Graditude

November came and went in a flash, but I didn't want to start December until I took time to count my many blessings. The past couple of years have been emotionally difficult as we have dealt with miscarriages, infertility, and way too many doctors, but I know I have a million and one fantastic things in my life and enumerating them helps me stay sane.

1. I am thankful that my children need me, and not just to feed them or get them to school, but to be a good person. They need me to show them how to handle conflict, be generous, and work hard. I am glad that I have 3 pairs of eyes watching me, motivating me to be better everyday.

2. I am so grateful that my husband loves me, just as I am. When I am convinced I have screwed up my kids or when the house in shambles, I know he is going to be there, and that makes even the worst of days one thousand times better. I know he isn't keeping track of how many fruits and vegetables or serve or if I scrubbed the floor, thank heavens.Love is a beautiful thing.

3. I am thankful that my parents raised me to be confident. I was always, always encourage and supported in following my dreams. What a sweet gift to give to your children, the feeling that they can achieve anything.

4. Lastly, I am grateful for prayer. I know that God hears my prayers and that I can receive guidance and peace from Him. We are not alone, we are loved and watched over by a loving Heavenly Father, and we can speak with Him through prayer, what a powerful thing.

While I have tons more to be thankful for, these are the four things with the biggest effect on my daily life. I would not be the person I am today without my children, husband, parents, and God.

Halloween

 This year for Halloween the girls were superheroes! I think these are some of my favorite costumes we have done so far.

 We went to Boo at the Zoo with our friends the Tibbs and the Patricks.

 Our super poses!

 Trick or Treating fun.

The Evansville Half Marathon/Monsoon

 On October 5th a group of friends and I ran the Evansville Half Marathon. Leading up to the race, my biggest worry was that it was be unexpectedly hot. Luckily it was a wonderful 70 during the race. Not so wonderful? it POURED the entire race (okay only 10 out of the 13 miles, but it felt like the whole time). I don't think I have ever been so wet in my life! However, it was still a fun race, I was able to run with my friends and enjoy the beautiful city of Evansville, and it was nice not to worry about the heat.  Above is picture of me at mile 8. I tried to stop so Drew could take a picture, but the camera was being difficult. P.S. I have to give a huge shout out to my sweet husband who took our kids and stood in the rain to see me run. What a great guy.

 In the purple shirt is Catherine, my friend who talked all of us into running the race.

Nearing the end!!! I was trying to smile, but it was more of a grimace! I am really glad I did it, and I can't wait until next year.

D.C. in September

 In early September we had to opportunity to go out east to attend Drew's grandparents' funeral. It was a wonderful time with family, even though the circumstances were less then ideal.

 The coolest thing we did was a tour of D.C. on a duck boat, an old World War II truck/boat. It was awesome to drive right into the river!

 Kate with Grandma Heckert

 Kate and Hailey

 The Heckert cousins had a great time playing together. Here is the pirate ship they built to explore the seven seas.

 The scurvy crew

 The little ones at the funeral

 With Uncle Trip and (soon to be Aunt) Kari

The Heckert clan. I think it is really neat that we got a picture with my whole family and with Drew's family within a month of each other, even if it does mean that we drove 1000s of miles to do so!

Attack of the (not quite) killer tomatoes

This spring Drew I excitedly made plans for our first ever garden, and lucky for us, our neighbor gifted us with 10 tomato plants that we quickly put in. Thanks to a wonderfully wet and mild summer, we are practically swimming in tomatoes!. I had no idea our garden would be so prolific; I often seem to miss a few as I am picking and find them rotten on the vines a few days later. It was almost overwhelming as Drew and I tried to eat all of them until finally, it dawned on me, why not make spaghetti sauce and freeze it? Awesome idea! One batch of spaghetti sauce takes about 10 tomatoes, helping us control the produce population in our house. I have also been desperately pushing them on our friend/piano teacher in efforts to not have any more go bad. So now I can look forward to a fall and winter of homemade, fresh from the garden spaghetti sauce. Needless to say, we are hooked on gardening!

Its birthday time for Lily!

 Our lovely Lily turned 6 this year on the 2nd day of school. She was very excited to open some of her presents before she left for school.

 One of the things Lily's like best is sharing her birthday with her Papa.

We love having Lily in our family. She is bright, full of energy, and so joyful. She loves her sisters so much and is such a blessing.



First day of school

 Summer this year passed by much too quickly and much to my dismay last Wednesday was the start of another school year for Kate and Lily.

Elise and I were sad to see them go, but both are enjoying their new teachers and classrooms.

Family Pictures

To commemorate the kids all being together we took family pictures!!! As you can see we are quite the crew. These photos included 18 people, 6 of which were 7 and younger.

 Melissa and Christopher

 Our crazy picture

 Russ, Elizabeth, Megan, Melanie,and Maddie Farr

 Emily and Andrew Hinds, who will be greeting a baby boy in October.

Mom, Jonny, Andrew and Alisha.

The pictures went surprising smooth, I was worried about tears and fits and silly husbands!!

 

Our time in Utah was wonderful, it was great to spend time with all my siblings. We worked out together, played together, and ate together. I was a little sad to leave, knowing that it would a while before I saw anyone again. 

Bear Lake

 With Andrew coming home from his mission, we were finally all able to get together and spend a weekend at Bear Lake. It was incredible. Mom rented a great house with room for everyone and we thoroughly enjoyed being together. I have a great family.

 Of course, we had to check out the beach!

 Mom came prepared

 Drew and Jonny out with the girls. One surprising thing about Bear Lake is how shallow the water is, the girls could walk a long way before it was too deep.

 Ready to go

 It was so fun to have Andrew home, and we will miss him and Jonny at BYU

 I don't think we have taken a picture together since our senior year.

Loving the beach!!!!