Thanksgiving Week, So Much to be Thankful For

Ryder's first snow angel for 2013!

Kinsley fell asleep under the ottoman in our living room.

Kinsley is slowly learning the art of eating with a fork and she LOVES spaghetti!

What a character. She is growing up so fast.

Thanksgiving, my second favorite holiday. I haven't mastered a pecan or lemon meringue, but at least I am trying. I think the pecan looks okay, well except the crust and the lemon meringue looks awesome, but who knows how they'll taste!! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We have tons to be thankful for this year and every year. I am thankful for my husband and kids, food, my camera to capture all our greatest moments, our home, our jobs, all my family, Zoey, our horses, our cattle and all the opportunities we have each and every day.

Today at daycare Ryder said what he was thankful for:
His bed, his shoes, his house, his family and his toys - not too shabby for a 4 year old

If Kinsley could talk "english" she would probably be thankful for:
Her dolls, her family, her shoes, food, olives, cheese - typical of a 1 1/2 year old

My camera is one of my most cherished possessions, it helps me to remember all the moments in our lives. How easily we forget special moments that are not caught on camera.

Thought:
I was talking with a good friend the other day and she said that you have to learn to not have expectations of others, that way you are never disappointed. This didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me at the time, but the more I have thought about it, the clearer it gets. The only expectations I should have are for myself and only myself. They eventually broaden out to my kids and my husband, but I think that is all the farther they need to go. I have to almost say outloud to myself, "Does this concern me? Will it effect me? What will it help to worry about this?" and more often than not when I am worried/concerned about something I can answer each of those questions, NO. Life is too short to worry about the small stuff. Make sure you and your family are happy and the rest has a funny way of taking care of itself.

Anyways, that is my deep thought for this week.

For a week in November (in Moscow), a week in December (in Pocatello), a week in January (in Twin Falls) and a week in February (in Boise) I will be attending or have attended Leadership in Idaho Agriculture (LIA). I have been asked if I would like to attend for 4 or 5 years now from my bosses at work, but I have kindly declined each year because I have to be gone so much and it is so hard to be gone with my kids. But this year they didn't get me a choice so I agreed. I have been to the Moscow session where we did lots of public speaking, toured Bennett Lumber (amazing), and learned to think on our feet. It was probably the hardest, most stressful thing I have ever done, but man was it worth it. I am so excited for Pocatello I can hardly stand it. LIA is focused on speaking, self presentation and confidence, it is awesome. Idaho AgCredit sends someone every year and each of the participants have a different opinion of the class. Some hate it and some like it, luckily I am one of those that love it. For the Pocatello class (in 2 weeks) we have to give a 5 minute speech on a topic of our choice, make a poster of our life, plan an LIA Alumni dinner and go on another tour, just to mention a few. It has been a lot of fun. Probably the best part of the whole class is getting to know 32 other people in every field of agriculture you can think of. There are producers, government workers, canal company workers, winery workers, fertilizer and barley salesman. What a great group of people, I have enjoyed getting to know a few of them and look forward to learning more about them over the next 3 weeks.

Another note: Thanks to Grandma Kathy, Grandma Susan and Wade for taking over while I have and will be gone for these classes, I truly appreciate you all and could not do it without you.

Happy Thanksgiving - Be Thankful For Today