I am Thankful

I have been thinking tonight about the many things that Clint and I have been blessed with. I do this every so often to remind myself that it doesn't matter what I don't have b/c I have been given so much already. So many times I think we (including myself and I say we b/c i know I'm not the only one) take things for granted and focus on what we want rather than what we have. Sure, there are things I would love to afford like rugs to go in my bathroom so I don't have to use a towel on my floor, or a "new" used car or a dishwasher. While Clint is in school we have lived meagerly and I have gotten used to doing without. Please know I'm not at all trying to complain, I'm just stating facts. So, with out going on and on I would just like to say some things that I am very thankful for.

1. A righteous wonderful husband who loves his family and tries to do his best at whatever he does
2. Two beautiful children
3. Temples
4. A warm home to live in
5. the gospel
6. A good education
7. Freedom
8. I get to vote and be apart of gov't if only a little
9. Love
10. The atonement, the allows everything to become everything, including me
11. Faith, my own and others
12. My parents and in-laws
13. Learning, always and forever
14. Trials, b/c they make you stronger
15. Mountains, they make me feel at home
16. Running, and exercise in general
17. Electricity
18. My car, it may be falling apart, but at least I still have one and it wks (most of the time)
19. My body
20. My mind
21. Pictures
22. PBS Kids, Kaily loves it and I can get things done. (I know mom of the year)
23. Washer and Dryers
24. My mission
25. Clint's mission
26. old friends
27. art
28. nature
29. The smell of my Dad
30. My brothers and their families

Each month I want to be able to list 30 new things that I am thankful for. There is so much out there and so much that we really do have if we just take the time to look. The "other" stuff, the stuff that you don't have yet...well, I don't know about you, but that is what we have dreams for. Something to wk towards, a goal. I may not have everything I want, but I certainly have everything I need right now.

Gratitude and the Holy Ghost

"You could have an experience with the gift of the Holy Ghost today. You could begin a private prayer with thanks. You could start to count your blessings, and then pause for a moment. If you exercise faith, and with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will find that memories of other blessings will flood into your mind. If you begin to express gratitude for each of them, your prayer may take a little longer than usual. Remembrance will come. And so will gratitude." Henry B. Eyring, "Remembrance and Gratitude," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 13

Conner's obsession

I remember when my little brothers were actually little, like my kids age or maybe a little older, anyway, they had a thing for paper. Well, that obsession seems to have drifted down to my son. I don't remember Kaily enjoying a stack of paper quite as much as my little Conner does. If I am reading the paper or looking through ads he has to come over, get on my lap (any way possible) and see how fast he can or if he can rip them out of my hands so he can eat them and rip it up. If I leave them on the ground he has them all over the room in a matter of min. The funny part is, he can't even crawl yet. He does this army crawl thing. I know it's just a matter of time before he does really crawl though b/c tonight he got up on all fours and started to rock back and forth. SO SCARY!

Today he also got his 6 month shots. (I know I'm behind but that's the Dr. office fault not mine.) He cried as soon as they stuck him with the needle and if he looked at the nurse who did it he made sure she knew he was mad at her by screaming at her every time he looked at her. He snuggled his face into my shoulder and whimpered, but as soon as we were out the door he was fine and has been fine all day. He is now 18 lbs and 27 inches long. He's getting big.

To love or not to

The school week for Kaily has ended and we seem to have come through it just fine. She LOVES it! Her teacher is very nice and always has lots of praise for Kaily. Kaily talks about school nonstop for about an hour after she gets home and then she asks to do homework. Clearly this child doesn't take after me, or her dad. (= The week has just begun for Clint though. I don't think "overwhelmed" quite describes how he feels accurately enough. I think there are actually a few adj. he would use to describe how is feeling right now. This week has been crazy and every day when he comes home I ask the same question, "How are you?" Everyday I get the same deer in the head lights look. I know he can do it, deep down he knows it too.

School has arrived

School has officially started. I thought I would be nervous about sending Kaily to school, but the truth is I was more nervous about sending her daddy than I was her. Yesterday was our first day. I dropped Clint off at school at 8am and then Kaily and I went to get our hair trimmed. She wanted nothing to do with getting her hair cut, but the lady was great and Kaily ended up actually liking it. Conner was a stinker through the whole thing and refused to stay in his seat. Then we went shopping b/c I wanted to get her a new outfit for school. I ended up getting her new pajamas instead. Then b/c it took us so long to get everything done I had to race to Wendy's to get her some lunch before dropping her off at school. (BTW Wendy's is her favorite b/c they give her ice cream with her meal.) After we finished I went to the school, before I could even stop she was out of her car seat and trying to climb into the front. "Bye mom, I'm off to school." I asked her to wait so I could take her in, but she said, "That's ok, I'll be fine." Needless to say I took her in anyway. As soon as we got there she said, "bye mom, see ya later when you pick me up." Conner and I went home and I really didn't know what to do with myself. It was so quiet and I felt a little guilty for not being one of those moms that sit and wait on the first day. I was more anxious about hearing from Clint than I was for Kaily. She ended up having a great day and so did Clint. They are a bit overwhelmed with the new schedule though, but that will come in time. I'll add pics when I can get them.

Kemp family

Every year when my Uncle Russ and his family comes into town we have a Kemp family reunion, for all those that live in Utah. My Uncle's family lives in Missouri and it's always so fun to see them. This year they brought my cousin, Laura, to school. We are happy to have Laura so close. The reason we are all here. I love my grandpa! When I think of a real Superman, I think of my grandpa. He maybe going blind and he may be 85, but he is healthier than a lot of people out there. I'm also grateful he found grandma, she may not be his first wife, but he keeps him company and makes him happy. This is where my dad always ends up, behind the grill cooking. For as long as I can remember my dad is the one who we all count on to make his yummy beans and do all the grilling. Thanx Dad.

Blessings of family

While Jason was in town Kolin and Dani had their baby, Marli, blessed. It was a couple Sundays ago. (I know I'm slacking on my blogging) Here are some fun pics of everyone. This is Jason and Conner, he had never seen him before. It was fun to see him, if only for a little while. I'm so glad my family is close. It's nice to be able to do things with them and Kaily has so much fun with her cousins. This summer we have spent a lot of time with family on both sides. It's been great!

Fun with family

A while back Evan and his family came to visit. We had so much fun getting to know them again, we unfortunately don't see them that often. They have three beautiful daughters and the oldest ones, the twins are quite the handful. We went to the splash pad to play and after we got all the kids to bed we played Phase 10 while Clint went to work. The next day we went to the zoo with them. Kaily had a great time with her cousins. We were so happy to have them here and we had a great time.

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Many of you may have seen this already, but I thought it was too good to pass up putting it on my blog. This is an AMAZING talk. He gives great advice on life and living.

Getting ready for school

Things are getting crazy around here. We signed Kaily up for preschool and she is incredibly excited. Every day she asks me when she can go to school. I just purchased Clint's school books and I thought I would puke! This Nursing program is going to cost way more than I ever thought it would. They both start on the 25th and they both have open houses on the 20th. Clint got a letter from the Nursing Dept that told him he had to have certain things read by the time school starts. He said to me after I read it to him, "So basically, my school has already started, yeah." He's not supper thrilled about all the books either and I think he is a little nervous to start this. I know he will be fine, but I also know in order for him to be fine I need to be fine with being alone most of the time. Any advice Steph? Conner is starting to get into everything he can these days. He gets quite frustrated that he can't crawl yet. I think I can wait a little longer for that to happen.

Anniversary, 5 years

August 2, 2008

So our anniversary was on the first, but since we spent the whole day at Lagoon we didn't get to celebrate the way we wanted to, without kids. On Saturday we went to the new Cheesecake Factory in Murray UT for lunch. It was our first time being there and it was SO yummy. I got the Southwest chicken salad and Clint got a really hot pasta dish that I can't recall the name of. For our cheesecake we had the Tuxedo. So yummy. When we left we felt like we had eaten WAY too much. It was so good though. We did end up taking Conner with us b/c all my other family went to the lake for the day. That was okay, he was a good boy and everyone there loved him. After lunch we went to the movies and saw The Dark Night. It was ok. There were things about it we really liked and other things we didn't like at all. We were impressed with Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker though. Some of the script was well written for his part and some things he says makes you think a little. In that regards, I enjoyed it. After that we went back to my parents house for dinner with the fam.

I am so thankful to be married to Clint. I can't believe that it was 5 years ago that we were married. I am so thankful that the Lord led us to each other and the Clint listened to the spirit. He was the one who kept asking me out and showed up at random places that I would be, like wk. I am thankful that we were able to be married in the Temple and that b/c of that we can be together for eternity (if we are faithful). In 5 years we have lived in 4 places, 3 towns, had 2 kids and received our associates degrees. We have also been able to go on some amazing trips and see lots of fun places. Yea for 5 years, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Lagoon Day

August 1, 2008 This was our Stake Lagoon day. My sister-in-law was in town with her kids and we invited them to come with us. I also had my brothers little girl with us b/c they were moving and she and Kaily are best buds. They had such a great time. My parents ended up coming with us also. That was SO nice b/c there is no way three adults could have handled 7 kids alone. My nephews are 8, 6 and 4. They also have a little girl, Sarah, who is almost 8 months. Than I had Kaily, who is 3 1/2 and her cousin Marti, who just turned 3 and Conner. With my parents there the adults could ride the rides also. My favorite was Wicked and Spider. The kids loved all the kid rides and Kaily wanted to go on all the rides Clint and I went on. I took her on the new ride called Odysee and the Space scrambler. She loved it. It was so fun to be there with the kids and see how excited they got on the rides. I'm so glad everyone came. Next time we'll have to invite more people to come. I figure the more the better. The kids loved it so much that we didn't leave the park until 10:30 pm. We spent ALL DAY there. After we loaded them all up they were out in 2 min.

Mission Reunion THM

On July 19 I had my 10 yr mission reunion. It hasn't actually been 10 years for me, but for my mission President. It was actually 8 years for me. Still, 8 years, wow! It was so great to see so many of my great friends that I searved with. I wish I had gotten more pics, but I was so busy talking that I only got one. This is Laurie and her daughter with my kids. We aren't going to have another one for 2 more years. For thoes of you who don't know my Mission President, President Mayfield, he is a very hard working man. Since he came home from the mission he has been doing a lot of wk with the war. He spends a lot of time in the Middle East. It was good to see he and he wife also. I just love them!

Bath time fun

Clint has decided that it's SO much eaiser to give Conner a bath in the sink rather than the tub. I think it's b/c it's smaller and he doesn't have to bend down to get to him. It was just so cute that I had to take some pics. Than the other day Kaily got REALLY jealous and wanted to take a bath in the sink too so Clint let her.