Thankful

Here's a very small sampling of things I've felt thankful for this month in no particular order... 

1. Cousins! It's so much fun living close to our cousins. 

2. Dear friends who love my children. This picture was taken after sweet Mama Faye sent these cute kids a Halloween surprise in the mail.

3. Dio de los Muertos - We were invited to celebrate this incredible holiday with friends. It is truly a beautiful celebration of family (and our friends hosted an incredible evening). Thanks Price family!  

4. The Girls' Book Club - Our book club is back this year even bigger than before. These girls are the best! In November, the group presenting chose the book Ocean Born Mary and led a cardboard regatta at the lake! One team managed to build a vessel that actually made it to the middle of the lake (before sinking as it got wet). What a fun day! Then in December they read Mustaches for Maddie and acted out scenes from Shakespeare in mustaches (you'll have to read the book). I feel so thankful my girls get to have such a great group of girls in their lives. 

5. Sweet moments like this little guy tucking his baby and his doll in to bed. 

And other moments of him (and all the kids) working hard to serve others. They raked leaves for three hours to help out someone in the ward. 

7. The view from our backyard. When we moved from Kentucky, it was so hard to leave our beautiful yard. Thankfully, we were blessed with this amazing view out our back windows here in Utah.

8. Moulting chickens - Our chickens have been moulting over the last few months and it has provided us with hours of hilarious chicken TV. They look so ridiculous! This poor chicken (Midnight) lost nearly all of her feathers at once right as it turned cold. We could tell she was just freezing, so Eliza put a sweater on her. Midnight was afraid of the sweater, so she walked around all day backing up, turning sideways, jumping, and running away to avoid the demon sweater. Just thinking about it makes me laugh! 

9. Inspired Minds Academy (our new homeschool group) - This year we joined the most wonderful homeschool co-op. We meet all day each Monday, and each of the kids get to attend their own class with peers. The kids are learning the most wonderful things in such fun and creative ways. Not to mention we've all made lots of friends. My personal favorite part of the day is the hour set aside for a Mom's class while the kids have recess. It is SO nice to go and get my cup filled each week by some truly inspiring women. I didn't realize how much I needed that until I found them. Homeschooling is a lonely, isolating road sometimes, and having a great support system has been incredible! 

10. Beauty in the most unexpected places. This bridge is a true work of art despite the fact that no trail leads to where I took this picture and very few people will ever see it. 

11. I'm especially thankful we were able to spend Thanksgiving in California with all of these amazing people.