Enough

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I have perceiv'd that to be with those I like is enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly
round his or her neck for a moment, what is this then?
I do not ask any more delight, I swim in it as in a sea.

There is something in staying close to men and women and looking
on them, and in the contact and odor of them, that pleases the soul well,
All things please the soul, but these please the soul well.
_Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass

Gratitude

Today is the day for thankfulness and gratitude. First of all I looked up some interesting facts on the Pilgrims. When they first arrivied here in America they only had 5 curnals of corn to eat a day. They lost over half of the people that came over here in the first year. For the first Thanksgiving Feast they sent 5 men out to hunt "turkeys" but they call all sort of fowl turkeys. So they had chicken, duck, pigeon and even swan. They also had a lot of seafood. The feast lasted for 3 days. They had a rough time after that and did not have another thanksgiving for a long time. It was not until Abraham Lincoln that there was an official thanksgiving day proclaimation, It would be the 26th of November every year. Franklin Roosevelt changed it to be the third thursday in November. I really enjoyed learning a lot more about this holiday. It has turned into one of my favorite days of the year.

In honor of this great day I am going to write my top 10 things I am grateful for

!. The Gospel, especially the atonement and the effect it has on everyone's life. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he loves me. I am grateful that I grew up with the knowledge of the gospel. I am extremely grateful for the blessings of the temple. And that we can be together forever.

2. My husband Kersten, who knew that when we met at 16 he would be so important in my life. He is my perfect match. He makes me want to be better, happier and whole. I love him. The last 8 1/2 years have just flown by and I can't wait to live the rest of forever with him

3. My Miracle Son, Noah, He is the joy of my heart. He tests and fulfulls me everyday. I love watching him learn and grow. His bigs hugs and kisses make my soul burst with love.

4. My Country, I feel blessed to live in this great land where freedom reigns and we all have the agency to make our own choices, to own land and practice whatever religion we choose,

5. My extended Family on both sides. I am blessed to live close to my sisters and brother and my mom and dad and spouses. I love being near them and have close relationship with them. I live two streets away from my in laws and they have been invaluable to me and my family.

6. Friends: I have been blessed to have many TRUE and real friends in my life. I could not make it without them and I know they should know who they are.

7. Books: I am addicted to the written word and love my books. I count them among some of my greatest treasures. I am constantly reading and it is one of the ways that make me who I am.

8. My creative outlet: this includes scrapbooking, stamping, cardmaking, my blog, painting my furniture, coloring and all the other things I continually try to do. This helps me feel like I accomplish more than dishes, laundry etc. It is such a part of me that it helps me breath.

9. My obsessions: okay I know it sounds weird. But life is so much more exciting if you are passionate about everything. I love to just ride the wave of my current fasination and learn all I can. Why fight it or feel frivoulous it is not going to change how I feel. So I just enjoy it

10. My house, community, ward and neighborhood: I have not strayed far from where I grew up and I love where I live. I know eventually we will move away but for now I am grateful for the familarity, the sameness, the safety and beauty that I live in. I love my little humble house and love that Noah has a small place to play and that it is starting to feel like home.

11. My health and sight: I struggle with both and it is a constant reminder of the blessings in my life. It is a poignant gift that my Heavenly Father has given me.

Happy Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful day and don't eat to much Turkey.

Early Thanksgiving and B-day Party

Tonight my Mom Jeanne and her husband Al had us all over for Thanksgiving. We also celebrated my birthday and my brother Nik's. His birthday is four day before mine. We had a club when we were kids called the November birthdays. Anyway, my mom has been so funny about my birthday about a mysterious surprise. She was so excited and kept talking about this fun thing that was happening. So right before we pray, the doorbell rang and Anita Stansfield, one of my favorite people and my definite favorite author, her husband Vince and their daughter *A walk in for the party. Anita says to me, Well, Happy Birthday Laurie, we are here for the party."

I have met Anita and been around her enough to know that she is just a normal, talented, amazing woman. I try so hard not to be awe struck and act silly about her and her books. I usually can't handle not asking questions about the characters running around in her head for long. She gave me her newest book "A Dance to Remember" which was on my list for birthday wishes. Now as she says I have an autographed copy. It was so fun to have her there. Her husband is so funny and him and Al tease that they are brothers they get along so well. We teased them tonight that when they get old they will be like the men in Second Hand Lions.
The food was marvelous as it always is at their house. The top picture is of Spencer my Nephew eating the drumstick. He was very enthusiastic about the turkey. I went around and took pictures of each family as they sat and ate. I totally felt like my mom. She was the one doing that in all the years past. Anita laughed and said "Most of us do turn into our mothers eventually". We all sat around talking afterwards. IT was fun to sit and laugh with my sisters and brother and spouses.


We opened presents after awhile. My mom had framed a picture my brother had drawn of Noah that he had given me for Christmas in 2004. It made my heart melt. It is so beautiful. Now just to find the perfect spot in my house to hang it.
NIk and Lena gave me the cute penguin Mumbles from the movie Happy Feet. It came with a birth certificate and they named if for me "McDreamy" to make it a bit more exciting. It made me laugh. And there was also an egg when you unzip it a baby penguin comes out. It is irresistable for someone like me who has loved penguins forever.

Overall, it was a very fun evening. Noah was beside himself coming home. He wanted to play with Papa Al's big laser tag gun some more. Thanks Mom and Al for the fun surprise and for the yummy dinner. I am very thankful.

Jason and Verity Wedding

My husbands Brother Jason and his woman Verity got married yesterday. It was a beautiful day. The weather was not to cold and everything went according to schedule. The temple of course was the best part. Kersten was a witness so it was the first sealing we had been to together that we did not sit by each other.



Noah had to bring his Buzz Lightyear and we had the stroller that everyone used as storage. My stepdad Al took the pictures. I followed him around as he took pictures and help him postion the dress etc.



They had their luncheon and a ring ceremony at the Plaza hotel, where Kersten and I had ours. It was fun to be back there again. It was really neat to hear their vows they wrote. Jason actually pulled out his guitar and sang "Baby I'm Amazed" by the Beatles and Verity wrote some beautiful words and feelings she has for Jason. The food was really good they had Cordon Bleu, mashed potatos, salad, vegtables and cheesecake. Kerst gave a pretty funny toast as the best man. Jason was his and 14 at the time his toast was "Kersten is a good brother." so Kersten elaborated on that and said the Jason was a good brother and pretended to sit down. I found it kind of funny and then he continued on.



They had their reception at a ward house so between everything we went and helped set up. They served donuts, glazed and chocolate cake. They had the Acheivement day girls serve the food. I went into the kitchen during the reception and one of the girls asked how everyone felt about the "theme" and colors of the wedding. It made me smile because as girls we start dreaming about becoming a bride as soon as we know what one is.


It was a beautiful day. Congrats Jay and Ver

Fits

Noah has now more officially hit 2 than ever before. He is defying every single boundary or limit that has ever been set for him. This picture is an example of him not wanting to get dressed in the morning. Notice it is his Buzz Lightyear pajama top that is sitting around his diaper. Also he has that mope master face of huge upset because how dare mom change his clothes in the morning. The day he turned 2, I did notice a difference in him. It was like he knew now that he was suppose to be terrible. The last three weeks have tested me as a mother. My patience, tolerance, understanding and discipline have been throughtly tested. I have never been a person of great self discipline and when things in my life made me be so I push and pull and fight against this. I am not proud of it. It has become something I have learned to accept about myself. Since I know I am this way, I try to do the things I know I should without feeling rebellious over them. Any mother who has been through this phase of their child's life knows exactly what I am talking about. So for now I will continue to love my son with all I have, be as consistant as possible and try not to pull my hair out. The moments that he becomes my sweet boy again make it worth it.

Halloween!

We had a fabulous day yesterday for Halloween. Kersten team at work decided to dress up like witches. Kersten got really into it and borrowed an Ariel wig and witch hat to spice it up a bit. He also got an ugly nose and wore my red and white striped socks. He was pretty excited and I think he looked fabulous. After running around all day, taking Noah to Daddy's work, Mommy's work, and variious places to show off his costume. And already getting tons of candy. We went to Kersten's parents to show them Noah and we got to see Josh in his Big Bird costume. Noah had a fit when we left because he wanted to play. We then drove out to my sister Emilee's house to trick or treat. Kristin and Spencer were so excited to show Noah how it is all done. Noah figured it out pretty fast that when you went up to the door and yell "ik o eet" the people will open the door and give you candy and tell you how cute you are in your Mickey Mouse costume. He lasted a really long time. Afterwards we stopped by my Grandma Shepherd's for donuts and hot chocolate (which is a tradition as long as I can remember). Holidays always seem to have us running around like crazy. But we had a lot of fun. Other than last night we had gone to our ward party last sat, my sister's trunk or treat the saturday before that, and a friends Halloween party. We made sure to live it up. Hope your day was as fun as ours was.

Jack O' Lantern

For Family Night tonight we had a lesson on the Harvest and how Heavenly Father helped us to make things grow so that we had food. Afterwards, we carved Noah's Pumpkin that he received from the Great Pumpkin on our doorstep. Last Saturday, we went outside and on our porch there was a pumpkin with a note that said " Hello, I am Noah's Pumpkin, Happy Halloween." Mom helped get all the stringy, ikky stuff out of the insides. Noah kept going "ik ik" If the strings accidently touched him he would freak out until it was taken off. He had an ice cream scoop to "help help" with the seeds. He had to scoop and dump them into the bowl. It was a very serious business. Dad then helped to make the face. WOW! We really like our pumpkin. It was the coolest when we got to light the tealights inside with fire. Noah kept blowing them out so that we would light them again. Before the closing song we sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Noah jumped up and down for joy when Mom and Dad were doing it. Overall, It was a pretty successful night. Now Kersten is roasting the seeds so we can have a delicious snack. Hooray for Pumpkins.