Day Seven.. My Surroundings!

I am so thankful for the beautiful tree's that surround my house. Sometimes I feel like I live in a giant tree house. We have Tree's in the front and backyard. We have aspen's, pine's, three fruit tree's, Two are apple and one is a plum tree. My plum tree is my favorite. This year it produced an abundance of fruit. We had friends come and gather up as much as they could. They made syrup and jam for us, it was awesome. What got me thinking about my tree's was earlier today I had a friend come over for snacks and some good conversation. She mentioned she had never been to my house during the day. She LOVED it. She felt like the tree's were so comforting and peaceful. Sometimes I feel as though maybe I take it for granted. I do have beautiful surroundings to go with a home that I love so much, Maybe that is part of the reason why I love it here. In the mornings it sounds like we live in the Tracy Aviary, with all the churping and birds talking to one another. Some years we have some really cool nest's that I want to take a peak in but I am too afraid I might get killed by a mama mag pie. YIKES!

Day Six... Being A woman

On day six I am thankful for being a woman.. Sometimes it can be hard. With the emotional ups and downs and pregnancy's, its not always high heels and pink lipstick. LOL. But overall I am PROUD to be a woman and I am surrounded by a ton of Amazing women, especially my MOM! She is incredible, giving, forgiving, talented and fun! She was always helping us with our school projects, slaved over home cooked meals for us and cleaned up after us. She was a stay at home MOM most my life and worked hard at it. She always did her ART on the side and taught us to be creative. She did really cute things and crafts for us on almost every holiday. I love you MOM and strive to be the kind of Woman you are proud of.

Five generations of AMAZING women!

Fountain Of Wishes, Shopping And Game Night!

Andy had this past weekend off... In fact, he had a three day weekend!! Yay! So the kids and I got to spend some quality time with the love of our lives. What would we do without our Andy? Anyway, we tried to squeeze in as much stuff as possible. Including two baptisms! What a busy weekend. My Mom works at Dillard's and asked if we could come down so Ella could try on some shoes that she wants to get for her birthday. So we did a little shopping. While we were there we had ice cream and threw pennies into the fountain and made a wish.. OK, we threw like ten nickles, dimes, pennies, whatever I could find in my purse. LOL. Andy took the kids to go see Frankenweenie while I did a little more shopping with my friend Denise. We played the game of LIFE one of the nights. Ella LOVES to play games. LIFE was always my favorite game to play when I was a kid and it's Ella's too. She is sooo much like me it is CRAZY.

Playing LIFE

Mila.. Losing at the game of LIFE.. Or maybe she just hates her life. LOL

Ella have a fashion show moment. :)

Don't ask... LOL

Don't forget to make a wish.

Day Five... My little Munchkins And The Hubby

I am so thankful for the little family Andy and I have created. My husband and kids make me so much stronger, happier, unselfish, spiritual and just all around a better person. I love when we are all together doing simple things like riding bike's, playing games, making cookies and wrestling.. YES, I said wrestling we love to have tickle fights or pretend to beat the crap out of each other. The kids think they are so tough. LOL We all make each other laugh and sometimes cry but that's what makes us.. well, US! We have our little traditions that we try to keep intact. This year we have decided that because we love Halloween and dressing up so much, we are going to dress up in Halloween costumes of our choice on Christmas morning and open our gifts. LOL And if we like it I guess we will make it a new tradition. HA HA This weekend we raked up all the leaves in the backyard and played in them. Here are some of the cute pics I took of the kids having a blast and practically swimming in the leaves.

Day Four... FOOD!

I am thankful for food. I know it seams so simple and obvious but today was fast Sunday and I was STARVING!!! All I could think about in church was all the different things I was going to make and eat when I got home.. LOL Seriously though, I do think about people that don't have the luxury that I do to just eat whatever they want, whenever they want, especially children. It also makes me think about the importance of food storage and how I really need to work on ours. There are a lot of natural disasters going on around us and I would hate to not be prepared. Anyway, here are some pictures of mine and my family's favorite food. I know, it seams kind of weird posting pictures of food. But that is how much I love it. Or maybe I am still hungry? LOL

Day Three.... The Gospel

Day three of being thankful... I am thankful for the gospel!!! For those of you who don't know, I didn't quite grow up LDS. I consider myself a convert. Although I was baptized and my parents considered themselves LDS, we weren't active and didn't practice any religion for that matter. I would go to church with friends or neighbors, but that was the extent of my involvement. It wasn't until I met my husband that I really began attending church and gained a knowledge of what the church was really all about. For the first three years of our marriage we dabbled here and there with church but never really committed until we bought our home in 2008. I felt like we had finally landed and I wanted to reach out and make some friends in the neighborhood and what better way than to attend church, right? Well at least in Utah. LOL So that's about when I gained a testimony and became a "regular" on the church scene. ha ha Then on December 1st, 2010 Andy and I were sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. We had Ella and Rowan sealed to us as well, making us an ETERNAL family. Now I truly have a special place in my heart for the gospel and the LDS church. It has changed my life in so many ways. It has blessed my family and I, making us stronger, obedient, forgiving and humble. I am so grateful for this beautiful gift that has been bestowed upon me. I wish everyone could feel the love and compassion that I feel for this church. Today I attended not one, but two baptisms. I love watching the whole baptism process and listening to the testimonies of how important baptism is and what it stands for. I hope my children will always have a love for the gospel like I do.

LOL.. This is for my friend Cicily. BUT SERIOUSLY!!! We all secretly feel this way. ha ha

Day Two... FREEDOM

Day two of being thankful... I am thankful for my FREEDOM!!! It sounds cheesy and a little grade school-ish, but I really am so grateful for the men and women that fight for our freedom. Andy and I went out and voted today and as I was standing in line I was thinking about how not too long ago women weren't even allowed to vote. I think we take this privilege for granted. It is such an amazing thing that maybe, just maybe, your one vote can make a huge difference. YOUR voice can be heard! That is what makes America so awesome. I overhear people talking politics; agreeing and disagreeing... Mainly disagreeing, and some may see it as hostile situation... I find it fascinating. We as Americans have a CHOICE. We don't all have to agree but we can agree to disagree. I love that. Our freedom is so important and it's important to teach our children about how our country fought so hard for us to be free. GOD BLESS AMERICA! 

I'm Thankful For...

So I've decided in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would blog every day up until Thanksgiving about what I am thankful for. I am thankful for numerous things, but to kick off my 22 days of thankfulness I thought I would start with being thankful for my home, house, crib, casa, whatever you like to refer to it as.. LOL Seriously though, I LOVE my home. I have never NOT wanted to come home. Its perfect for our little family. I love the fact that I live in a circle. It gives me a sense of seclusion and privacy. We have a nice sized yard equipped with a fire pit, which is nice no matter what the weather is. Aside from the materialistic things and shelter my home offers, it is also the first home Andy and I purchased, and it so happens to be the home Andy grew up in. It is filled with so many memories, from bringing Rowan and Gwen home from the hospital to teaching Ella and Rowan how to ride a bike. This year Andy put up a basketball hoop for the whole neighborhood to use. He put in a light and even painted (and measured exactly) a court on the asphalt. We are surrounded with awesome friends and neighbors and honestly if it wasn't for this house I doubt we would be where we are spiritually. We were sealed in the temple in this home as well. The list goes on and on of all the great memories we have in our little blue house at the end of the street that we are so grateful to call HOME!! 

 I was looking for a photo of our house and this is the only one I could find. LOL Don't mind Katy Perry and the lion in the picture.

This was the very first picture I ever took of the three little munchkins together looking half decent. Ha ha