A Time to Give Thanks . . . With Family!

Nov was a wonderful time for the Hemby family.  We were able to see lots of family and spend time remembering all the things that we are grateful for.  I know that I am grateful for a wonderful and loving husband who is always there for me and our little family.  I am so grateful for my Mother who is tried and true and always is there when I need her.  She taught me everything I needed to know in life and has let me learn sometimes the hard way as well since I was too stubborn to heed her advice.  I am grateful for all the many opportunities I've had in my life to go and do and learn so many things. I'm grateful I was able to serve a mission.  The things I learned there are priceless, and the people I met have made an impact on me and linger in my heart. They will always be a part of me.  I am SO grateful for my children.  I am so happy God gave me the opportunity to be able to bear and raise children in this life. They are such a joy to me and I love them dearly.  It is fun to see them grow and learn every day and to play with them.

     So, this month was really fun!  Ammon is now 4 months old!  I can't believe how big he is getting.  He loves to eat!  He eats and eats and eats.  We have started giving him baby cereal and he LOVES it!  He also loves to play with his brother, Michael.  Michael doesn't really care one way or the other, but Ammon gets so excited and laughs and just really wants to be a part of everything.  He likes to be in the center of everything.  Not necessarily that people only pay attention to him, but he likes to sit up and feel that he is a part of everything.  He is so darling! 

     Michael is learning and growing every day.  He says the funniest things.  Right now he loves to be the Flash, and he loves to play with the lightsabers.  He is very active and is wanting to touch and get into everything. He is definitely deep into the terrible twos, but he is still really good anyway.

    This month we had some friends living with us for a while.  They were waiting to move into their new place so they stayed with us for a couple of weeks.  The boys were inseparable!  When Andrew finally left Michael was heartbroken.  But we still see them and visit and he is getting better at it now.

     We also had a lot of fun at Thanksgiving!  We went up to see our families in Brigham City and Willard.  We did Thanksgiving day at Matthew's family's house.  It was really wonderful!  We got to spend some great time with his parents and grandparents, and Matthew prepared the turkey, which was AMAZING!  We also got to share our meal with the sister missionaries.  Then we got to see the other set of sister missionaries as well while we were there.  Michael had a lot of fun having a lightsaber duel with one of them.  She is a BIG Star Wars nerd. 

     We spent the day after Thanksgiving with my parents and family.  It was our tradition when I was young that the day after Thanksgiving we did baking for 2 days.  The first day was cookies and the second day was homemade donuts.  So, to honor that tradition a little this year Mom, Michelle, my sister Mary and I decided to do a little baking.  We did some rolled cookies, and some choc chip cookies, and Michelle made some sort of date filled cookie.  My Mom made homemade eggnog, but I wasn't able to try it. All in all, it was a great day. Aunt Michelle also took me and the boys to the movie, since Matthew was in Brigham trying to get the car taken care of.  We went and saw the Good Dinosaur, and it was AWESOME!  Michael keeps asking if we can watch it, and I have to tell him that we don't have it, because it is only in theaters right now.  We also went as a family to see the Peanuts movie.  I LOVED IT!  You feel so good at the end that Charlie Brown has a friend, and wins just for once in his life. It was kinda fun to see this as well because I had just read an article about Charles Shultz, and his daughter.  She was baptized as a member of the church, and she served a mission.  He would write to her on her mission, and he sent her fun comic strips about the things that happen to missionaries.  He really didn't agree with her being LDS at first, but by the end of everything he thought it was great they could talk about Christ, since he was a firm Christian, and they were able to share that part of their lives with each other. 

            I love this time of the year.  It is so wonderful to feel the magic of everything.  I have also been thinking a lot about the things I would like to accomplish for next year.  I have written a list of things for my new year’s resolutions.  It is a lot, but it is because I will be working on one thing at a time, a month at a time.  so, hopefully it all works out.  Matthew and I got a nice little present this month.  I got a new laptop to keep all my pictures on and do my blog and Shutterfly stuff.  We got Matthew a MAC so that he can learn coding.  If he can get into a job doing that, then I won't have to work anymore, and that would be amazing.  It is also so that he can get his books written.  He is so talented, and has so many wonderful stories to tell about the people in his world, Dryat, that it will keep him busy for a while.  But, it will be great fun to see if all come together.

            I wanted to put up here the lyrics to a song that I love during the Thanksgiving holiday.  It is called, "Something to be Thankful For", by Josh Groban.

"Thankful"
Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves
There's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say
I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences
There is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for

            I am thankful for so much, and I hope that we can remember this all the year long, not just at this special time of year that we celebrate it.