Giving Thanks for How It Turns Out

Thanksgiving morning, Kasen and I ran the Eagle Mountain turkey trot 5K together. We finished it in 39 minutes, so faster than last year! And it wasn't as cold, but still below freezing when we started.

This was my 30th race! This year we got another pair of socks at the finish :)

Kyle smoked a beautifully delicious spatch cocked turkey! And he got to watch the Packers win right before we headed over to my parent's house for dinner. Jake was able to be there from California even! Kristi stayed home with Jackson so I was the only one there with my spouse. Emma was there without Mike and Jordan was there without Ben.

Kolt loved Jordan's Mac and Cheese. I think 3 or 4 times he asked me to get him more "Mackey cheese."

Sunday we had Sibsgiving at Hayden's house, with Kyle's siblings. Kyle smoked some pork belly and bacon deviled eggs too. It was all so yummy.

The day before Thanksgiving, I took the kids up to Hogle Zoo!

We saw 6 giraffes, the tiniest baby gorilla and the sea lion training. Kohen wanted to see an eagle, but we got to see TWO! Kasen just wanted to see the reptile house so we saw lots in there and had a fantastic day there.

And today we went with some cousins from both sides of the family to see Zootopia 2!

Tai has still been checking out a new cook book every time she goes to the library. Her rock candy didn't work, but she loves making all sorts of fun treats. I suggested switching it up and trying a how to draw book sometime though too.

Katey hosted a cozy girls night at her house in Midway this month. We walked around a couple shops, including Ballerina Farm where they gave us all their left over cookies before closing. Inside Dainty Pear, we ate at the Olive Press Cafe for dinner and then went back to Katey's to sit in her hot tub! We missed Ashley though.

We also went on a double date with Heidi and Kyle to go see Wicked For Good together!

Loved it. Not as much as the first one, but still good.

And this is Kohen's cute little turkey dressed as Kyle. He made it all by himself.

Today Kasen gave his very first ever talk in Sacrament meeting and even wrote it all by himself! He introduced one of the new Christmas Hymns, Star Bright and talked about Samuel prophesying about the new star and that God keeps his promises. Great job Kasen!

When Bishop was asking him to speak he called Kasen calculator. He forgets his name, but calls him calculator because of some encounter they had once that made him think Kasen is a calculator. lol

 Have you ever been in one of those lessons where the teacher asks you to raise your hand if your life turned out exactly how you thought it would and everyone chuckles because of course nobody is going to raise their hand... but what if I want to? Because sometimes I do.

When I think about when I was younger and how I wanted my life to turn out, this is it. My life has been everything I always wanted it to be. I have been SO blessed. Everything I planned so far has happened. I served a mission, dated for over a year before marrying a RM in the temple, someone that works hard and has never once even yelled at me, graduated from college before having kids. I always wanted 4 kids, 2 boys and 2 girls about 2 years apart. Which didn't happen exactly, but just the way it needed to be. I get to stay home with them and have a front row seat to them growing up, we have family close by, a house we can afford, living debt free, all of us are healthy, we're able to go do fun things together and it is absolutely the dream that I had for my life.

That doesn't mean that we have never experienced anything hard, but at the same time I already knew hard things would happen. They happen to everyone. So while I haven't known exactly which hard things would happen, that fact that they have was already anticipated so it was still part of what I envisioned for my life.

I've gone through parents divorcing, leaving on a mission to a foreign country, Kyle losing his job, then living apart for almost a year, secondary infertility, miscarriage, gestational diabetes, another parents divorce, a NICU baby, family members not wanting to talk to me anymore, death, and many smaller heartaches in between.

Anything COULD happen. There are so many what ifs that run through my head sometimes. What if I got cancer? What if Kyle were killed in the line of duty? What if we got into a huge car accident? I'm not one of those people that doesn't think anything bad won't ever happen to me. I fully expect bad things to happen sometimes. Because that is part of mortality. And when they do it makes me thankful for the gospel because just living the gospel helps me avoid and minimize so many unnecessary struggles. It is such great risk management! I don't have to worry about the stresses that can accompany drugs, alcohol, addictions, immorality etc. And when bad things do happen because of things outside of my control like others poor choices or life in general I can still rely on God and know that He will help my burdens feel lighter. I can still feel peace, joy and hope regardless of my circumstances. I can still learn something to help bless or connect with others and bring me closer to my Savior.

I'm so thankful for how things have turned out. For a million blessings I have in my life and the little choices I have made to get me here. Family, friends, health, happiness, warmth and the knowledge that it all comes from a loving Father in Heaven.

So blessed with this beautiful life.