Thanksgiving 2013

I was so excited when Thanksgiving week finally arrived because it meant I would have my husband all to myself! I'm so grateful he gets 3 weeks off a year and this year one of those weeks landed during Thanksgiving week.  The kids had school Monday and Tuesday and after that we headed to Idaho.  We hadn't spent a Thanksgiving with Scott's family since before Scott started medical school.  Scott's older brother CJ and his family were also there, we hadn't spent a holiday with them in a long, long time.  Their kids are all so big and it is nice to spend time with them.  We don't see them often and our kids had a fun time playing with their cousins.  

Clay and Karen took us to lunch to a restaurant by the Greenbelt and we had to take a picture in front of the temple where Scott and I were married, almost 10 years ago!!! We will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary this coming June.  

It was nice to show our kids and walk around for a bit.

Thanksgiving day finally arrived and we ate the yummiest food.  

Karen is a superb cook and hostess.  

I know how much work it takes to put together a Thanksgiving meal and Karen makes it look like a breeze!:)  So grateful for all your hard work Karen! 

Thanks for all the delicious food and hosting all of us in your home.  

We were in a food coma after our Thanksgiving feast! 

Brooke loves playing with Lanie's phone any time we go to Idaho or they come here.  She has the best games.  Brooke was concentrating very hard when I took this picture.  

The older kids were loving grandpa's ipad.  

It was so good to see and spend time with Great-grandma Jensen.  

Thanks for letting us crash at your house grandma, it sure was nice spending time with you.  

There was a lot of love giving from Brooke to CJ and Lenell's newest baby. 

She's a cutie! It was nice to finally meet her.   

...and poor Emi had to endure all of the grandkids' persistent 'love giving'! too! :) 

Lanie let us play with her wii.  It was so fun! 

Last time we came to Idaho, we went to ijump but Scott stayed in Salt Lake.  It was such a fun place to go, I'm glad we went again while we were there.  The kids had a blast and we did too.  

We had a fun holiday. 

The time to say goodbye came all too quickly but it was nice to spend some good moments together. 

We were thankful for good food, family and fun activities.  

I'm thankful that we were able to make memories together. 

Let Him Be a Little Boy

These are the 3-month old shoes of a little boy who lives in my house. 

Yes, you read correctly, 3-month old shoes. 

How does one wear out a pair of shoes to the point where they have holes in them?

This is not the first pair of shoes with holes and worn out soles.   

I often remind Braden to take it easy on his shoes, when I see him jumping in water puddles or rubbing them against the asphalt when he rides his bike or his scooter.  As I was scolding him one time, Scott heard me and gently said, "Denisse, he's just a little boy.  Let him play however he wants."  

My budget driven mind had taken over.  I do the math in my head $20-$25 every three months, I could be spending up to $100 a year on shoes for this little boy! 

As I was cleaning the shoe organizer one night, I saw this pair of shoes.  

I started to examine them and this brought me to reflection.   

I realized that these worn pair of shoes with holes reveal that a healthy boy wears them.  

He can run.  He can ride a bike.  He can ride a scooter.  He can walk to school.  He can play.  

This little 6 year old boy is healthy, able and capable of putting holes in shoes! 

At that moment, as I looked at those shoes I felt grateful that 

they had holes in them and the soles were worn out.    

I love my Braden and I'm forever grateful that he is a healthy child.  

I think I can live with paying $100 a year for shoes...