of screaming teenage girls to make me happy. He is more than half way through "Twilight", and while he's been at work, I've been re-reading it. I read it so quickly the first time, I really don't remember the details. Anyhoo, I can't wait!

Am I the only one?

Birthday Weekend

Thursday: Brenna didn't have school Friday, so we wanted to celebrate her birthday at school on Thursday. I made her a "Birthday Girl" shirt, which she wore and also made some cupcakes for her birthday snack time. She loved all the attention!

Friday: In the morning we went to the Oklahoma Science Museum. Little did I know that it was also a "Chemist's on display" exhibit, and was packed with elementary-high school students. There were booths throughout the museum with chemists showing simple science experiments. We enjoyed ourselves for about an hour and a half, then met Ryan for lunch. Of course we at at his work, best food for cheap price! Then after Ryan got home from work, we asked Brenna where she wanted to go for dinner and she automatically said: "SUSHI!" So we went to a new Sushi and Japanese Steakhouse, and had a GREAT dinner!

Saturday, her actual birthday: Ryan took Brenna and Cannon to Madagascar 2, while I was at a Stake Primary meeting. Then we opened presents, and spent time as a family. Tomorrow we are having a family dinner/birthday party for Brenna and her cousin Jacob, who share a birthday!

Happy Birthday Brenna Boo

Today is Brenna's 5th Birthday. I will be updating you on her Birthday weekend next post. But in one, I wanted to list 5 reasons I love Brenna.

1. She is very thoughtful. She loves making cards for people who are sick, or remembers someone who was missing from her school or church class. She volunteers to help make cookies for her neighbor who is having a hard time, or draw a 'smiley card' for a friend who was sad.
2. She is a genius! She absorbs absolutely everything. In church last Sunday, she was writing notes and sounded out Novembr and Octobr (that is how she spelled it!) It amazes me how many details she remembers, or people's names. She tries to sound out everything and is reading small words. She also loves figuring out math problems (2+2=4).
3. She is overly generous. Everytime a friend comes to play, they leave with something of Brenna's. One friend left with almost $8 in cash from Brenna's piggy bank, one almost left with her her favorite My Little Pony. She just offered me one of her birthday presents, and said I could keep it for 2 days.
4. She loves to socialize. Every day she asks me where we are going, who she can have play dates with. And even if I list of a packed day like this: going to the bank, then the library, then meeting your cousin at the park, having lunch at home, playing with friends during piano lessons, etc; she will ask: Well who are we going to have dinner with? She is a busy body, and wants to fill her day to the max. I know I am the only one to blame here! She also is constantly planning parties, making invitations, preparing games, etc.
5. She is sensitive to the Spirit. She absolutely loves Family Home Evening, and will not go to bed without family prayers or scripture study. She loves singing Primary Songs, and watching Church movies. She knows so much doctrine already, and most importantly knows when to be reverent.

I love Brenna, and I can't believe she is already 5! Time flies way too fast.

Happy Birthday Brenna!

Mr. Tough Guy

I don't know what happened. I don't know what he fell from or fell on. All we heard was screaming, and Ryan raced back there and came running out of Brenna's room with Cannon and his bloody nose and mouth in his arms! Yup, his nose and mouth were bleeding. After we got him somewhat cleaned up and calmed down, he went back where he was playing and didn't want to slow down at all. Poor kid! What a fat lip!

3rd Place Baby!

Chesapeake goes all out for their employee Halloween bash! Costume contests, raffles, games, DJ's, the works! They raffled off 3 cars (Honda's powered by natural gas), 25 round trip vacation packages, a bunch of $2000 Capital One gift cards, Wii's, flat screen tv's, etc! And of course...we didn't win anything. Except 3rd place in the group costume contest! Ryan's co-worker looks very similar to Sarah Palin, so they capitalized on it! (From left to right: Steve, aka Eskimo man; Sharon, aka carabou barbie; and Ryan aka Moose meat!) Everyone thought it was hilarious, and many told them after that they were robbed 1st place! How do you compete with Dr. Evil and mini-me? Anyway, they split the cash prize of $700! We were pretty excited, and I thought I'd share this hilarious picture with you!

Happy Halloween!

Brenna begged to dress up as Cruella DeVille, and she actually came up with the idea for Cannon to be her Dalmation. It was an easy costume to provide, spray the hair and dress her up with fur! And thank goodness our friends had a Dalmation costume, because I had difficulty finding one! This was just before our ward's Halloween Carnival and Trunk or Treat.

Edmond also has a block party in Old Downtown Edmond. Church's use it as advertising and have the blow-up slides and inflatable jumping castles. They also had street games (bean bag toss, cake walk, ring toss, etc). We only spent about half an hour there, then went Trick-or-Treating at our sister-in-laws. (I could not get a decent picture of all the kids! They moved to quickly!)

Here's Cruella and Pup at a doorstep, we only let Cannon actually walk to about 4 houses, then he rode easy in his stroller. Brenna only did about 2 dozen homes, then called it quits! (To our relief!)

Here's Cannon holding tight to his earnings. Why bother with a bag?

Farm Day

Brenna's school had 'Farm Day' where the local college's Ag Department some animals the kids could pet. They asked them to dress up as farmers/cowboys. I had some jeans, boots, bandana, etc picked out, but she overrulled. And this was her outfit! A BYU hat, jeans, cute black boots and a floral top. She looked cute...but maybe not like a farmer!

Are you jealous?

The funny thing is, over the weekend, this same gas station dropped to $1.89! I love Oklahoma.