Monday, December 6, 2010

Many Joyful Moments!


(my favorite quote on Gratitude) 
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ---Melody Beattie

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I can’t believe the Christmas season is already upon us
the year truly has just flown on by!  Winter arrived early this year as we have never had so much snow and school closures ever for the week of the Thanksgiving holiday. One of my good friends that is a school teacher that has lived here all of her life, said she has never experienced school getting out because of weather for the Monday-Wednesday before Thanksgiving break. 
Truly unbelievable weather!
Nonetheless, we are embracing the cold and snow and trying to enjoy each moment of it.  I’m afraid winter is here to stay!

Lest we get any further into the month of December, I thought I would share some of the MANY things that brought JOY, Happiness and Gratitude to my life this past month. 
Joy, Happiness and Gratitude are synonymous to me….whatever brings me joy or happiness also brings me much gratitude as well.

Here goes…in no particular order of importance, just some of the things that brought smiles to my face. (I was SO busy helping Tracy get our home back in order and work on remodel projects these past few weeks that I didn’t take many photos at all...especially when we had company over :-(.

--JOY is having my Super Saturday presentation over with and having it have turned out a success (at least that is what people have told me).

--being able to finally cook on real stove and bake in an oven…we made a pot of Ethan’s favorite “Split Pea Soup” and a batch of Tracy’s favorite “Snickerdoodles” for our first home cooked meal!

--the JOY of sitting down together each night at the dinner table and enjoying home cooked meals, talking and discussing our days events.
This truly is the highlight of my every day. love, Love, LOVE this!!

--Enjoying the SNOW as I look out and see a blanket of white instead of seeing all of the weeds I didn’t get pulled before winter came.

(My brother and sister-in-law sent Tracy and I "Life is Good" shirts...
this fits perfectly as my motto in life truly is "Less is more"!!)

--the feeling of gratitude as I get comments and emails from friends, even though I have been terrible at keeping in touch these past few months. These remembrances have meant so much more to me than words can express! I've even received care packages in the mail!!  I am truly blessed beyond measure with wonderful friends and family!

--Enjoying eating bowls of pomegranates over the past week.  We opened and enjoyed the fruit of 8 pomegranates. Yummy!! (Ethan was sad that we went to town over the weekend and couldn't find anymore pomegranates to buy)

--having a “fire to snuggle by” in our house again, as Tracy got our parlor heat stove all hooked up.  It was so cute looking at Ethan laying on the hardwood all snuggled up by it. He has found his new reading spot!

--enjoying Chocolate covered cinnamon bears in the month of November.

--the JOY of my kids faces and their excitement as I made up Spaghetti for dinner. It is one of their favorites and since I am not much of a pasta lover myself, I forget how much they LOVE this!

--Bananagrams!! This game has been one of our best and favorite purchases. You can play a game in less than 5 or 10 minutes and it has been wonderful for helping my kids (Jade especially) with reading and forming words. Can’t wait for many more evenings of this FUN.

--enjoying MUGS of hot water with lots of local honey and fresh squeezed limes to ward off the cough/flu season. We have juiced up over four dozen limes in the past week and have enjoyed each and every mug of this yummy goodness!

--Having my life back so I can “whip up” a pot of soup, baked bread and have a batch of cookies for my kids to enjoy as an afternoon snack when they get off the school bus.  I haven’t been able to do this for so long that it was so much fun to multi-task and make wonderful food creations in the afternoon.

--the JOY of running around in our stocking feet on our newly finished flooring and having “slide contests” to see who can slide the farthest.

--making a pot of Potato Soup for dinner in December and having the potatoes, onions and carrots all be from our garden that we grew this year.  LOVE our garden produce.

--Joy is still enjoying crisp apples off your neighbors tree in December as well.

--It was SO much FUN having Tracy’s brother, sister-in-law and their kids Hudson and Reese over for Sunday dinner… 
LOVE having a kitchen table that can comfortably sit 8 people...
LOVE having friends and family grace our table for dinner!!

--the JOY of having my visiting teachers stop by with sweet little children and having these little children play with the toys that my kids have long forgotten about….also having them bring our gumball machine to me before they leave, so they can put in pennies and leave with some gumballs to enjoy.  
Kids are welcome at our house anytime!

 --My entry window frame 
that holds photos of all of my family and friends that we received Christmas cards/letters from last year. There is not a day that I don’t walk by this and stand and smile at all of the faces smiling back at me.  
I treasure SO very greatly, my relationships and friendships with others!! 

--looking outside at just the right moment to catch the most amazing colors of the day before the sun has completely set and the dark of night sets in.

--sitting in the Rexburg Tabernacle on Thanksgiving day and being able to enjoy the wonderful Thanksgiving Day program. Even though my life was so hectic this year that I wasn’t able to be a part of it, I enjoyed the peace of listening to the beautiful music of the choir and the talent of many of our local youth in their music performances.  Music of all kinds truly feeds my soul!

--snuggling on the couch with my kids and enjoying watching a few episodes of Little House on the Prairie on Sunday evenings after a hectic week of school and work.

--getting to hold my neice Reese all evening while her parents were at a Christmas production. LOVED laying on the couch with her on my chest all snuggled in and also enjoying wonderful conversation with Tracy and his parents. I miss the moments of having little babies and so it was wonderful to have a baby to snuggle with.

--having my Christmas Cards all made up and signed, addressed and in the mail.

--playing “footises” with Mr. Smith as we laughed and watched episodes of our new favorite program “The Big Bang Theory”. LOVE that show.

--Time spent with my sister-in-laws (even though we always don’t see eye to eye on everything…I must add that rinsing out cans before you throw them in the garbage takes just a matter of seconds as it took me 11 seconds from start to finish to rinse out 2 cans as I was making dinner this evening) (big smile at Lisa)

--“mood light” that Mr. Smith has been installing in many rooms of our home. LOVE the warm soft glow that I see as I walk through my house at night.

 I think my most important JOY, Gratitude moments, were when I came down with the flu bad on Monday November 29th and my hubby took the kids to our family birthday party while I stayed home and soaked in a hot Epson Salt bath and then slept from 4:00 in the afternoon until 5:00 the next morning.  That one afternoon made all the difference in the world and I awoke on Tuesday morning feeling like a new woman and able to tackle the rest of the week!!

I am truly blessed with the most wonderful hubby and sons in the world!!

The very TOP of the list though,
was that my hubby didn’t have a serious injury as he stepped off a ladder in our garage and his hand hit a loose shelf and it came up and smacked him on the head and cut it pretty badly and gave him quite a goose egg.
SO VERY grateful that he is okay!!!

When I look at this list, I am reminded once again that all of the little moments with family and friends are what bring the most JOY to me in my life!

(looking forward to the JOY of the season
and many happy moments with my children and family....
photos from last years season that brought a SMILE to my face)




'Tis the Season for Joy!

The Joy from Children...
The Joy from Family and Friends...
The Joy of Traditions...
the Joy of cherishing and savoring each and every moment of this most Wonderful time of the year!

11 comments:

  1. Ah Where do I start? K I'll narrow it down to three because I could comment on all my love for this post forever.

    1. Bananagrams is SO FUN. I'm glad you found that game and love it as much as it should be loved. I think it's the best family game ever.

    2. Love your little wood stove! It's so cute and looks so cozy. I totally know how Ethan feels, you just gotta sit by it sometimes it's the best feeling in the world.

    3. Your floors look amazing and all your food as always looks delicious. That honey and lime drink looks so yum.

    PS I made your homemade tortillas the other day and HOLY YUM I was in heaven. And I think my husband was more in love with me than ever. . . so basically what I'm saying is I can't even imagine how much your hubby loves you haha because apparently baking homemade stuff is hot.

    You're awesome. I love having a place to come read when I just want to feel happy. :)

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  2. Ha Ha Ha - I am reading Brittany's comment and just laughing. I have such a funny girl. She was sooo excited to make your tortilla's I am going to have to try them!

    Guess What? I got your Christmas card today and it just totally made my day!! I had a pretty bad weekend and even though today was better, when I got home from work and opened the Smith Family card and saw the beautiful picture (and the sweet words on the outside of the envelope) it actually made me cry because it was just what I needed today.

    There was so much in this post that I don't even know where to start. I am totally with Brittany though, if you want to feel happy just come to your blog. Your love and joy for life shines through. You are such a wonderful person!
    Love you bunches!

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  3. I have MISSED you!!!!!
    So glad you were able to finally get your house done and all put back together!
    What a HUGE job.
    Yes, Tracy is talented but you are a trooper. It's so hard to have things torn apart.
    It is beautiful!

    Sounds like you've enjoyed all the snow like I have. I really do think it is beautiful.

    Is the kitchen table a new one?

    I love your decorations! So cozy and beautiful. You are the ultimate MOM!

    What was your Super Saturday thing that you did? Come on share! I'm sure it was totally wonderful.

    HUGS for the week!

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  4. Loved they yummy lemon-lime drink with honey. It was totally awesome and really helped cure my terrible cold. Thank you, thank you. Now, I just have to find some of that local solid honey. That was great! Loved the cinnamon bears too!

    It was great seeing you guys. Glad you like your shirts and got to spend some time with Reese. Thanks for taking care of her. She is my sweet princess.

    Your house sure is looking nice. Can't wait to see it again (hopefully in March). You guys are so ambitious. Wish we were better at being "fixer uppers". You're work on the house is impressive.

    Do you have a picture of the two of us? I need one. :)

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  5. Soo much goodness.. and gratitude.. and joy all in one post! :)

    I could almost hear your voice as I was reading all of it! :)

    The floors look suburb.. and everything is looking so great! :)

    That lime drink looks delish!

    I love the cute little stove. We have had MANY fires in our home this season as well..

    Wishing you MANY more joyful moments this week!!

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  6. virtual high-5's to you!!! better yet, let's make 'em high-10's k? :)
    i have missed you too. and tauna's asking what i'm asking: dish on that super saturday dealio! recently got a new calling that may or may not have some serious connections with super saturdays....so i'm all ears, er uh, i mean i'm all eyes! :)
    glad you're feeling better. this flu season isn't one to tamper with. glad we got ours out of the way before Thanksgiving & Christmas this year. phew! dodged that one.
    ok, so i'm thinking i need to jump on this tortilla wagon....only i'm wondering how well it would translate using buckwheat flour instead.....i'll have to give it a whirl! :)
    congrats on your house back together. i can relate. especially this week. anyhow, have a fab week! love ya oodles. p.s. i have my Christmas cards (that means you've not been forgotten), matter of fact i just got them from the printer, however they botched the print job, so hopefully i'll have the reprint by next monday and you'll soon have a hot one in your hands before too long. (which makes me wonder if i had your addy around here somewhere....i'll start digging through my desk and i'll email if i can't find it!)
    ::HUGE TUESDAY HUGS!!!::

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  7. Just yesterday I was wondering how you were doing and if you got your project finished! I think the main reason I was thinking about you so much is because I got a bountiful basket for the first time and thought of all the wonderful things you did with yours over the summer!

    Has Ethan grown up in the past few months? He just looks older in the pictures.

    Your house looks gorgeous! I'm glad your hubby didn't get seriously injured but the injury does look painful!

    What a blessing that you can now cook in your kitchen and be together around the kitchen table.

    It's good to hear from you! Take care!

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  8. I loved getting to see that sneak peak of your house! Now I just need to see it in real life. I love your Christmas cards! Our Thanksgiving conversation was pretty crazy--I'm still gonna keep my garbage gross though--I think it goes nicely with the cobwebs-LOL.

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  9. Kimmie you are so sweet! I adored this post! I love the things you are thankful for!

    I love that your floors are done!
    I am sad that you were sick!
    I am grateful your hubby is okay!
    Love your Christmas tree! It is so cute!
    Love the pictures you shared!
    I will have to try your lime drink!
    I love that you love the simple things like a sunset!
    You are just so wonderful!

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  10. BTW I love your Christmas card! So beautiful!

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  11. agreed.. loved the card and since we didn't send one out this year... here's our year in review blog post..

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