Dear Kelly

An email I sent to Kelly today. . .

Dear Kelly,

Can we get this instead of a refrigerator? I will never regret it.

Love,

Your Wife

Thankful for Christmas

I could call this a fifth day of Thanksgiving, because I have always been so very thankful for Christmas! I love Christmas and can't wait for the season to start each year. The music, the tree and the rest of the trimmings all contribute to the spirit of rejoicing in "the good news," reverence for our Savior and good will toward men.

Kelly surprised me by putting the Christmas tree up before I got home from work on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It took me 4 days to get it fluffed and decorated (even with the pre-strung lights) because the week was so busy with our house search and long work hours!

I LOVE my Christmas tree. It turned out gorgeous this year! The rest of our Christmas decor is somewhat lacking this time around, but the tree makes up for it all.

We inherited the tree from our friend Mary that Kelly does work for on the weekends. They had out grown it, but you can see that it hits our ceiling! We will enjoy this tree through many holidays to come.

Fourth Day of Thanksgiving

I'm sure you have noticed that I didn't finish the 'twelve days of thanksgiving' before Thanksgiving. That's okay--- because it doesn't really feel like Christmas here in our 60 degree weather-- so I'm going to go right on giving thanks. It's good for me!

1. Kelly

2. Family

3. POTENTIAL for motherhood (sorry for any confusion)

4. Knowledge

As I prepared for a recent Relief Society lesson, I gained a renewed and deepened appreciation for knowledge. I hung this picture in my stairway to remind me of what I learned and felt. It is a daily reminder that knowledge of the Lord and of our relationship to him brings joy to everything in life. And that consistent bits of time and effort are required to receive that knowledge. These three quotations summarize my thoughts:

"What is required to maintain a sufficient store of spiritual fuel? We must acquire knowledge of God’s eternal plan and our role in it, and then by living righteously, surrendering our will to the will of the Lord, we receive the promised blessings." ~Elder Perry, 'Let Him Do it with Simplicity'

That which is of God is light, and he that recieveth light and continueth in God, receiveth more light ; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. ~D&C 50:24

And this in life eternal, that they might KNOW thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. ~John 17:3

I am so grateful for the knowledge I have, and for the opportunity to gain more knowledge and someday arrive at the perfect day.

Thanksgiving Report

Bad news: Kelly and I forgot to bring our camera on our Thanksgiving trip.

Reading without pictures is no fun, so here's the brief rundown:

Orem - Boise - Orem
* Thanksgiving in Boise with the best turkey ever!
* Making sour cream-lemon pie with April
* 25 lbs of potatos-- thank you Uncle Dennis!
* Great shopping with the girls (JoAnns and two thrift stores)

* Enzo and Axel (April's dog) looked like twins and got along famously

* Enzo and Marmalade and Fudge (my family's new kittens) did NOT

* Fantastic haircut from April

* 24 hours of driving split up into 4 days!

* Adventures in dog parenting-- Enzo ate 1/2 a pound of M&M's and didn't sleep all night

* Church in the home-ward with so many people I love

* Quick/nice visit with David, Leslie and kids

* Caleb LOVES our dog and kissed him on the mouth! ~Sorry Leslie!

* Happy Birthday Bryan! (Sorry we missed Bryan's Birthday Boggle Bash)

* Station wagon packed to the brim with food storage on the way home

* Getting home again

Third Day of Thanksgiving

1. Kelly
2. Family
3. Potential for motherhood

My thoughts have been directed towards motherhood often these days --not because it's less than 9mos. away! --but because it's possible. In an email to my friend Kristen I wrote, "It has been a sacred experience to begin to ponder about what motherhood really means (and entails). . . The most meaningful lesson I've learned thus far is that the pairing of sacrifice and grace is the essence of motherhood." In her reply, Kristen added, "We are offered the chance to understand the Savior and develop attributes he has, through the most demanding of relationships-- being a wife and mother to children."

I am grateful for the eternal nature of family, not just that I can live with my family eternally, but that "family" is an eternal principle --a thread of continuity from our former existence, through this life, and into the next. In each stage of our existence we find meaning and growth through our roles within the family. Family and motherhood are divinely instituted and we can be divinely directed and supported as we grow into our roles. I am grateful for the opportunity and the grace.

Second Day of Thanksgiving

1. Kelly

2. Family

Wilsons

Petersons

The rest of the family takes a close second to Kelly. We love them (even if I don't have any good pictures on hand!)

We are getting the best of both worlds for Thanksgiving-- we're driving to Boise to be with Kelly's family, but stoping in Utah on the way up and back. -Just wish we would get to see everyone.

We are so blessed to have TWO great families.

* Mine is young and still growing up.

* Kelly's is older and provides a good example to follow.

* We have 8 fiesty nephews and 4 beautiful nieces.

* We have 4 amazing parents that are an inspiration and support to us in many ways.

* We've got most of the western United States covered-- and one casting the net wide in Michigan!

We LOVE you Petersons, Wilsons, Gaskins, Johnsons and McDonalds!!

First Day of Thanksgiving

I’m kicking off a holiday series I call the “12 Days of Thanksgiving”. Feel free to participate by making your own lists.

1. Kelly

Of course Kelly is at the top of my list! Here are a few reasons why:

A few more reasons:
* Makes me popcorn and/or smoothies on Sunday nights.
* Keeps flowers blooming at my feet—literally.
* Runs with things—for example:
~I say I want to learn letterpress, he transports a press from Boise!
~I bring home a couple succulents from my sister’s yard, he fills our home with lovely, interesting succulents (we’re up to 8 planters).
~I say I want a dog I can run with, he researches to find the perfect breed for us and learns all about them.
* Loves to attend the temple.
* Notices people and things he can do for them. Then does it.
* Enjoys being with kids more than anyone I know
* Does the laundry (Yesterday he folded a queen-sized bed full of laundry 1 foot deep. We were behind!)
* Maintains my car.
* Worries about me.
* Knows how to make me laugh—and does!
* Calls me to meet for lunch every now and then.

Kelly is the numero uno thing that I am grateful for!

Welcome

Welcome to The Sweet Life. The transition of my blog is inspired by a few factors:

*It doesn't make sense to have 2 blogs when I'm not very good at updating 1.

*Now that I'm married, I feel a bit less ego-centric about posting pictures of me/us. (But don't expect too many pictures before kids arrive—having his picture taken is not Kelly's favorite thing.)

*I know most of my readers are interested in updates about us, more than the "stuff" I often post about—although I will continue to post about pretty things as inspired.

*I'm tired of switching google accounts every time I post!

*And finally, I am launching The Sweet Life because my life is sweet, and that deserves to be celebrated. The inspiration for the new title comes from a little book, given to me by my sister: The Sweet Life: Reflections on Home and Garden, by Laura Stoddart. During a recent re-reading, I concluded that the book captured the essence of a thought that had taken seed in the back of my mind. I didn’t even realize it was there until I read this book, which flirts with the edge of being so sweet it can’t be real. It does so by drawing heavily on 19th century adages for high society such as—

The landscape from an eating room is of less consequence than any other.

AND

There is no furniture so charming as books, even if you never open them, or read a single word.

—the book and its perfect illustrations remind me of my own pleasant surprise to wake up each morning in my life. It’s almost too good to be true! Of course there is still some daily drudgery and at least 8 hours of work away from home, but all in all, things couldn’t possibly be any better!

So, welcome to the sweet life. I’m so glad you’re a part of mine!