Giving some Thanks...

This time of year is always a tender time for me. Three years ago my idea of Thanksgiving changed forever. That was the morning we got the call my boy was born...but it really was so much more than that. Camden's birthday will always be special just for the fact that he was born and he is on this earth spreading joy and love wherever he goes. But it is so much more than that because it was the end of a long personal journey for me that was filled with some of the darkest days I've ever known. It was also the beginning of another long, hard journey as I fought the fight of my life to get Camden legally adopted and sealed to us. I can't help but reflect on all the things I learned and the love that I felt. It truly is a special time for me. With that said...my Thanksgiving day looked pretty traditional and normal on the outside...

I started my day with a traditional Thanksgiving morning Turkey Trot...

After a gorgeous run by the lake with some great friends, I had a quiet day with my kids, my parents and Aric while we had a Harry Potter movie marathon. Oh and I made a pumpkin chocolate cheesecake! Yes...me...I made something that tricky and yummy! I can't believe I didn't take a picture.


Later that night we had dinner at my sister's house. Aric, Andy and Joe made sure the house didn't burn down. Although Aric did lose some knuckle hair and escaped near death as the turkey was too big for the fryer and almost made the oil overflow...Yikes!

The turkey turned out delicious and we all got full...

(seriously...I hate blogger. I can't get this picture to load right, but you get the idea)

Camden and Andy decided to take a rest after dinner to get ready for dessert...

We celebrated Camden's and Olivia's birthday with my mom and Joe. Ev got Camden this very appropriate shirt...(Trouble is My Middle Name)

Before we left Camden and Max decided to give us all a muscle show...

After the kids and grandparents were sleeping, Aric and I decided to brave the midnight shopping crowds...it was crazy but we got some great deals so it was worth it.

And that, my friends, is what our Thanksgiving looked like. Pretty traditional, but underneath all the turkey, rolls, pie and shopping, my heart is full. Full of gratitude for what this season means to me now, and how it will always remind me of the Lord's tender mercies and how great God's plan is.

A Little Bit of Calm...

Aric let me tag along on a work trip to Kona, Hawaii last week. It was so nice...so so nice.

We went on a tour of a Botanical Garden...

We saw some crazy huge/ugly spiders...

We had the most amazing and informative tour guide named Daniel...

These are a just a FEW nuggets of information we learned from him:

There are no snakes in Hawaii, just weird little salamanders that don't have legs or eyes the size of an inch worm.

Sugar cane is no longer the main crop in Hawaii. Corn is.

The Hawaiian language only has 13 letters in it's alphabet.

Every word in the Hawaiian language ends with a vowel.

Cashews come from a poisonous plant. 

White sand is coral that fish eat then poop out.

The last earthquake moved Hawaii 8 inches closer to Japan.

There are 3000 different kind of palm trees.

This is actually a giant cactus, I was too busy taking this funny picture of Aric to listen to what Daniel was saying about it.

This is just a sampling of what we learned from him...we spent six hours with the guy. Our brains are still trying to process it all!

We had lunch at this beautiful beach...

We went exploring...

And then we went zip lining...

I was so proud of Aric, my scaredy cat husband didn't let his fear of heights get to him at all.

I made up my own pose called the Peter Pan. The tour guides were impressed and now they are going to start doing it.

We ate these super yummy donut things called Malasadas...

We saw random things that made us laugh...like lizards on everything...

And plants growing out of rocks...

Mostly we spent our days doing this...

We played ping pong and I actually beat Aric! It was the first time I beat him...it was awesome. No pictures of the momentous occasion but this picture was taken right before it happened.

We ate some amazing food. We ate right next to these sea turtles...

I was able to go running a few times. It felt so good to be hot instead of freezing. This was the trail just outside our window.

Here are some cool fire tricks...one of these guys came up to Aric and screamed in his face while sticking his tongue out..so hilarious. Couldn't pull my camera out fast enough.

One of my favorite memories was Aric getting called out of the crowd to go up and dance with one of the hula girls. My camera was on the wrong setting so these pictures stink. I did get video of it though.

****

As I sat there enjoying the peace and the sun, I couldn't help but feel like this was the calm before the storm. The pattern of my life has been more storm than calm so I don't take this calm for granted, not for one little second. I took in every glorious minute of every glorious day.

Go away Mr. Storm....Please. Pretty please...I'm not sure I've had enough calm yet.

I'm feeling it in my bones...

In my college days, I had a little incident where I fell 50 feet while hiking in the snow in Provo Canyon. I miraculously survived with only bruises and some permanent nerve damage in my elbows. Every change of season my elbows ache. It reminds me of what happened.

Right now my elbows are aching, a new season is here.

Another kind of season is upon me and I'm feeling it in my bones...I'm no longer a "young" mom. I don't know when that season officially passed me by, but I am now a mid-30 something mom with school aged and middle school aged children...I'm a "middle" mom. I'm okay with it, for the most part, but I just wish I could hold onto this season and not let it speed by so fast.

For example:

I can't wrap my head around the fact that it's already been a year since we took this picture...

...And now we look like this!

A whole ridiculous year...365 days. 

Three hundred sixty five days filled with what?

laundry, school, soccer, piano, tutoring, church, birthdays, family visits, dishes, lunches, running, projects, traveling...the list goes on and on and on.

Somehow we managed to fill our days so much that I didn't even realize how my children were growing and changing right before my eyes!

I'm intensely aware of it now. In fact so aware that not  a day goes by that I don't feel an ache over noticing a change in one of my kids.

Camden is now potty trained and the sight of his little buns in his big boy undies gives me aches. His verbal skills are a little insane. It's crazy. His new favorite phrase "What the H is going on here?"

Eden is the sweetest space case on this planet. She recognizes that she is and really wants to change. She wants to be more independent and grown up. She is always asking to help whether it's loading the dishwasher, cutting apples or peeling carrots. If only she was that excited to clean her room or do her homework.

Maya is truly blossoming every minute of everyday. She is such a responsible kid. She amazes me with her desire to do the right things and do them on her own. She is a deep thinker and has an understanding of things beyond her years. She is becoming my friend, not just my daughter. I have been waiting for this time to come, as awesome as it is, it's still giving me some achey aches.

Overall, it's not a bad thing. In fact, it's been so good for me to stop and be more present. I want to enjoy this season for all it's worth.