Thanksgiving week.

This year it's at our place. I think we are expecting 798,403 people. So if you are looking for a place to go, I'm sure we could squeeze in a few more chairs.

I am oh so thankful for my life. Mike. All the little people at our house. Our house (it's cold and wet out). Our parents (love you forever!). Brothers and sisters (also forever, guys), freedom, kind people, Jupiter the Space Donkey, Pluto, Slick, food, MIKE, these comfy shoes I'm wearing, awesome report cards this term (kudos, kiddos!!), happy thoughts, health & strength, Abner's smiles, that sunset last night, learning, peace, and...love. We are all loved.

 The kids are keeping us ahead of schedule on holiday preparedness. So, by the end of the week we will most likely have our house ready, set, go for Christmas. They are the best. :)
Have a great Thanksgiving!

Down in the Mouth...and up again.

(I have no idea where that expression comes from...but it sounds about right.)

I've had a discouraging patch. You probably know what I mean...when the demands & stress of life feel so heavy you don't know how much longer you can keep it up. And you wonder about the meaning of it all, doubt yourself a lot. A general funk. Or, as I put it to Mike earlier this week, "Life is kind of kicking our butts, isn't it?"

HOWEVER. The cool thing about life is...if you just keep trying, after a while (sometimes a long while) somehow things look brighter, you get stronger, you get smarter, you get more fearless, you get more grateful. And then, AMAZINGLY - you are actually HAPPIER than before you had to struggle. (That is a dichotomy worth some thought.)

I went to the temple this week. I needed to. For the first time in months I had some real clarity. But then I went home and got all bogged-down again with life on earth - which included about 2 hours of sleep that night, and a gazillion demands the next day.
Luckily, I had a chance to go and be with some women in the neighborhood, eat and talk about the things we're grateful for. Listening to other people open up, talking about their own hurt and their own joy - it straightened me out.

Life is BEAUTIFUL.       All of it.
When your heart is soft and open.

Oh Sully.

#5 is ... so pinchy-cheeks-cute.

(here at the LV wedding festivities)

Here...with his bff from next door, after raiding Jessie's make-up. (Sorry about the fraction-of-a-second video clip. Mike accidentally had the camera set to video. And after that the battery died. But you'll get the idea.) 

Now, if he could/would just master the art of toileting....
We get a little closer every day.

Cel-e-brate Good Times, Come on!

(Mike loves Kool & The Gang...but then again, who doesn't?)

This is what I feel like today. Click play and then read the rest of the post......................oh yeah.

Big news!!!

Sully went on the potty this morning! Really!! It's true. I think he might ACTUALLY be catching on. Oh rapture!

Here's his under-used Potty Chart. But check out the big Obi Wan sticker there. THAT represents Sully's first successful visit to the little boy's room.

To top it all off, Abner slept 8 HOURS last night!!

I feel like it's all too good to be true.

Maybe the head cold and pink eye I've had this week will go away too?

(Lovely, I know.)

I'm optimistic. It's been that kind of day. :)

Yeah Hoo!

Hall-OH!-ween

Another Halloween has come and gone.

Highlights from this year's merry-making.

 The annual Sullivan Halloween party was better than ever this year. We added a hayride & a GIANT bonfire (you might have seen the glow in the sky over the Salt Lake valley).

Do NOT mess with this duo.

 Trick-or-treating this year was also bumped up to a new level. The kids are getting old enough now to cover some serious distance on Halloween. If you want some candy, we can hook you up (and your grandchildren generations from now).

Hope you had a good one.