A few of my favorite things...

In honor of Thanksgiving here are a few of my favorite things I am grateful for:


This is our neighbor Pam. We LOVE Pam. Pam and Steve are empty nesters that have made Lee and I feel so welcome. They treat Keaton like a grandchild and are always so kind to Lee and I. When Lee and I told them we were going to build a fire in the front yard Halloween night and Lee was going to do scones they did warm cider and Pam dressed up like a Mummy. In the darkness of Halloween it was FABULOUS. I think Keaton has a little bit of a crush on Pam :)

I think the second thing I am really grateful is family. I am always a tad bit sad when it is not the Earley year for Thanksgiving. Lees' family is really good at making a nice holiday so we had a great time (I think Keaton went on about 20 tractor rides... not enough in his mind). Keaton has 15 cousins on that side (here are just a few making silly faces, Keats caught right on without prompting, go figure). We are also terribly thankful for the Earley side of the fam. Keaton got to play with most of them yesterday too. We were so lucky to have Garret and his family here to celebrate the twins 1 year old birthday.

Maybe this one is weird but it is my list not yours :) I am thankful for this little timer. It seriously was one of the best wedding gifts we got. I have figured out that I have a little bit of a short attention span. I know I can do anything for 15 minutes. You can get a lot done in 15 minutes. When I clean I tell myself I only have to do each room for 15 minutes (this probably explains a lot to anyone who has been to my house). It is a great motivator to me to see that time click on and know I only have a few short minutes on any ugly task.

I am also thankful for "knuckles". Keaton never took a pacifier. I have often felt a little disappointed I did not have that crutch. When Keaton was about 9 mos old though he started doing "knuckles". Whenever he is sad, nervous, tired or bored he pinches my knuckles. He will do it for hours on end if he could. It kinda works out good. I always have my hand with me and it is not nearly as embarrassing as a 3 year old with a pacey.

I am also thankful for the modern miracle of furnaces. Here is the dreaded red sticker that shut us off 10 days ago. Does anyone have any idea how NICE having heat is? We came home the other night and it was 50 degrees in here....SERIOUSLY!!! I am here to say we have 5 space heaters in this house (2 don't work at all) and space heaters don't work. They just don't cut it. I am sad to say we are beginning to acclimate and when we get out in regular society where people use such crazy luxuries as heat we sweat... yuck I know. We are hoping in the next few days our furnace will show up and we can be snugly again.

I am thankful for warm fireplaces (see above). I am amazed at how much wood we have had to go through this week. We are glad we have Papa Palmer with the big wood pile in the back of his house.

I am thankful for a husband who risks life and limb to always get lights on our house (yes, they are pretty simple, just how we like 'em :). I didn't grow up with lights. It is nice my husband is into making us have some great traditions.

I had to laugh at a girl I work with. She was complaining that her boyfriend always made them go out into the cold to pick out a tree at a lot and then they had to light it and she had to vacuum too often. In the 5 years we have had Christmas together Lee has taken us up to the Uintahs (3.5 hours away) and we have hunted a tree. Keaton has LOVED it. It is quite an event. Usually we have some extra Palmers along and we always cut a tree for my Dad. This year we trekked over Flaming Gorge for 3 hours looking for this tree. We took a picnic and made a fun afternoon out of it. (yes, Lee is 6'4" tall, yes, this tree is next in line for the governors mansion).

This is just a few of my favorite things. What blessings are you grateful for?

Cold

We are cold today. Our furnace was "condemned" yesterday and we were too scared by the spiel to turn it back on. It makes me realize though that the cold is on it way. EEK! I am paralyzed by the cold. We grew up in San Diego. When I moved here I didn't even own a jacket. I only remember once growing up that my parents bothered to get us winter coats. All 8 of us got in the old van and went to K-mart to try on and put on layaway. I don't think I wore that jacket too much, just no need.
Keaton and I have decided this cold thing is not cool. We cuddled under my blankets way too long and then got out only to make up some steamy mugs of cocoa. The furnace man is coming today so HOPEFULLY we can feel the warmth again. It actually is working out rather well. When they condemned us yesterday I freaked, 4K right by Christmas is a chunk. I panicked until the thought came to me to call my fellow dealmeister friend Lisa. She reminded me the house is under warranty......YAHOO (Lisa we owe you some Red Iguana!)!!!! SO, the warranty company will put in our furnace to last the next 20 years for......a FIFTY FIVE DOLLAR copay. I feel blessed.
So, we will endure this cold as we wait for warmer days. Here are a couple of warm memories from the last couple of months. Enjoy.

Keaton and I like to go to Tracy Aviary. This last time we were able to feed the Sun Conures. We really lucked out. There were only 2 kids so they got to feed all the apples to the birds. CLEARLY Keaton liked to watch them from a distance BEFORE they thought his sweatshirt was cool and decided to check it out closer. MUCH MUCH better........

We love to go to Bountiful Lake. It is real near our home and has a nice walking path.

What I really needed a picture of at this lake was the 18" fish this guy caught. It was UNREAL. Here is Keaton trying his luck with a stick.

Olan MIlls

When we were young I think my parents bought an "Olan Mills timeshare" type of thing. Year after year we would go and get our pictures taken. So I nearly died laughing when I came across this great stroll down memory lane of the great "art" Olan Mills was putting out at the time (seriously if you were born in the 70's you will LOVE it). I had to go look at some of our Olan Moments. I think this is one of my favorites. Now remember my parents CHOSE this one. This one was clearly the best. You gotta love how I am the only one looking at the camera. Either the photographer and I were confused or my siblings. You gotta love the "country meadow" we hiked to in our church clothes to get this shot.
P.S. Amara, nice shawl.

Keaton is THREE!

Can you believe our little fella turned THREE! It is hard for me to imagine where the time went. I really can't imagine life without him. I love this time in my life where I can watch him learn, grow, and try new things. He is such a neat kid to be around. I can't think what I did to deserve to be his Mom. I am horible at taking pictures at events so this is what you get :)

This is Keaton blowing out the candles at his family party. Lees' Mom is in the background. We are lucky that she is willing to drive the 6 hours to come to any and all events. She is good to us. You will notice as well I am having a good hair day :)

We also did a friend party (what was I thinking). They had a GREAT time. They kinda didn't get the games but they loved the Batman capes I made for the 9 kids, pizza (Keatons fav), and playing with toys. I was SO amazed that almost all of the little girls stayed without their Mom's. Is that normal for little girls to be more brave then boys? Keaton would NEVER stay at a house he didn't know without me. Maybe this girl thing will be interesting.

Failures

Well we are potty training failures. Probably more me then Keaton. He won't even sit on the potty. We have tried it all treats, bribes, toys, cute underwear... etc. etc. This friend suggested that I try to only let him watch TV when he is sitting on his little potty. Well, he decided a week ago that he loves his diapers way more then he loves TV. I can't believe he has held out for a week, NO TV!!!! I hate TV so I am thrilled. He doesn't even ask anymore. So when friends brag that their 3 year old is potty trained can I brag my kid gave up TV for diapers (or is that more embarassing)?


P.S. In unrelated news I can't help but share this cute picture of my one year old twin nieces. They were fighting over the same blankie until they both fell asleep mid struggle. Pretty funny.

What the....

Anyone who knows me very well knows that I have always felt I would have all boys. It was my dream. Well, today we found out about this next little Palmer baby.
I think Keaton put it best when he asked me when we got home, "so Mom, my Brother is a Sister?" I guess we will start looking at the pink and princessy, I can adjust :)

Books?

I REALLY need a good read. My way of picking books at our local library lately is not working for me. I have just been picking up whatever looks good off the new items shelf in the front of the library. The last book I got was really weird and kept trying to teach me philosophical lessons. It wasn't until my older sis spent the night and looked at it that I realized it was a "Christian Love story". I really couldn't get back into it after that. The one I picked up the other day I had to stop reading after pg 5 when the male main character "placed his hands lovingly down Elizabeth's pants"......where are the ratings on these?!?! I guess the 15 seconds until Keaton runs out the front door to the park are not quite enough.
SO.... if I haven't sounded desperate enough.... PLEEEAAASE give me a good book recommendation. Nothing too deep, I have a 2 year old and one on the way, I don't have time for deep. I am looking for a 10 minute escape.
I read the Twilight series thanks to Dana and LOVED them. I am 148th in line for Edgar Sautell at the library (not as bad as it sounds they have 50 copies). Any ideas would be great. THANK YOU!!!
P.S. Yes it is 3 am..... I sure could use a good book now :)

One of my cool cousins (not that they aren't all cool :) is starting a business. In addition to her 4 children she had through pregnancy, she has adopted 2 more beautiful girls in the last few years. She felt she was led to adopt these girls but now it is time to pay the piper. She has started an etsy shop and is now doing a letter from Santa business. She has a great idea for it and for $8 you can get a letter (postmarked from Alaska, clearly the closest post office to the North Pole), personalized with a message to your child about not only his gift choices but also the true meaning of Christmas. If I understand it right you can get a letter for each of your kids for that same price. Not too shabby. Click here to get to her Blog for info. While you are there you might browse around her blog gives you great ideas for getting organized on a budget.

Ogden Dinosaur park

SO I think this first picture is Keaton reflecting my attitude. I really thought the dino park was really lame. It was in pretty bad disrepair on the outside and I didn't think it really looked that fun.

It is interesting though that kids don't really care if the place needs a fresh coat of paint, and some exhibits are in need of repair.

By the end we were both fans. This is the playground part (no it wasn't Keaton breaking rules). They do have some fun things in that playground area, they also have a GREAT dino dig area (if you have been to the one at the Museum of Nat history this is 10 times the size), and a great indoor museum area. I am glad I have a little guy that helps me look past the superficial and find the fun in things :)