The Divine Gift of Gratitude

This thanksgiving weekend I was again reminded of all I have to be thankful for. Honestly its the simple things that fill my heart with comfort, peace, love and gratitude.... my kids, being a stay at home mom, my home, great friends, Ryan has a job, my talents, Ryan, and my family, the gospel, the Atonement, and the fact that I know God is acutely aware of me. My wonderful friend and visiting teacher, Natalie Collins, delivered a message to me this week that was inspired in the way that she shared her testimony of it. The message came from President Monson's conference talk, The Divine Gift of Gratitude. In it he talks about about the 10 Lepers being healed by the Lord and only one returned to thank him. He was so "disappointed" that the others didn't come to give thanks. Natalie reminded me that, " These can be trying times thinking of the economy, scrapping funds together for Christmas, or unexpected situations. We might feel trapped, overwhelmed, or like things will "never" get better. We really have SO much to be thankful for and would "disappoint" the Lord if we didn't recognize and celebrate the blessings we do have. We need to live with gratitude in our hearts." President Monson said, "Do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognise our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of the heaven and helps us feel God's love.... My beloved friend, President Gordon Hinckley said, "When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives."
Lets be honest... the past 2 weeks have been more trying on a level that I never wanted to know existed. But Heavenly Father knew that I was going to be going through a difficult time and put people in place to be there and pick me up. He put friends and family in place and gave them promptings to check on me when really they had NO idea what was going... all they knew was that Camille needed help, love and friends. My testimony of KNOWING that God KNOWS me, KNOWS my trials, KNOWS my life's goings on increased immensely. He picked me up, He softened my heart, He taught me, He showed me the way to get through this next trial. And for that I am more grateful than I know how to express. I thank all those FRIENDS who listened to the spirit and showed me a kind hand and a loving heart.
The Thanksgiving festivities were fun this year... it was my family's "off" year so my mom had dinner the Sunday before... and was one of the most fun dinners we have had I think. Mackay and Karen announced they were pregnant! Which means that we will now have 3 new babies next year so far... Dal and Lisa are due in January, Bro and Tiff and Mac and Karen are due in May. We just laughed a lot at how stupid we were when we were little... all the family jokes and stories came out in full force. We discovered new talents of my parents... They can make some crazy faces!!! My dad is the Grinch in re-incarnate and my mom is just crazy! (I need to get those pics up). It was lots of fun to hang out with my family and eat good food!!!! I think my favorite dish this year was one of mine... my sweet potato casserole!!! YUMMY!!
On Thanksgiving we went to Ryan's parents which was also a very YUMMY dinner!!! Jeni and Johnny announced they are pregnant and due in JULY!!! Hooray... so happy for them! And we also just sat around and hung out with he family, looked at ads and played sheraids. It was a great day and by the end of it I was totally stuffed with good food!
BLACK FRIDAY!!!! Yes I am one of the craziness who participate in Black Friday! This year it started early for me when I went Thanksgiving night to Toys R Us with Tiff and her sisters. I have always hated that store and was surprised that I actually decided to go in the mad house for the 10pm opening. And let me tell you... NEVER again! I lost Tiff and her family in the middle of it all, couldn't find everything I went for and waited 1 hr 30 min to check out. And during that check out time got into 2 fights with ladies who think cutting in line and then lying about it is OK... ahhh no way! But I made it through and wasn't scarred to badly because my mom and I were at Target at 3:30am for their opening! Which meant only about 1 and 1/2 hrs aof sleep for me. It was my moms first Black Friday experience.... I think Target scared her a bit but we got in and out quickly and moved on to the next. We went until 1pm that day hitting a bunch of stores and getting GREAT deals. It was a lot of fun. I loved going with my mom and just playing! I love BLACK FRIDAY... the craziness is great, the people are hilarious, the deals are fabulous! That night I crashed by 9pm... could not keep my eyes open any longer even with the Jazz game on and they were beating the Lakers and I still could not stay awake!!! Now that is tired!
Saturday might seem kinda simple but it was rivalry week for college football and Ryan and I layed on the couch all day and watched the Ohio vs Michigan game and then the BYU vs Utah game... we even took a nap together on the couch! It was HEAVEN!!! My kids played great together all day. And later that night I put up my tree!!!! What a GREAT day!
LOVE Thanksgiving weekend! It always grounds me and centers me and helps me focus on what is important! Happy Thanksgiving!

The Great and Terrible

Ever read a book series that changes you?.... I just finished one of those for me and believe me it is quite the accomplishment for me! I am not a big reader. Occasionally I will pick up a book series that people tell me that I "just have to read" like, The Twilight series, or the Hungar Games series, and that about sums it up for the past couple of years. And I have enjoyed all of them but this one was different, even life changing. My mom started reading them this summer and gave them to me in August. It's called the Great and Terrible Series by Chris Stewart. Its a 6 book series from an LDS author that starts with the war in heaven and takes you down through the beginning of the "last days". You follow a family and their friends through their life's challenges. My husband was surprised I was so in love with it because there is politics and war, military, the influence of Satan and sadness throughout the book, which usually is not my forte. But the part that got me was the hope and power that the light of Christ has to overcome all obstacles. And all the miracles that take place because of the power of the priesthood and prayer. These books, funny enough, strengthened my testimony about so many things... what we were foreordained to do in these last days, really how "choice" the spirits are who are coming to this earth, gratitude for those who serve our country with truth and honesty both in the political side of things and in the military, my love for this country has grown, my desire for emergency preparedness has tripled, that there is a plan, and how Satan works... how subtle and evil and deliberate He and his angels are. I can't stop thinking about it and all the details of the incredible story. I heard a rumor that there are going to be 2 more books coming out sometime... I really hope so! So yes I am proud of myself or actually finishing a series that was so long and involved and that pulls at your heart. LOVED IT!!! I highly recommend it to all.

Direction

Where do you look for direction... I know all the standard answers; prayer, scriptures, temple, church, priesthood blessings, parents, friends, books etc... and yes, I look there too. But a couple of friends told me about a very gifted, talented and incredible lady, Kim Watts. She is a foot zoner (I thinks that's the official title). Now normally I would ask/say... this is crazy, is she for real, can this really be? And the answer to all those questions is, YES! But really its just one of those things you cant knock until you try. Anyways... yes I need direction, a wake up, answers, help, and a push and she was the answer for me. It was one of the most spiritual things I have experienced in a while. And one that I look forward to having again with her. An amazing gift to be able to speak spirit to spirit and to be able to sense the bodies need through the foot. Some of what I experienced is a bit to personal to share here but I thought I would just put out there that I was grateful for those who are out there who share their talents and gifts with others, for friends who share their experiences with me and who encourage me and for the Lord knowing me and wanting to help me no matter what.

Halloween Festivities

With Halloween being on Sunday this year we got to celebrate twice this year... sorta:) Mother nature wasn't too helpful this year with the rain and cold starting in the late afternoon and continuing on for the trick or treaters. Our annual neighborhood, "eat before you treat" was moved into the Lomu's garage but still seemed to have a great turn out with lots of yummy soups to eat! Mason (My ninja) and Ella (One of my beautiful witches) could not wait for trick or treating and seemed to blow through the neighborhood this year... they were back sooner than I expected but they said they were cold. Still... lots-o-candy! Claire (my other darling witch) was good staying at home with me and trick-or-treating out of our pass out candy bowl. My favorite part of the night was getting Ella ready... she sat there forever while I put her fake nails on, glitter eyeshadow, fake lashes, curled her her all wavy, and put lip gloss on! We were both in heaven getting her all dolled up! Although it didn't last long... during trick-or-treating she didn't wear her hat because it kept blowing off thus her hair went flat, her nails were "bugging" her so she picked those off too and her make-up smeared off because of the rain. So it was short lived but so fun while it lasted!






Of course we had a few visitors that night from family... my Mom, Ryan's Mom, Ally and Tavin, and Mitch and Elizabeth. And as usual most of my holiday traditions seem to center around food for some reason (I love making special treats for the festivities) So we had my chicken noodle soup at the party and my Caramel Apples and Carmel Cider for when they came home YUM!!!

Here is Mason and Braden and Mason and Jane (his best buddies)




And then on Sunday I had my family over for dinner... and although it wasn't "Halloween" themed it was YUMMY... Ribs with homemade BBQ sauce, baked beans, funeral potatoes, salad, rolls, chips and dip and caramel apples and pumpkin bars for dessert!! I ate so much. Good comfort food!! Love that menu!
My Dad and Dallas and Lisa are the funny ones in family... here is a pictures of my dad, as Richard Simmons, and Dallas, as a 70's disco skater at their work party. They both won prizes of course... I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this picture. Then Dallas was kind enough to give us the real show at Sunday dinner! Thanks Dal!!! Happy Halloween to you all!