I  AM THANKFUL…

I am thankful for fresh tomatoes from the garden. 

I am thankful for fingernails;  I can’t imagine getting rid of a bad itch without them

I am thankful for a comfortable couch, my pillow, and swimming pools.

I am thankful for cameras.  I love a good photo album.

I am thankful for fresh baked bread.

I am thankful for vacuum cleaners and carpet.  I am so glad that we don’t have dirt floors. 

I am thankful for running water in more than one place in the house.

I am especially thankful for clothing.  This world would be a frightening place without it. 

I am thankful for a full nights sleep.

I am thankful for my eyes; that I can see the beauty  of the world and my child when she smiles, makes a funny face, or dances as only a toddler can. 

I am thankful for my ears so I can enjoy music and the sound of laughter.

 am thankful for taste.  I had a cold once that wiped out my sense of taste.  Eating was uninteresting and barely worth my time.

I am thankful for my health.  I have been blessed with very good health my whole life.  There are so many people that have to deal with health issues on a day to day basis and I feel uncommonly blessed to not have those to deal with.  I am thankful to be able to walk, run, play, and enjoy a physically healthy body.

I am thankful for my parents who are devoted to each other and to their children and grandchildren.  For their dedication to the Lord and for their service in the church.  They have been amazing examples throughout my life.  If I can treat my spouse and raise my children half as well, I will consider my life a great success.
I am thankful for brothers and sisters who have been and will be my best friends forever.

I am thankful for a beautiful little girl who is more wonderful than I could have ever imagined.  I am so grateful Heavenly Father sent her to us. 

I am grateful for a husband who is supportive of me and all the strange ideas I sometimes have.  He is everything I need in a spouse and more.  I am thankful for all his hard work and time spent making it possible for me to stay home and take care of our daughter.

I am thankful for the gift of personal revelation.  My testimony of personal revelation has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few months as I asked for help on a specific aspect in my life.  Information from numerous sources began pouring in immediately.  I am learning so much about the issue I prayed  about and I realize how much more I need to learn. 

I am thankful for the Gospel.  For the guidance and blessing it is.  For church leaders who serve tirelessly and selflessly. 

I am thankful for the goodness of God, for the atoning sacrifice of our Lord and Savior.  I am thankful for the gift of repentance.

I am thankful for my testimony of these things.

Yesterday there was a news report about the rising cost of housing and they showed a realtor sign.  The guys name was JEFF FARNELL.  How bizarre, how bizarre.

And the moment you have all been waiting for…  Halloween costume winners.  Also we have the pumpkin patch trip with the cousins.

I got a great idea from Kim Shah when she came by last week.  She looked at the shelves in the living room and said, as Serra climbed around in them,  That would be a great place for pictures….and indeed it is. 

Through some sweat equity, slivers, and blisters, little jobs around the house are starting to get finished up.  Last week it was to put together the entertainment center, which involved fishing wires down through the cabinets in order to get a nice “no-wire” look to the cabinets.  It was accomplished but was a big pain in the neck.  This week Pamela left the house to run some errands and left Serra and I to our own devices. 

Our first order of business was to take our fancy new floor scraper and pull up the existing ugly blue linoleum that graced our kitchen floor.  They must have used some really intense glue as it took awhile to peel that stuff up and it also left the floor extremely sticky.  Serra was enjoying herself watching me peel the tile up until my feet started sticking and for some reason that really bothered her.  She’d point at my shoes and start bawling whenever I’d move.  I’m not sure what bothered her about it but after finishing it up she was in hysterics so I fixed us a nice cold milk and we went down and watched some Saturday afternoon football.  She sat on my lap and it wasn’t long before she was sawing logs.  When she sleeps is about the only time she’ll let me cuddle her so I took full advantage until Pam got home from running her errands. 

With Serra pacified now that her Mom was home I finished up the kitchen pergo and installed the lock on our garage door.  Our punchlist is getting smaller by the weekend and hopefully we’ll have the place in display form sooner than later.  Here’s some pics from the day.

You should always wear gloves when scraping up old linoleum.  Also…the finished floor in to the kitchen.

And here’s our last fire picture.  This was taken from the 126 freeway and Palm Street…which is about 3 miles from our house.  It damaged some buildings but no homes and never made it accross the freeway.  We took this on the way out of town to Mom and Dad’s in Calabasas. We noticed yesterday as we were leaving church that you could still smell the ash, over three weeks later.  The hills are all black…strangely pretty I think.