Respect

For one of Hailee's Daisy projects (that's a mini Girl Scout...smaller than a Brownie), they recently had to create a chart on which they had to earn 10 stickers for instances where they respected authority.  It was pretty much the best thing ever, because her leader explained that one example of respecting authority would be to listen to your parents the first time they asked you to do something.  Even better?  They could only put the stickers on in front of a parent...and only if it was approved as respectful behavior!

A gift from heaven...that's the only way I can explain it.  Not listening is the current challenge of the month...so this project came at a perfect time!  She was so intent on earning that badge and one mention of NOT getting a sticker and she would miraculously listen.  She had to earn 10 stickers in two weeks and I will tell you that I used each of those precious little penguins to the fullest.  "Mommy...since I got dressed right when you asked me to, do I get a sticker?"  Hmmmm....."I think you probably also need to eat breakfast, brush your teeth, make your bed and...and...and...."  Okay...so it wasn't THAT bad, but when it was down to the day of Girl Scouts, you better believe I used that last penguin to whip her into shape!  

Anyway...on the chart, they had to write three ways in which they showed respect.  Here's her list:

1.  I lisind.

2. I was hellfull.

3. I was quite in class.

Truth is, chart or not, listening or not, she's a great kid and is typically more HELPFUL then hellfull. :)   

By the way...if you want cookies, she's set on earning her very own iPod.  That's 2000 boxes, folks!

Really? Do I have to take them down?

Considering that "the holidays" have officially been over for 8 days now, I guess I need to come to terms with it.  I know that some people take their decorations down the day after Christmas, but mine are still up....every single one!  I don't even have the excuse of putting them up late and thus, keeping them up late.  Mine went up right after Thanksgiving!  

I have to wonder why it is that I'm clinging to the holidays so much this year.  Sure, part of it is just not wanting to do the work to take it all down and put it all away.  It's so much more fun to put it up!  But, I also think that it might be somewhat because this was a bit of a breakthrough year for me.  For the first time in a very long time, I sat in church on Christmas Eve and found myself feeling happy.  Truly happy.   

In the past, the holidays have been fairly difficult for me, just like I know they are for some of you and many others.  It's supposed to be a time full of joy and cheer, but reality is that we all have "stuff" in our lives and for whatever reason, the holidays tend to bring out those imperfections and amplify them.  We all have this idea of how Christmas should be and how we should feel and how it should go and when reality sets in and it's not that way...well, it can be disappointing.  It's kind of like the movies.  How many times have you gone to a movie that you've heard NOTHING about, haven't even seen a preview for and been completely blown away because you had zero expectations?  It's the best!  Now...how many times have you gone to a movie for which you've seen the previews 25 times, read the critics reviews, read the book and heard from all of your friends how wonderful it is.  Then you go and see it and your expectations are so high that you walk out feeling completely disappointed.  I think the holidays can be the same way...we all set ourselves up with hopes to have the "perfect" Christmas and then more often then not, it goes a little something like this:

We want to find the perfect gifts (and no, I won't buy you the gift right off of your list because I want to be creative.  Crap, now it's Christmas Eve and I guess that THIS weird random thing will do since the thing on your list was half the price on Black Friday and now I just can't spend that much.  Or maybe I'll do a gift card, but that's just so impersonal.  Nope...weird random thing it is.  That's way better than you picking out something that you actually WANT...like the thing on your list!).

We want to celebrate and create the perfect traditions (Let's play board games!  Don't cry because you lost...stop fighting about who gets to be the boot and who get's to be the thimble!  We will bake and decorate cookies and we will have fun doing it!  Kids....don't make such a mess and stop eating frosting! We HAVE to do this thing that we all hate, but it's tradition and we NEED to have traditions!  All happy families have traditions!).

We want the perfect Christmas card (Put on this red sweater you never wear, let me do your hair, it doesn't matter if it hurts, you just need to smile.  If you don't smile then Santa won't come. EVERYONE LOOK HAPPY!!!  Nope...that's not cute, we don't look happy.  Why do I have addresses in 25 different places?  I'm out of stamps.  It won't even get there until after Christmas...now what's the point?)  

We want the perfect tree (no kids, let's not put on the handmade ornaments from 5 years ago, let's do a theme.  Did you see the trees at Festival of Trees?  I want one like that and then I don't want you to touch it! Too bad we have to worry about little Suzy eating the tinsel because having the bottom third of the tree naked looks awful!  This candle that smells like fir just isn't the same.  Wait..we should go to the forest and GET a tree.  Why does our tree from the forest have bare patches...and why can't it be perfectly symmetrical?  We should have just put up the fake tree.)

We want to cook the perfect meal (of course I burned it, I haven't used my oven YET this year.  I don't care if you don't like that dish, it's tradition.  I shouldn't eat so much, but please pass the sweet potatoes covered in butter, sugar and marshmallows.  Ugh, why do I feel so sick and riddled with guilt?!  Good thing the New Year is right around the corner.)  

We want the perfect family time (Just pretend that Uncle Jim didn't just get out of prison.  Why does she have to DO that and SAY that?  Please pass the wine.  We haven't talked to them since last Christmas, but we SHOULD invite them over.  We need more wine.  Do I really have to wear this sweater?  But it's tradition...and we're family...so we HAVE to spend the holidays together!)  

Obviously this is a complete exaggeration...at least it is for me...and I hope it is for you!  But you get the point. 

I received so many amazing gifts (some of which were on my list...some of which were not), celebrated our awesome family traditions (including Santa Lucia, eating herring and drinking aquavit, and a new one of singing Christmas carols), ended up with a cute Christmas card (thanks to Heidi's photography) and got them out on time, have a beautiful tree (with a mixture of homemade and store bought ornaments), enjoyed several perfect meals (although my contributions were minimal) and most of all, enjoyed the family time so very much.  And, Christmas Eve I didn't have Hailee, but shared it with friends and had a wonderful time!  

All in all, I can say that the holidays this year were all that I could have hoped for.  Is my life perfect?  Absolutely not.  But it's all in what you make of it...and I finally figured out this year how to make the best of it!  Now, I GUESS, it's probably time to put it away...  

The end of an era...

Dear Red Sled (aka "the Kari Kay car"),

I'm sorry about how tonight went.  I probably should have said good-bye or at least ACTED like I was sad to see you go.  I stripped you of your plates, removed everything personal and drove off with your replacement like it was nothing.   Truth is...it's been over for awhile now.

The last six years have been full of memories...some of them good and some of them bad.  We have been through a lot and gone a lot of places together.  Unfortunately, if I'm completely honest with myself I was unhappy from the day that I met you.  Granted, when I heard those Mary Kay Directors ask "Could you get excited about a free car?" the answer was an astounding "YES!"  I wanted you and I wanted you bad.  I worked SO HARD to earn you and couldn't wait to see you for the first time.  But truthfully, it was a disappointment and a step down from my previous car.  You were so plain...no sunroof, no tinted windows, no V6 engine, no bells and whistles.  Yes, you had those Mary Kay decals (that I had to stick on), but that was about it.  I tried to love you as my own and when the lease ran out, I struggled with what to do.  I almost walked away then, but with no better options, I stayed.  Over the years I've struggled with what to do and gone back and forth wondering if we could make it work.  And every time, I decided to hang on.  Until today.

I'm sorry that I didn't take better care of you.  I'm sorry that when that front windshield trim came loose I just tore it off and never replaced it.  I'm sorry when we hit that raccoon that I let that piece drag for awhile before using duct tape to bring it up off the ground.  I'm sorry that I wore a hole in the floor from my high heels.  I'm sorry that I didn't keep you clean and that I only got you detailed one time.  And really, that was only so I could get the best price for you.  I'm sorry that I let Hailee eat and drink and trash the backseat.  And I'm sorry that you had to hear her say "Mommy, let's get rid of this garbage can!"  

But you know what, it's not just my fault.  Sure, I could have given you more love, but really?  What did you expect me to do with all of that random ticking noise that I know you did just to drive me crazy!  Tick tick.  Tick tick tick.  I never knew when you were going to do it or what caused it, but it seems like you would choose those moments when one more thing was going to push me over the edge and then...tick....tick tick tick tick tick.  I tried to ignore you.  I even tried to make a fun little game out of it...hoping it would stop being fun for you.  "Hailee...our pet squirrel is making that noise again!"  It didn't work.

And then there was the driver side window.  I think you tried to get someone to steal you.  That's the only reason I can think that the key lock would be pushed INTO the door.  And every time I put the window down, the CLUNK CLUNK was a painful reminder of the fact that you didn't want to be with me anymore.

I hope you understand that it was time.  Time to let go.  I need more....more room...more power...more ability to go places that I want to go.  I hope you understand and I hope you find someone who will love you the way you deserve to be loved.

All the best,
Kari

(PS...for those of you who might be shopping for a 2004 Red Grand Am (come on, who isn't), don't buy it from Dennis Dillon.  Just sayin'.)

'Tis the season...

Those of you who know me well know that I'm a horrible procrastinator.  Every year I tell myself that I will get my Christmas shopping done early and be totally ready for Christmas.  I actually am!!!  I finished up my shopping this weekend and was feeling all "ahead of the game and stuff" and then realized that Christmas is only a few days away!  So I'm not as on top of things as I thought, but for me this is HUGE!   

I love Christmas and everything about it.  I love the decorations.  I love buying gifts for people.  I LOVE getting Christmas cards, especially now that everyone sends picture cards.  I love the parties.  I love the traditions.  I love the excitement in children.  I love the meaning. I even love the music.  The ONE thing I don't love?  Wrapping gifts. 

We have had our tree up since the day after Thanksgiving, but the only thing that's been under it is a tree skirt.  And, every once in awhile a little grey kitty who likes the tree skirt.  All weekend long I kept thinking "I really should wrap gifts," but thinking about it was as far as it got.

Well...tonight the best thing EVER happened!  Upon arriving home, Hailee saw the stack of presents (not hers, mind you) in my bedroom corner that accumulated last week and said "We should wrap presents!" 

Inside voice:  Excuse me, what? We? You want to help do this thing that I loathe?  I don't have to do it ALL?  And you WANT to do this?  Without me bribing you or saying Santa won't come if you don't?   

Outside voice:  What a great idea!  You grab the paper and the bows and I'll get the presents out to the living room! 

I have to say that it was the most fun I've had wrapping gifts and it will definitely be a team effort from here on out.  We chatted and giggled and talked about Christmas.  Apparently the child is just flat out disappointed in all of these kids that don't understand that we are celebrating Jesus's birthday, but that's a whole different post.

Now granted, I did most of the wrapping.  She did wrap one gift....beginning to end.  And, it will be pretty obvious to my family which one it is.  I wonder who the lucky winner will be..... But, I have to say that I'm no expert gift wrapper either and some of mine didn't turn out much better.  The gift tags, however, are AMAZING! :)  

It took her awhile, but as she finished up the one gift, I told her what I great job she had done and that I was really impressed.  "Yeah, mom....that's how I roll!"   

Oh dear...

With kids you just never know what is going to come out of their mouths and when.  Never.  Hailee and I were eating dinner tonight, just hanging out, not talking about anything and out of nowhere comes this: 

Mommy, if you have any friends that don't have a guy, did you know that there's a website they can go to?

Mom raises eyebrows and opens eyes wide....Gulp.  Oh really, and what website is that?

Well...I saw it on TV (at Daddy's house, mind you) and it's boys.com or something like that.  You basically get to go out and look at pictures of a bunch of boys and find the PERFECT guy just for you.  You just click around and see the boys and then they tell you how to fall in love.


boys.com, huh?  Might have to check that out.....  On second hand, I'm pretty sure I can guess what THAT actual site has on it and I'm pretty sure it's not the perfect guy.   

Not just skeletons in there...

This past weekend I decided that I was going to go through a "cleanse" of sorts.  No, I'm not talking about one of those diets where you only eat strange mixtures of fruit and vegetable juices and eat tasteless foods, but the kind where you remove clutter from your life.  Although, I do have to admit that part of me is curious about that other kind.  I just love food too much...I'd last one day.  Anyway, we all have clutter in our lives...things that we really should let go of, but have a hard time doing so for one reason or another.  Whether it's an object or a person or even thoughts...we all have it. 

So...in my mission to cleanse, I decided to start with THE closet.  You know the one.  The one that you shove everything in.  The one that holds everything that you probably should get rid of. The one that no matter how hard you try, it's never organized.  The one that when opened, things come flying out. 

Turns out, it was a perfect place to start, and ended up being a very therapeutic exercise.  I went through every little box and found some very interesting things...

• Ticket stubs from various concerts that I've been to.  I have tried to save these over the years so I can look back and remember who I've seen and who I haven't.  One would think that I could remember such things, but I love concerts. And I go to a lot of them. And I forget who I've seen.  Case in point...some of you will remember this summer that Heidi and I went down to SLC to see Jack Johnson in concert.  I LOVE him and have been DYING to see him for several years.  Guess what I found?  Ticket stub to Jack Johnson and Ben Harper at the Idaho Center.  Yup....here I thought this summer that I was seeing him for the first time.  Not so much.    

• My baby teeth.  This was in a box of "childhood" items and as soon as I picked up the box and gave it a little shake, I had my suspicions of what it was.  Apparently they got transferred from the metal band-aid box that I found as a child and into a little jewelry box.  I love my mom for thinking that someday I might want them.  But I don't. They went in the trash.  Sorry!  I did think for one second that maybe I should pull one out and pretend to find it in my mom's lawn, but decided against it.  See previous blog entry for explanation... 

• In that same box, I found hair from my first hair cut.  I showed it to Hailee and she thought it was kind of weird to keep hair.  I agreed with her and actually said "Why would you keep hair?"  Guess what I found in another box?  Hair from Hailee's first haircut. 

• Letters and letters and more letters.  Back in the olden days before email, my friends and I wrote letters back and forth.  I still remember my Freshman year of college and checking my little mailbox in the dorm.  I loooooved getting letters from my friends and I kept every single one of them.  I read through a few the other day and all I can say is Jill, Debbie and Sibyl....I have SO MUCH dirt on you!  

I love that closet...it has so many memories tucked away in it.  Boxes and boxes of pictures, boxes of childhood items, picture frames, home decor stuff, boxes of Hailee's art, boxes of cards and boxes of some things that I should probably get rid of, but will hang onto until the next go-round.  But...I organized my clutter and I did throw away a whole bag of things that it was just time to part with.  It's amazing what a little clutter removal can do for the soul... 

A week of thanks....Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!  I hope that you all spent the day exactly how you wanted to...I know that I loved every minute of it!  Hailee and I snuggled in bed, painted our nails and toes, cooked our portion of dinner, Hailee made place cards for the table and I even got a workout in!  Then we headed over to my sister's house to have dinner with her family and my parents.  I love that I only had to travel five minutes to spend the holiday with my family that I love so much!     

Speaking of love...I felt so loved today!  All day long I received so many well wishes and it just warmed my heart!  I think that although we have become a society that doesn't communicate verbally as much, we definitely have become a society that communicates more, just in general.  Between texting, tweeting, posting, emailing, poking, blogging and occasionally calling, I know that I communicate on much more of a regular basis then I would if letter writing and phone calls were still the only two options.  I love that when I'm thinking of someone I can quickly let them know.  Maybe that's sad, but I think it's great.

Since it's been a day full of it, and I've already used the word too many times...what I'm thankful for #3: love.

I don't know if any of us can really define love.  I know that I can't...mostly because there are so many different forms.  There's love for your child, love for your friends, romantic love, love for a moment, love for your parents, love for a thing...they are all so different.  For me, sometimes it can feel scary.  But mostly, it just feels good.  When I love someone or something and am in that moment, I feel almost like a balloon...like I'm filling up on the inside.  Then I get the goosebumps, take a deep breath and this calm just comes over me.  It happens all the time with Hailee.  It happens often when I'm in the beautiful outdoors and looking at a spectacular view.  It happens when I squeeze on my niece and nephew.  It happens when I'm being held.  It happens when I'm at church. It happens when I share a great talk with a friend. It even happens sometimes when I have a REALLY great cup of coffee.  Okay...so it happens A LOT.  But what can I say, I love to love and I love to be loved, and I am thankful for that.  Sometimes I'm not the greatest at showing it...but that is a work in progress.   

Okay...after all of that lovey dovey stuff...I do have to admit that much of what inspired me to write on the subject of love for today was the following scenario, pulled straight from tonight...

After dinner, as we sat and ate dessert, my nephew Ben made a comment about there being no "punkin" pie.  I, for one, was thrilled because I cannot STAND pumpkin pie.  In fact, it makes me gag.  There are VERY few foods on this earth that I won't eat...that is one of them.  Anyway...Mike followed Ben's comment  up with "Well Ben, what did YOU make for dinner?" At the age of four, no one expected him to actually contribute, but Mike was trying to make the point that maybe he should be thankful for what everyone DID make.  Ben responded with a silly smile and said "Nooooooooothing."  After a brief pause, Hailee pipes in with  "Love.  Ben made love for dinner."  Yep.  She did.  She really did.  As you would expect, all of the adults burst into laughter.  Not knowing why we were laughing, but wanting to ride that wave, Hailee continues with "Ben always makes love for every meal. He makes love all the time."  Oh, to be young and sweet again....

  

A week of thanks...Wednesday

Okay...back on track...thankfully. As I'm sitting down to write my entry for today, I was feeling stressed out about which things to pick to write about to fit into this predetermined schedule that I've given myself.  So far, it's just been about whatever I'm feeling at the moment, but then I was like "Well I want to write about my friends and Heidi and of COURSE Hailee and...and...and...THERE AREN'T ENOUGH DAYS!!!!"  Hello, silly.  Read Monday's entry and apply.  I could write a "I'm thankful for..." post every single day for the next year if I wanted to!  Hey...maybe I could be one of those people that starts with a blog, gets "discovered" and then ends up becoming a world renown writer, or has a TV show or a book and makes a gazillion dollars just doing what they love!  Just imagine the headline...Woman starts blog on being thankful and, wow, is she thankful NOW!   Okay, probably not.  But a girl can dream.

That being said, I have all the time in the world to write about the things that I cherish and love, so what I'm thankful for #2:  friends.  Old friends, new friends, across the miles friends and down the street friends.  I'm am SO BLESSED in this department and don't know what on earth I would do without friends!  No matter what point you are in your life, friends make such a difference and in totally different ways.  Think about it...

When you're a kid...it's all about playing.  Let's pretend this and let's play that.  You are this and I am that.  Playing with friends is the best thing EVER!  Oh...and by the way...we are BEST friends.   

When you're a teenager...it's all about being popular.  The more friends you have, the more popular you are.  The more SWATCH watches you have on your arms, the better (was that a blast from the past or what?)  Friendships are still pretty superficial at this time in life I think, because no one REALLY knows who they are yet.  I do still have friends from High School that I adore, but if it weren't for Facebook, would we be in touch still?  I'm not sure...but I'm sure glad we are!   

When you get to college...that's where you meet your friends for life.  You're away from home and really begin to grow and find yourself.  It's all about sharing the experience and building memories...which is a strong foundation for friendships.  Birds of a feather flock together, right?

When you become an adult...you meet people at work, at church, in the neighborhood, through other friends and the crazy thing is that you never know who you're really going to connect with.  It depends so much on where you are in your life when you meet them...married, single, with kids, without, career focused, unemployed....the list goes on.  But how amazing is it to meet someone with whom you can really relate to and talk to about whatever it is that you have going on at that point in time? 

It's kind of like a big patchwork quilt.  You start out with a blankie when you're little, but as you grow, you add a new patch here, a new patch there.  You might even remove patches, or mend patches, or just make changes to the patches.  But, when the going gets tough, you have a great big quilt to comfort you and get you through whatever it is that you're going through.  And one of the greatest things about true friends...that no matter how much time goes by...you can pick right up where you left last time and it's just okay. 

I am so blessed to have a big ol' amazing quilt of friends.  Some of my patches are old and fading because they've been there for a long time.  Some are brand new, but definitely there to stay.  Some have more stains from my tears then others.  Some have more wine stains then others.  Some are super soft and some are made of stronger material.  Those in the middle are key to keeping it all together.  Some are around the edges and get less use.  Regardless, they've all served a very important purpose in my life and I hope I've done the same for them.  All I know is that with my patchwork quilt, I can get through just about anything.  

Just some of my dear friends on my 35th birthday.

A week of thanks...Tuesday (on Wednesday)

I should have known that me and my procrastinating ways could only get ONE post out on time.  I did it to myself...by adding the silly day of the week label!  But you know what?  It's my blog and I'll do what I want.   That being said, I'm going to switch it up a bit...

Last night, I had one of the best dates ever.  Hailee and I went  to dinner just the two of us at our favorite place, Flatbread.  I'm so lucky that she loves it as much as I do...because I LOVE it!  It was one of those nights where we were both in great moods and just happy to be with each other and it was so much fun!  We sat and talked about all kinds of things, giggled a bunch and I had several of those "Mommy Moments" where I just stared at her in wonderment that she's mine.  She is growing up so fast and it just amazes me.  She's six years old and we sat and had a conversation like I would with one of my girlfriends!  I'm not naive to think that she's always going to like hanging out with me, but for now I'm going to take full advantage!  Don't get me wrong...we don't always have these perfect moments.  There is plenty of arguing, foot stomping, crying, yelling, complaining and whining that goes on.  But I'm not the only one that acts like that...she does it too!    

So...back to dinner.  We were talking about Thanksgiving and I reminded her that we like to share at dinner the things that we're thankful for, so to start thinking about that.  She immediately responded with "Oh...I have like 1200 things!"  Wow...that's one thankful little girl!  So, I grabbed a pen and a napkin and asked her to share with me ten of those 1200 things.  Here's her list:

- clothes
- freedom
- love
- God
- family
- friends
- teachers
- food
- nature
- life

Do you know what I love about her list?  There's nothing materialistic on it...no toys...no things.  It's a list from a little girl that appreciates the things in life that really matter...and she didn't have any coaching!  Well, not while she was making the list anyway.  There's been lots of coaching along the way, and I'm just happy to see that it's paying off and that I'm doing something right.  In fact, in looking through it, it's pretty similar to what my list would be, other than my top ten may need to include coffee. 

 

A week of thanks...Monday

In honor of this week of thanks, I thought I would take some time to reflect on the things in my life that I am most thankful for.  Turns out, I'm not the only one thinking along these lines...the message at church on Sunday was focused on it, the news is full of feel-good stories, and of course Facebook.  Seems that everyone is talking about being thankful lately.  What's up with that?  Maybe it has something to do with a little something we like to call Thanksgiving.... 

Do you know what seems weird to me?  How many people REALLY care about the actual holiday and what it represents?  I'll be honest and say that I could really care less about the Pilgrims and the Indians and the meal that they had together, blah, blah, blah.  Sorry if you do...but I really doubt that you do.  What is it about a Thursday in the middle of November that inspires us all to gather with friends and family and take time to stop and appreciate each other and our blessings? Shouldn't we all really try to do that on more of a regular basis?  It seems so easy to get wrapped up in our day-to-day stresses and hardships and to forget about how fortunate we really are in life.  I know that I'm guilty.  Totally guilty.  I do it all the time, even though I try my best to not...I'm worried about this and stressed about that and grumpy about this and feeling sorry for myself about that.  Then all of sudden, it's time for Turkey Day and I'm all about being thankful!  Thankful that I only have to work one more day this week, thankful that there's lots of great sales going on, thankful that I don't have to cook the turkey, and REALLY thankful that my mom has decided NOT to make pumpkin pie for dessert this year.  

I kid... Well, sort of.  I AM thankful for all of those things, but those certainly are not what I'm TRULY thankful for. This week I'm going to try and write every day about the things that I am TRULY thankful for.  And...in no particular order.  Seester...you already know that you're gonna be in the mix somewhere, so don't feel bad that I'm writing about the folks first.  I'm just doing it out of respect.  And...because I love them more. (wink)

So...what I'm thankful for #1:  my parents.  Also known as Mommy and Daddy.  Yes...for real.  I call them that.  And so does Heidi, but she'll probably deny it.  We both went through a period in Jr High/High School where we tried to call them Mom & Dad like everyone else and it just felt weird.  And we really only did it when we were in front of our friends, so I'm sure our parents were laughing on the inside.  They knew we'd come around....and we did.  And now we even do it in front of people...most of the time.    

Plain and simple, my parents are amazing people and I am so, so, so lucky to have them so close for so many reasons.  First and foremost I love that Hailee gets to spend so much time with them and is so close with her Mormor and Morfar (Swedish 101:  Mormor = Mother's mother and Morfar = Mother's father).  If you don't know, my mom is from Sweden.  We didn't just randomly choose to call them that to seem eccentric or cultured or something.  Hailee is always THRILLED to go over to their house and loves them so much.  Growing up, we never lived close to either set of grandparents and I always felt like I missed out a little.  Especially growing up in Idaho Falls.  My friends would have 25 people at Thanksgiving dinner and that was just the immediate family.  We had four.  Point being...I know that Hailee will grow up to treasure the relationship that she has with them and I love that they are in her very earliest memories. 

I'm also thankful because they continue to be such great examples to me.  Even though I'm a mature adult with very little left to learn (cough cough), I still continue to learn great life lessons from them every time I'm with them.  They just celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary yesterday and that is something that I admire so much.  I'm sure they've have their ups and downs, but they've worked through it and have such a strong marriage and still are very much in love.   I can't even say that I remember very many instances growing up where they seemed to be having problems.  I'm sure that they did like every married couple...so either they were great about hiding it, or the moments were so horrific that I've blocked them from my mind.  Pretty sure it's the first one...

My mom is always so thoughtful and giving and always has a smile on her face.  Always.  No matter what.  She is amazing in the kitchen and has the patience of a saint.  My dad has taught me to make smart decisions...and to pack a car and make campfires like a champ!  Now I'm not saying that all of my decisions have been GOOD ones, but they have certainly been well thought out! 

Both of my parents are a great example of strength to me, because of what they've been through the last few years.  My dad is struggling with an incurable and rare disease and still manages to have a good attitude about it all.  His quality of life is quickly lessening, but not once have I heard him complain about it and he still manages to have a smile on his face whenever I see him. My mom takes care of him 100% of the time and although I can't imagine the emotional strain that she must be under, she also has such a positive attitude.  Every time I go and spend time with them, I realize that I have nothing to complain about.  They could be miserable and grouchy and bitter about their situation...God knows that I've felt that way about certain circumstances in my life.  But, they aren't.  They are the same Mommy and Daddy that I've known for the last 30-ish years...and they just keep on keepin' on day in and day out.  Every single time I leave their house, I think about how amazing my life truly is.  And even when it's hard, it's still so much better than the lives of so many others.  

Anyway...I want them and everyone else to know how thankful I am for them and the life that they've provided me.  And I'm going to try and do more to make sure they know it...on a regular basis.