Heartfelt Blogger Award

It's been years since I've gotten an award, but look at me now! I recently discovered Elizabeth's blog, Confessions of a Working Mom, and she has graciously passed this award on to me. I hope this doesn't go to my head! So if you've never seen a blogger award before...


Here are the rules of the game:

* Display the award logo.
* Nominate up to 9 blogs that make you feel comfy or warm inside.
* Link to your nominees.
* Let them know they have been nominated by commenting.
* Link to the person from whom you received the award


My nominees are as follows (in no particular order):

Carrie @ Maseda Mayhem - I love reading about the ups (and sometimes downs) of her cute family of little ones. I am right there with you, sister!

Sherrie @ Good News! - She has a inspirational blog that brings a little sunshine to my life on a regular basis. She has a great eternal perspective on life, and a wonderful testimony of the Savior.

Jessie @ Keep it Together - It all started with her fabulous photos, but I have come to just adore this woman and her family. Can I adopt you guys??

Amber @ Our Oklahoma Adventure - My former neighbor and fellow blogger! Her feisty side can really come through in cyberspace, but she has the sweetest little boys. And she is so in love with her husband it makes me smile even though I'm going into sugar shock from the sappiness of it all.

Connie @ Loose Lemons - She makes me smile, even when she's annoyed with idiots. Okay, especially when she's annoyed with idiots. But she also has some great insight and fabulous photos as well. She's a keeper!

Day #8

It's 9:45 at night, the kids are asleep, and Ben and I are getting ready to hit the sack. And yet, we haven't had our gratitude post for today. Although I could cheat and post in the morning for today, I feel the need to do a family gratitude post tonight about something we can all agree on.

Today our family is grateful for... one another.


About 15 months ago our little family (including a 6-week old baby) picked up and moved halfway across the country for Ben's new job. We had never been to Oklahoma, didn't have family or friends in Oklahoma, and (despite our best efforts) didn't have a place to live in Oklahoma when we got here. Was it hard? You betcha. Was it exciting? Sometimes. But mostly it was just exhausting.

We have missed our South Carolina family and friends. We still miss them. We miss Sunday nights at Noni & Papa's house. I miss the friends I could have lunch with, making day-trips to Summerville to visit Becky, and the girl's nights with sisters and moms. I miss short-notice camping trips with Gwen, knowing what restaurants were good and affordable, and my fabulous mechanic. And I know that Ben misses his man-dates with Mike. Olivia and Kelsey miss their cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends, and story-time at the library. And we all miss the cheese dip at San Jose Restaurant. Connor doesn't know what he's missing - he was too young when we moved - so Ben and I miss it for him. We miss Christmas Eve at my mom's, Christmas Day at Ben's parents with Mike's fried turkey, and Thanksgiving at Grandma Gin's house. And as the holidays roll around we miss you guys that much more all over again.

But oh, how much more we love each other here. Now that our little family is away from the rest of our extended family, we cling together that much more tightly.

We love snuggling on the couch watching movies, tickle fights with Daddy, early morning cuddles with Mommy when the girls sneak into our bed after Ben's gotten up for work. We love family walks and trips to the dog park and Sunday morning breakfasts. The girls love playing "horses" with each other, and playing games with Mommy, and reading together. Everyone loves kissing on Connor, and he loves it too. We love each other. And most of the time, we even like each other, too. We are very blessed.

Yes, today we are grateful for each other.

Day #7

Ben is grateful for... our kids and how they make life so interesting.

Anita it grateful for... her sweet husband and girls who worked so hard to clean the house while she was at choir practice this morning.

Olivia is grateful that... we have a clean house for Sunday.

Kelsey is grateful for... a lost dog the girls have named "Buddy". He's been in our backyard since Friday afternoon.


Connor is grateful for... birthday parties. He had a great evening with some friends whose little boy is turning 2 years old tomorrow. Happy Birthday, Jordan!

And once we all went to the backyard, this was all Connor wanted to play with. I'm thinking we've got to get him one of these!

Day #6

Ben is grateful for... "a kind and understanding wife who understands that he has to work late and doesn't complain even though she is so stressed out her head is going to explode."

Anita is grateful for... naps. She actually got one today.

Olivia is grateful for... cute Connor.

Kelsey is grateful for... her mom making the best pizza ever for dinner! (And it really was my best pizza ever. We'll have to do it again soon and blog about the recipe on my other blog.)


Connor is grateful for... his hairstylist, Olivia. (She's also his photographer.)