Their 50th Anniversary

On December 13, my paternal grandparents celebrated 50 years of marriage together. 50 years!

In a world where marriages tend to be full of unrealistic romantic ideals, arguments and struggles, divorce rates that soar higher and higher, and couples who skip marriage altogether, 50 years of commitment to the same person is a big deal!

My grandparents have nine children, over forty grandchildren (I can never keep track of exactly how many...), and one great-grandchild, and they rejoice in their posterity. Whenever possible, they travel to visit everyone when another grandchild is born or when someone reaches a milestone, including baptisms, births, marriages, and moves.

I feel so blessed to have been able to grow up visiting my grandparents regularly. They have taught me so much, mostly through example. When I think of my grandparents, I think of hard work, good food (and lots of it), selfless service, and devotion to their Father in Heaven. My family and my grandparents (and many of my aunts and uncles) spent lots of time building my parents' house and my grandparents' house. Whenever a holiday or family gathering comes around, the kitchen is full of people preparing a wonderful meal that is always accompanied by smiles, laughter, and a few stern reminders to help wash the dishes afterward. My grandparents have served two missions for the Church, and despite not being able to visit family whenever they wanted they have only had good things to say about serving the people in those areas they were sent to. When it comes to church callings, they fulfill their duties diligently and with love.

And every time I make a mistake, or do anything that makes them upset, they always forgive me. I have only felt love for my grandparents, and only felt love from them as well. I feel so blessed to know these two wonderful people, and to have them for an example in my life. May they reach their goal of another 20 years of marriage!

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for that I can't even begin to list everything. Husband Man gets after me occasionally because at night I sometimes say a really long prayer with things I am thankful for (and his ankles go numb). So I won't bore you all with everything I'm grateful for, and instead will share some fun stories and just a few things. (Sorry it is belated!)

I'm so grateful for Husband Man's parents. They were so wonderful the entire weekend, from cooking the Thanksgiving meal to washing dishes to holding Gummy Bear... Mama J even put Gummy Bear to bed every single night we were there! It was a wonderful, blessed break from being a mommy, because I didn't have to worry about a thing. It let me play Age of Empires with Papa M and Husband Man without stopping to check on Gummy Bear. It was so much fun to watch Mama J play with Gummy Bear, because she was willing to do everything! Poopy diapers? Done. Food? Check. Naptime? He's down. Bathtime? Of course!

And Husband Man's Aunt, who I will dub "Foxy", spent lots of time doting on Gummy Bear too. She snuggled with him, talked with him, played with him, and, of course, corrupted him, as aunts are wont to do. There is this song that became big out there on the interwebs called "What Does The Fox Say" and Foxy loves this song (hence her nickname). So she spent lots of time showing the video to Gummy Bear on her phone.

Right before we left Husband Man's parents' house, I asked his dad to take family photos for us since Gummy Bear knows how to smile. As children always are, Gummy Bear was a booger and just fussed the entire time. Mama J was making faces, shaking toys, making noises, crinkling the wet wipes container, even plugging in a string of lights and trying to get him to look at that. Foxy was trying to help too, in her special auntie way, by playing the Fox song on her phone. Of course, Gummy Bear stared right at her the entire time she played it! We just shook our heads.

Gummy Bear also learned a few new tricks over Thanksgiving. Mama J found her booster seat for little ones, and strapped it to one of the dining chairs so he could sit at it. We put toys on the tray, and he learned how to wave his arm and smack toys against it. He also sat in the cart for the first time, which he liked. Mama J and I went grocery shopping and stopped in the baby aisle to get formula. We were distracted by the toys, and Mama J picked a couple out she wanted to get for him. One was zip-tied to a piece of cardboard, and we handed it to him so he could hold the toy. We forgot that anything he holds will get licked, slurped, and gnawed on, and so ten minutes later I looked over and half of the cardboard was in tiny confetti pieces all over Gummy Bear, the blankets holding him up, his face, his chin folds... it was a big mess!

We had so much fun being able to see Gramma D, Foxy, Papa M, and Mama J. I'm so grateful we live closer to them, and to my parents too, so we can share Gummy Bear's silliness with them and spend more time with them. I'm so grateful we don't have to make the 11-17 hour drive to see family, especially since having a kid made it even longer. I'm so grateful that our family loves us, and wants to see us and help us out. I'm so grateful for the Gospel, and for my son and how awesome he is, and for my loving Husband Man who tries so hard to support me and make me feel awesome and beautiful. Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!