Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. Didn't get to posting our Halloween pics, but Gracie was absolutely the cutest Dorothy you've ever seen. Of course, I may be a little biased. We had a lot of fun trick or treating. I especially loved how Gracie was wandering the streets singing Christmas carols and stopping only long enough to say Trick or Treat. I guess she takes after me a little. :) And I would be a terrible person if I didn't acknowledge that Monti and I celebrated our 10th anniversary in October as well!! Yay us! We haven't killed each other yet, that's a good thing. Actually, at the risk of sounding pretty cheesy, we're still really in love. I love being with him. He still makes me laugh and I am thankful everyday for what a wonderful father and husband he is. Ok, moving on before I make everyone sick...

Thanksgiving was...good. I'm afraid that I'm a bit of a stresser. We had planned to eat at my parents house at 1 and spend a little time, then head over to the Randall's for their dinner at 5. Well, as seems to be our lot in life, things did not go as planned. As 1:00 came and went and 2:00 came and went, this hungry pregnant woman started to get kinda...grumpy. I started to stress about eating too close to 5 and seeming rude if we didn't eat at the Randall's, and about whether or not we'd have time to take part in my favorite Stewart family Thanksgiving tradition, the Thankful Turkey. Finally, Monti took me by the shoulders and said, "Relax, everything will be fine. We're here with family and we have so much to be thankful for. Just get a snack and enjoy the time." So I took his advice and the day improved substantially. We had dinner and enjoyed ourselves fully.


Gracie LOVES turkey!! Begged and begged for more!! She actually loves food in general, I'm pretty sure she gets a healthy dose of that from both parents. :)

We shared Thanksgiving with 39 people at my mom and dad's house. My brother and sisters and their spouses who live here and all their families came. This is the "married adult" table. Mom and dad still hadn't sat down yet. But this is just a tiny bit of the beautiful chaos we had. Yes, the adults were far outnumbered by all the rug rats running around. That's the way we like it!!
After dinner we sat down to do the thankful turkey. We have a turkey made from a milk jug. Every year mom puts it out at the beginning of November and everybody in the family has the opportunity to add a slip of paper with things we're thankful for. Then on Thanksgiving day we all sit down and take turns taking them out and reading them. It's really an awesome experience. This year my sister Tracie and her husband announced via the Thankful Turkey that they're expecting another baby!! I am so excited for them! And me...we get to be big fat preggers together!!

After the Thankful Turkey, we hurried out and made it to the Randall's just in time for prayer. We only had dessert there and it worked out fine! It turns out, if I can turn down the stress level and just let things happen, they turn out pretty nice!! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by all the people we love!

Again, at the risk of sounding cheesy and sappy, I want to take a moment to say how blessed we are. Bear with the hormonal, emotional side of me. I am thankful for so much this year. I think in years past I've taken things more for granted than I should. This year has been a real eye opener for us. I am so thankful for my beautiful little family. For a beautiful daughter and a perfect son. I am grateful for a loving husband and wonderful father. I'm grateful that he is a worthy priesthood holder and can bless our family. I'm thankful for our larger families, the ones we came from, for how close we are to our brothers and sisters and how much love and support they are. I think we really learned this year just how much they love us and how much they'd do for us. I'm thankful for our parents. They are all 4 amazing people. I'm thankful for our good friends. They too have truly shown us how loved we are. And I'm thankful for the knowledge we have of a plan that will make our family complete again someday. I am thankful for so much that it would be virtually impossible to list it all here. Let's just suffice it to say that my heart is filled to the brim with gratitude.