Gratitude

It's important to express gratitude, but I don't think I do it nearly enough for how incredibly blessed I am! My heart is always full of gratitude daily and today, I'd like to share a few things that I am grateful for in my life. On this beautiful Thanksgiving holiday (and all those days in between) I'm grateful for (and not limited to):

This dude. Because he's my eternal companion, best friend, father of my child, and so much more.

This dudette. 'Cause she fills my life with joy, love and new life experiences - and because she's my sweet child and I grew her.

All these dudes and dudettes. I'm grateful for amazing parents and wonderful brothers and sisters-in-law who love me unconditionally and make my life so full! Life without family is like life without water! Today, I'm especially grateful for them because I am missing them like crazy.

And this cool dude and dudette. Because they are wonderful people, wonderful parents-in-law, wonderful grandparents and wonderful examples to me. And because they raised an incredible man.

And this dude and dudette because they're so much fun among other things!

My Savior, Jesus Christ and the knowledge that He lives, that He suffered for my sins and conquered death through His resurrection. I would be nothing without Jesus Christ.

For a knowledge of the restored gospel which is true and everlasting, and a loving Heavenly Father who is the same yesterday, today and always and guides our lives here on this earth. Personal revelation, prayer, my testimony, a living Prophet and apostles and the Book of Mormon & Bible - I'd rather not live my life without these things!

I'm also grateful for so many other things namely good food, for shelter over my head, for Jason's job, for our good health and strength, for my citizenship in this great country, the United States of America, for technology that helps me stay connected to aforementioned dudes and dudettes, for my education and knowledge, for wonderful friends who make me laugh and giggle, for sunshine and warmth, for good books, for creativity, for good music and my musical abilities, for my agency, for pretty things that make me happy...

Well, you get the idea. I'm grateful for a lot - for so many amazing things that make up this colorful patchwork quilt called my life!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Now go eat some turkey!! Bon Appetit!

Picture Diary

Utah was a lot of fun! Here are some more pictures of things we did while hanging out in the homeland!

We went to Wheeler Farm in Murray, UT. Lois loves the animals! She kept "mooing" at everything. She has perfect "moo" form. Look at those lips. Totally awesome...

Checking out the pigs...

...and they were GROSS! But Lois thought they were pretty intriguing with the flies and all.

*Notice how far away I am from them & Lois. They stunk like mad. The pigs - not Lois.*

Can you see that crazy chicken in the background with the blond mohawk? He was our favorite. I think Lois liked him, too.

Mammasita and me

Halloween night saying goodbye to G&G Wright! Notice the big piece of candy in her mouth! Yummy!

Grandma and the candy mouth

Taking a bite!

Here she is driving grandpa's new truck!

Vroom, vroom!

All of Jason's beautiful aunts (and cousin) and mom

Jason and his sweet grandpa

While we were in Utah, my brother blessed his little girl, Phoebe. She looked beautiful in her little gown! And Raleigh gave her a sweet blessing.

Lois looks so grown up in this picture. I can't believe how big she's gotten! Seems like it was just yesterday that we blessed her.

My two younger brothers with J

"We look good, don't we?"

Don't ask me what they're doing in this picture, but I love all the hand prints on my mom's oven door. It was a favorite spot for these two rascals.

Enjoy your Thursday!

One Year Older - And Wiser, too!

Happy Birthday, Daddy-O!

Today, my dad turns the big 6-0, and I just wanted to let him know how much I love and appreciate him in my life! My dad has always worked hard for our family and set a good example for us to pattern our lives after. He's always been a worthy Priesthood holder and has lead my family in the path of righteousness. He made a great choice by marrying my awesome mother, and together they raised successful children who love them and love the Lord.

Here's a few things about my dad that I think are way cool. My dad is super-duper smart and is basically a walking dictionary. Go ahead. Ask him. He knows the definition to any word in the English language and has impeccable grammar. He was always correcting us growing up, something I am very grateful for! He's well-read and knows a little bit about everything and a lot of stuff about many topics. I love how he gets riled up about Darwinism and Global Warming and can talk for hours about it. I love that my dad speaks his mind. My dad's one heck of a water skier and snow skier and has quite the adventuresome spirit. Still at age 60, he can out-ski most 20-year-olds. He's brilliant in the subject of law and has spent his life honing those skills throughout the world. He completely fluent in Japanese, meaning that he speaks, writes, reads and understands everything about that language. How cool is that? In addition, he knows quite a bit of Mandarin Chinese and some Spanish. My dad has traveled the world and has a two-inch thick passport to prove it. In fact, he's actually in Japan right now - on his birthday! Gotta love that dedication! And I love that my dad lives "young." He's young at heart and it shows. Simply put, I love my daddy. Always and forever.

Me and my dad when I graduated from BYU

...the day I got married. Isn't he so handsome?

Look at that handsome lad! I think this is right before my parents got married or shortly after.

Silly dad

Grandpa to three granddaughters...

Me and my dad at the Grand Canyon

My dad would play the "jumping game" with us and we l-o-v-e-d it. It was our favorite. Definitely some of my fondest memories as a kid.

Dad, I love you! Thank you for being so awesome and for helping me along my way in life. I am grateful to have had you there at all the major milestones of my life thus far and look forward to the many more years ahead of us! Life is good.

So, on this beautiful Veteran's Day, I wish you a very happy birthday! Eat some sushi and enjoy your "second homeland" today. You deserve to have a wonderful day!!

We love you!

GeTtinG OlDeR, but sTilL haVinG us some fUn!!

It's official. We're getting older. But that's okay! Jason and I celebrated our 32nd and 28th birthdays respectively this past month and even though we are, indeed, getting older and having to be "more adult" each day, we still have time to crack out our inner-kid and have lots of fun! To prove this fact, I have hand selected some beauties from our past to show you that we can be silly and crazy with the best of them! So, here's to another year of having fun, and of course, being totally grown up and responsible!

Jason and me in NYC

Loving that awesome tongue...

This is one of my favorites...

Oh, yeah - we both really look like we're enjoying this one.

On a wild hair, Jason and I decided to put nylons on our head. Don't ask me why. But don't you agree that we're totally awesome? And how sick are my eyelashes?

This little do-dad was taken in Annapolis on a little weekend getaway. Jason couldn't let this shower cap go to waste. And of course, we had to take this chance to showcase our full-teeth smile.

3-D Chicken Little, baby!

Ahoy, matey!!

ARrrGgg!

*These were taken at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. Couldn't pass up that opportunity!

*I've been thinking of posting a whole plethora of crazy Jason/Lili photos cause this is only a few of many. We'll have to see...would you be interested in seeing crazy Jason/Lili photos?*

And now for a trip down memory lane...

My handsome Superman

Look at those big blue eyes!

Merry Freakin' Christmas.

This photo makes me laugh...could they get any more excited?!? Was it the dominoes or was it that they had to pose for a picture? I guess we'll never know.

Dude, babe. That's the hottest shirt I've ever seen. The ducks were totally diggin' it, too.

Proud older brother! Complete with matching knee socks! Yesss!

First day of school...that's an awesome lunch box!

I was about the age of Lois in this photo. Crazy thing is that I remember this day as clear as day. Memory is a crazy thing, isn't it?

It looks like I have always loved the camera - look at that ham!

Brand new Liliannie.

Camping with the family - this is one of my all-time favorite photos of me and my mom.

This was when we went fishing on Yellowstone Lake. I wonder where Lois got her little furrowed brow/pensive look? Hmmm...

Happy Birthday to US! One of the perks of having birthdays a day apart is that we can celebrate together! This year we found a great deal at the Stein Erikson Lodge in Deer Valley, UT. We left Lois with Grandma Wright, cruised up the canyon, ate a hoity-toity, three-course meal at their fancy restaurant, enjoyed a beautiful room with a private hot tub on our deck and snow to compliment our mountain adventure. It was so romantic and relaxing. It was a perfect way to celebrate our birthdays!

We wanted to thank all of our wonderful family and friends for all the birthday wishes and happy thoughts! We love you all!!

Here's to another fantastic year! Hoo-rah!