Give Thanks!

Every month of the year is fun for different reasons. November to me has always been a fun month because it meant we finally had a break from school and we got together with family to have a good time on Thanksgiving. Well, this year I'm finally not a student! Still loving it! Even though I am not a student, November is still going to be an exciting month because Dustin and I are going back to BRAZIL! It still seems like a dream and I don't think it will be real until we get on the airplane. I am sad Luke won't be coming with us but I know he will be well taken care of while we are away. Probably even more spoiled! We are SO excited we have the opportunity to take the trip and know it will be a wonderful experience. :)

We will actually be in Cuiaba, Brazil on Thanksgiving day and so instead of turkey and pumpkin pie we will be having churrasco and mousse de maracuja!!! Yummm!!! As we have talked about the trip food has become a central topic and I feel like I am living in a Jim Gaffigan skit and how he teases about the reason we travel is just so we can eat food in a different place! haha... I think there is quite a bit of truth in that!

Since we won't be here for Thanksgiving I have already been thinking of my blessings and all I have to be thankful for. I have quite the list! I thought I would share just a few.

1. First, my Savior. What a blessing it is to be a member of His church here on the earth. I feel such peace in my life when I strive to follow His example and become more like Him.

2. My sweet husband, Dustin. I am continually amazed at what a wonderful man he is. I don't have words to describe his goodness and I am grateful to be the one to know him best and to have him by my side so hopefully he will rub off on me and I can become more like him! :)

3. My baby Luke. Oh he makes me happy! His smile, his laugh, the way he already shows his love to me are priceless. I am so grateful to be able to watch and help him grow and develop on his journey through life.

4. My family. I have wonderful parents who still take such good care of me. Two awesome brothers who are smart, kind, and the best uncles to Mr. Luke. And of course my Grandma Billie, she and my Grandpa Jerold have been my idols since I can remember and I am so grateful I have been lucky to be a part of their lives. Plus, would I even have a cooking blog without all of Grandma Billie's delicious recipes!?! 

5. My in-laws. Luke has wonderful grandparents on both sides of his family. That is such a blessing to have such role models to love and care for him. I have 6 sisters-in-law and 5 brothers-in-law! That is a big jump from only having 2 brothers! They are all so talented and I am grateful for all I have learned from them. Family is the best! They are always there for you when you need them. I am grateful for the family I married into.    

6. To be a stay-at-home Mom. I love it. It is a dream come true to be with my little love bug. He brings joy to my life every day. :) 

7. For our education. I always wanted to go to BYU and I am so grateful to be a BYU Dietetics graduate. It was hard! But I am so grateful I reached my goal. I am also grateful for Dustin's schooling that has opened so many doors for our future. 

8. For our health and happiness. With so much sickness, I am grateful each day for one more day of good health. 

9. For our safety. I love our little home and our safe little neighborhood. Definitely a blessing.

10. For the fun memories we have as a family and future memories to be had. We love to travel and we are excited to add Brazil to our list of fun adventures. But I am grateful not only for our memories of travels, I am also grateful for the memories of family home evenings, watching movies, having dinners, and laughing together as a family that make day-to-day living great. 

Of course I could go on an on. Counting my blessings helps me remember even the small things I take for granted. It is a wonderful life! :)

SurPriSe!

Tiffany and I planned a little surprise trip up to Shelley to surprise Grandma Rhonda! Our husbands are so busy these days, Kevin is working and studying to take the GMAT and Dustin is busy with school and work so we decided to give them a little alone time and take off! What a trip we had. Two adults in the front seat and two babies under 1 year in the back seat... and yet we made amazing time. We only had to make one stop both ways and there was only one small baby meltdown each direction. I felt the trip was a complete success. :)
While we were driving we were trying to decide how we would surprise Grandma Rhonda once we got there. We finally came up with the idea to let the boys both give her a flower and surprise her at work. Luckily the flower shop is only a block away so we just walked on over so she couldn't see our car parked out front! The ladies at her work were nice to help us out with the surprise and let us hide in the back room so we could make our entrance at the right time and they could take a picture. So when the right time came we entered behind Grandma Rhonda's desk and she turned around with such a surprised look I wondered if she recognized us! haha... It was such a fun surprise and we visited for a few minutes with all the ladies working when all of the sudden one of the ladies told Rhonda she could take the day off! So we took off and had a fun day visiting and playing with the kiddos. The night was finished off with some Mr. Pizza! yummm...

SuRpriSe Grandma!!!

Luke is just studying his grandma. :)

It was so fun to see everyone we could. We saw Brett, Cherice, Logan, and Kenzi. Luke was having fun climbing all over his uncle Brett. He wanted to eat all of his dessert. After he slobbered all over an ice cream cone he climbed in his lap to help him with his cake! But entertainer of the night would have to go to Kenzi. She LOVES babies! When she walked in her face lit up. She walked slowly up to Peyton and Luke and whispered "hi" and lightly touched them. Throughout the night she would say "hi" and wave to the babies, gave and received many kisses, held them and played with them. She was in 7th heaven and it was adorable! 

We had a delicious dinner of Hawaiian Haystacks and chocolate cake for dessert. A good time was had by all. 

The proud grandparents!

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and Saturday morning we had to get ready to go home. Great Grandma and Grandpa Hanson came for a quick visit and it was so good to see them. I just love them! They  just go go go and are always loving and supporting their family. Wonderful wonderful people. :)

So happy we could visit. I know my happy little boy had fun too!

Fabulous Fall

I love love love fall! Those days when you can go outside and it is almost like there isn't a temperature because it is so perfect, not too hot not too cold. Ya, I love those days! Be prepared for a big update... like usual I am a little behind on all the fun things I have wanted to post. So here goes!

Mr. Independent

So proud of himself!

Jerky...

We went to the pumpkin patch across the street from our house a couple times. Thanks to Tiffany for letting us know about it! I thought all they had were pumpkins. I was way wrong. They had animals, hayrides, mazes, and a giant corn pit. That was Luke's favorite part. Here are some pics of the fun!

Luke loves Peyton. I think he is giving Peyton his first wet willie...

Back again with his Uncles.

For Halloween Luke was a puppy. We took him to Boo at the Zoo and dressed him up. He seemed to like looking at the animals and everything we pointed to. Our favorite parts were the otters and the polar bear. The polar bear put on quite a show and we will have to go back again when he is older and I think he will enjoy it even more. :)

Ready to go inside!

Monkeys.

**Halloween**

Our cute little puppy dog.

We went to 5 houses and when we got home he was ready to eat his sucker. :)

Luke update:
Mister Luke is getting to be quite the crazy boy! We just love him so much and love to see how much others love him as well. He has turned into quite the little stinker. He loves cords, cell phones (he slobbered mine until it died), and crawling from any place in the house to the office to try to push the glowing on/off button on the computer tower. It seriously doesn't matter where he is in the house he will do whatever it takes to get to that button! Today he started pulling himself up to a standing position! Pretty soon he will be even harder to keep track of. :)
He loves food. He eats a bowlful at every meal and still wants to eat whatever we are eating! He says dada. mama, and baba and other random phrases of jibberish that we love. However, in church the word shhhh... to him must mean "belt it out a little louder" because he just gets louder and beams with happiness! I just love his smile and laugh. He is the perfect little boy for his mommy!

AZ here we come!

The long awaited day has finally arrived! Dustin got an internship and we are officially future Phoenix, AZ residents. After much recruiting, events, and interviews Dustin made the decision that PwC was the firm he felt was the best fit for him. That was the firm he has been impressed with the most throughout the recruiting process but he wanted to keep his mind open to the other possibilities, however, in the end he stuck to that feeling and he is excited to be part of the team with PwC.
That means come January we will be heading down to Arizona for a 3-month internship. Assuming that all goes well with the internship, Dustin would start with them full-time sometime after he graduates in April 2014. :)
What a perfect time to head down there! I am super excited for the weather because that means Luke and I will still be able to do lots of things outdoors. It will be good to get to know a little bit about the city before we move down there for good. I have heard so many positive things about Arizona and I can't wait to be able to join in on the fun. It will be great to have some family close too.
I am so proud of Dustin. He has calmly worked so hard even with everything he has had on his plate. I haven't even been worried. I knew he could do it. Now, if I had been in his position I would have been stressed out to the max! We definitely have the roles we are meant to have. :)
Thanks to our family for all the love and support in this process! We are excited for this new stage in our lives.