Counting Blessings.....AGAIN!

I know, I know, a whole week without posts and then bam, bam, bam. I'm thinking of that whole journal thing at the end of the year and I don't want to miss anything! It's just been one of "those" weeks so I'm catching up! It's a lot to read so I don't blame you if you just look at the pictures. :) After writing everything, that's what I'm doing. I've never had that gift of short and sweet.

There are just some pictures that you have to take and I'd like to remember this one. He's such a good dad and you can tell his girls kind of like him too.

These two pictures really have nothing to do with anything but they make me laugh every time I see them. Brittany came down with her like this the other night and it was perfect timing because I really needed to laugh. We just need to find the grass skirt. Funny, I think I look the same way in my coconuts, belly and all. :)

Don't look too closely at my kitchen....it's just a cute picture with the girls helping grandma.

This is scary! I guess I know what I'm in for...

This is Avery and her cousin Brooklyn. They're a year apart and they have a really cute relationship. Brooklyn says her name so cute and they always give each other kisses and Brooklyn takes really good care of Avery. It's really cute.

Grandpa is always in charge of Avery at church. What a sweet picture!

We had a fun weekend with our family. Cody's dad and Leslie came into town, on separate planes I might add, last Friday. They were flying standby on some passes that they had and they missed the first flight because of security and only Leslie was able to get on the next flight so Mark ended up flying into Orange County and renting a car to get here. We're glad they go to so much trouble for all of us. They stayed with us for the first few nights and the kids absolutely love it! They miss all of our family back in Utah and it's nice for them to have a little bit of home for a few days. It was nice for Mark and Leslie too because they had a chance to thaw out. It's been so cold and snowy up there that I'm sure the 70 degree weather felt pretty good. We all just hung out and the kids got Leslie on the trampoline and she hiked up the berm behind our house; she's a really good sport because the kids really like to keep her going. Carson just hung out with the guys and loved every minute of it. It's fun to get everyone together because even though Cody has most of his family down here, everyone gets busy with their own lives and we don't see each other as much as we'd like to. It's fun to have the cousins together and they really have a good time. Any excuse to get together makes it fun for all of us.

It was nice to have a little change of pace because our life is a little stressful right now and it was nice to concentrate on something other than what we're going to do when we grow up. :) The stress is still there and Tuesday morning, everything hit us head on again, but it was fun to sit down and visit and have other things to do last weekend. It's amazing how consuming our life is right now and one week is just flowing into the next and we're just bouncing from one thing to another. I'm hoping we're making progress, but sometimes I wonder. Little things just keep happening and I'm thinking of how we're not supposed to be tested beyond what we can bear and I think I'm teetering on the edge of that. I just keep thinking that things are going to get better and this will just be a little blip on the radar. Hopefully we'll look back on this and say, "Wow, that was a really hard time but it was worth it!" We're just so grateful for all of our friends and family who are helping us through this and are so great! We really must have done something right to be in such a great ward with so many great people around us. We don't know what we'd do without them and are so grateful, especially this week as we've been trying to figure out some car issues and all of that! We have wonderful friends and family and that's one of the things that keeps us going. That's a huge blessing that I count every day.

I've also been out walking this week with some friends and that has helped my spirits so much! Getting so wrapped up in everything is exhausting and it's been great to get out (even though it's so early) and get a little exercise and more importantly get a little boost from my "posse." :) It's amazing how just this one hour a day does so much good for my mental health! I really appreciate that, even though I want to take a nap at 11:00. It's been great for me and that's another thing that I've been grateful for this week. I'm also looking forward to going to a Girl's Night Out with our ward tonight. We're going to dinner and a movie with just the girls and it sounds wonderful to me right now. I love being with my family, don't get me wrong, but it's nice to get out and just do something for me too and this is it. I'm sure it will make me a better mom for the weekend and I'm grateful to have so many fun ladies that I associate with and that I love and admire.

After all of this venting, I'm off to get going with my day! I just heard Avery starting to babble and thinking about all of the great things that have happened this week has given me the energy, until my 11:00 nap of course, to get going! I have so many blessings and it's nice to sit and write them all down. Have a great day!