Thanksgiving

During this holiday season, I am reminded of the many things to be grateful for. I am grateful for the Church to which I belong, my husband, my family, friends, the opportunity to attend BYU and gain an education, to not have any disease or disability, and to have a roof over my head, food on the table, and clothes on my back.

This Thanksgiving, we celebrated with Joseph's family in St. George. It was a lot of fun, especially since some relatives flew in from Texas to visit! We enjoyed the warmer weather and the yummy food. Here are some pictures.Our nephew and his parents flew in from Texas so we were able to visit with them again. Caleb is getting so big! He loved saying 'Cheese" for all the pictures.
This is the view from a peak in St. George. The mountains in the picture are Nevada mountains. Directly to the south of us, we could see mountains from Arizona too. It was really neat. My brother-in-law showed me the road that if you take it, you end up at the Grand Canyon.
Joseph and I enjoying the wonderful hike together in St. George. It was beautiful weather and a wonderful break from school. We just have three weeks left and then Christmas!

Beating the Odds

Growing up, statistics were always around indicating children of divorced parents were worse off than children with married parents. As I have grown up and realized that odds have been and will continue to be against me, I am happy to report that I am doing just fine despite what media dictates. Here are some statistics that I have proven wrong:

- Children in single-parent families are six times more likely than children in two-parent families to grow up in an environment of poverty
- They are two to three more times likely to have behavioral problems
- More likely to drop out of school
- Be expelled or suspended from school
- More likely to become pregnant as a teen
- More likely to use drugs and become lawmakers

I am lucky to be one of the people who didn't face these issues. Instead, I grew up with an amazing mom who gave her children everything she could. She didn't let media and numbers dictate our futures. I am grateful for my mom who worked so hard to give her children a great future. As I work with children of divorced parents, I struggle with how they have so much anger and trauma from the divorce. It hurts me so much because I know they can reverse the trend if they choose to. I know they can choose to not repeat history. I simply hope one day they will.

(Pictures from Thanksgiving are coming...)

Fall and Birthdays

I love fall. When I was younger, I always thought I'd get married in October. Not because it was my birthday month but because the colors are so pretty. Well, Joseph and I decided to get married during a blizzard instead but that doesn't erase my love for the fall season. Here is why I love fall:

1. The colors are simply amazing. I love living near the mountains and seeing the trees change colors into reds, oranges, and yellows.
2. I like making homemade pumpkin pie. Joseph likes to eat it. It works out well.
3. My birthday is in fall! And so is Joseph's.
4. The weather is perfect. I could handle having October weather all year long. I love wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans. It is my favorite "outfit." Winter comes and I feel I have to bundle up so much to stay warm but fall has beautiful weather.
5. General Conference is in the fall, so that is an added bonus.

Last month, Joseph and I celebrated our birthdays. We are slowly reaching the age of retirement. He got some new tools, a game, a new white shirt for Church, and some new ties. I received a popcorn maker, gardening books, a movie, nail polish, cookbooks, and some sewing stuff. It was great to celebrate our birthdays at Joseph's family's home. We made some cakes and enjoyed being with his family. We also went up to Logan to visit Chelsea and Jeff and we celebrated up there. We went to a corn maze and carved pumpkins.

All in all, this fall was a wonderful fall. I just wish it could have lasted longer. It snowed last Saturday and has been pretty cold lately. I will just have to wait until next fall to enjoy it again.