Thankful hearts

I was overwhelmed yesterday as I thought about everything I am grateful for. Most especially for the opportunity to be TOGETHER as a family. For the prayers that so many offered in our families behalf, in Henry's behalf, that brought us to this point. I know the Lord hears and answers our prayers and I am in awe of how many people, as I slowly begin to realize, were praying for our little man. My heart is full of JOY! We have been blessed with great prosperity, peace and love. Most importantly we have been blessed with the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My little Elizabeth sings her primary songs where ever we are, the store, the doctors, she loves the songs and shares them with anyone who will listen. I wish I had the strength to share with those around me the wonderful message of joy that the gospel has to share. We have a Savior who gave his life for each one of us so that we could live again, so that we can be families for eternity, so that the mistakes, heartaches, sorrows and trials we face here can be forgiven, softened, comforted and endured. My favorite part of this season is the music that sings and testifies of Christ and his birth and his greatness! What greater blessing can we have than to know WHO we are, WHY we are here and the PURPOSE of this life. I believe greater than knowing, is sharing! To share the gospel with others and than witness the joy that it brings to them is far greater than just knowing for ourselves.

(Stephanie, I meant to get more pictures of our family dinner, but alas, I was running around getting dinner ready... here are the few we got)

Can't get enough of this kids smile!

I TOLD you he's growing fast!

SOOO strong!

We had a SEAFOOD feast last night with family.
Seems a bit easier than cooking turkey all day, and much more delicious!

Shrimp appetizer platter with wheat thins
Fondue and Rosemary bread cubes
Roasted shrimp & Special Cocktail Sauce


Live dungees that were cooked and cleaned for us... we simply reheated them in the oven

AND

Most delicious in my opinion... King Crab Legs

I did try to slip in a little turkey with some Wild Rice & Turkey soup.. alas I was the only one to eat it. ;) Can't blame me for trying

Our Trip to Idaho!

One of my favorite pictures, our first day there we went out to the fields to meet Grandpa in his tractor. They loved the open fields, although Elizabeth's poor legs were scratched up for days. Diggin' up the fields for winter. Provided many great dirt clumps to throw.

One of the many tractors Grandpa gets to drive. I learned all about the GPS systems and how great it makes farming these days.

Henry got to drive, I have some really cute video that I'll get posted one of these days. He was a natural. On our walks through town, every big rig or tractor-ish looking vehicle was "Grandpa's Tractor!" according to Henry.

The fire pit. Henry is stoking the fire, he thought it best to throw them in from a distance. What an arm! We had hot dogs and marshmallows. Henry really only wanted to marshmallows.

The park in town

Rather than climb across the monkey bars, she crawled over them. I had just made a comment to my mother, very quietly, about walking across the monkey bars as a little girl...she must have really good ears!

Elizabeth was very excited to help Henry into his swing and then to push him as hard as she could. Most of the time he enjoyed it.

You can't really see it very well in the picture, but Henry had just face planted in the sand... his mouth and nose and eyes were full of sand! Poor guy! And he has a big red mark over his left eye.

Bed time for the kids...a rare occasion to find Henry IN his bed, he usually slept half way under my bed, or on the floor and every time I tried to put him back, he screamed until he was back on the floor.

Easiest time putting kids to bed... Annie just read to them until they both fell asleep. Grandparents are wonderful!

Each week we walked over to the Library and grabbed as many books as we could. The kids LOVED it!

The ladies in the Library were so excited to see Elizabeth again, and to meet Henry.

In fact the whole town, almost, knew who Henry was. They all prayed for Henry during his time in Seattle and could hardly wait to meet him.

We got to drive over to Idaho Falls to see Grandpa and Grandma Great P. Both kids were instantly attached and wished they could have stayed longer. It was so wonderful to see them and to have Henry meet them. I am amazed at the many lives Henry has touched through his many set backs and triumphs. He has grown so much and is in such great health that you would not know he had been through chemo and a bone marrow transplant. What a blessing for so many to witness the power of prayer and the miracles that continue to surround us daily.

Looking for the airplane....

It finally started to snow the day we left, I was worried we wouldn't make it out. We were only shortly delayed and made it home safely. Although they were a bit for me to handle they did fairly well on the three plane rides we had to take.

I LOVE my TWO angels!!!