Today I am Thankful for Mallory Hope

  

 Yesterday was my youngest granddaughter, Mallory Hope Bahlmann's 2nd birthday.  We drop shipped her gift from Amazon and paid the extra bit to have it gift wrapped.  In truth she was as excited about the wrapping as the gift.  Courtesy of her mother, the above picture is Mallory unwrapping the gift.

We sent her the Fisher Price Castle.  It came with Snow White and Cinderella.  Her brother gave her Ariel and Eric.  She is saying 'Cheese' to her mother in this picture but she loved the gift and played with it and the wrapping all day long.  

We have amazing grandchildren.  We are very blessed with strong and distinct personalities.  Our grandchildren are the joy of our lives.

Today I am thankful for a Warm Place to Live!

We are being hit with gale force winds today along with sleet and possibly snow.  I am so thankful for a warm place to live, especially since other areas that were hit with Hurricane Sandy are also being hit with this same storm.  Many do not have power still and no where to go and be warm.  It is heartbreaking.  Our full time missionaries have been sent to help with the cleanup.  They were telling us about the devastation.  One said it looked like houses had been dumped on the Sahara - there was so much sand.  Both of these young men are used to deserts.  One is from Utah and the other from Texas - they know what a desert looks like.  They said it is was not a sight they expected to see on the East Coast.  I could tell it really affected them.  So today I am thankful for shelter, food and a warm place to be.  I hate that I have to go out in this but I will be thankful for that too.

Today I am Thankful for the Opportunity to Vote

In this wonderful country of ours, we are able to cast our vote for people to run the country, state, county and city.  We have the right to vote on whether we will have clean water or schools worthy of our children's attendance.  We are, in fact, faced with all sorts of things to cast our ballot on.  But we have that amazing right.  The media sometimes makes it sound like only a few people count in certain areas but every vote counts.  The reason that those states work so well in elections is that so many people vote for the presidential elections.  We could throw those statistics on their ear if we all cast a ballot - no matter what state we lived in.  Whose to say that Wyoming or Nebraska couldn't be pivotal states if they wanted to be?  We don't  have to cater or believe the media.  We each need to vote according to our heart and be proud we have this God given right.  I have voted - have you?

I am Thankful for my Father

Early this morning, my husband informed me that my father was not doing well.  It reminded me that my father is mortal and that is hard for me to wrap my head around because he has always been kind of superhero in my eyes.  I am grateful to my father for the wonderful Dad he has been to me, my husband and to my siblings.  I am most grateful for the Popi he has been to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and even young people that are no relation.  He sets that bar high and people are will try to attain it because 'Popi' says it can be done.  I am grateful that he is my father.  

I am Thankful for Stake Conference

Last night was the first session or adult session of Stake Conference. It is always the best meeting of the two.  If I had to pick one of the two to attend - that would be the one.  I led the music, so I got to sit up on the stand.  I love looking at people's faces and reactions - plus it is fun to see who is there.  I was astonished how many people I knew from the temple there.

It was a wonderful meeting focused on temples and missionary work.  It was just what I needed to hear - but isn't that always the way?

I am Thankful for Change

I completely spaced that we were into November.  For the last several years I have done 'Thankful' blogs everyday of the month of November.  I will consider my  blog about Hurricane Sandy my first thankful blog - because we are so grateful we came off so easy from that terrible storm.

I am thankful for change.  It shakes things up and makes me look at life in a new way.  It makes me do things differently and/or it spurs me on to get things done.  Change has always been a good thing in my life.  There were times I have ranted and raved about it at first but somehow, Heavenly Father has always known just the changes that are right for me at the right time.  It was a lesson a long time in the learning.  Now I try to take it graciously and as a new adventure.

The Aftermath

 This blog will be picture heavy.  Once again it is more for me and my memory than anything else.  The white car just behind the tree on the left is ours.  If this tree had fallen the other way - we would be without right now.  This tree was large and I thought quite healthy.  As you see in the lower right hand corner it wiped out a bunch of other not so healthy trees too.

 Here is a view of the other trees it took out.

 

 That same tree from the sidewalk (in a very hard rain - I might add.)

 This was a tree directly across the street from the apartment where we used to live.  It pulled up a huge patch of earth with it.

 This is a willow that we used to see outside of our window our bedroom.  Because of all of the damage to it - it is no more.  I will take pictures of the clean-up.

Here the about the other third of the willow's branches (the willow is on the left behind the building.  It actually looks pretty good from this vantage point but when you got closer - it was ripped up pretty badly.  Those branches were flung all over the complex.  It apparently tore up some of the shingles of the building next door.  They were repairing that damage today.  We were really lucky.  We have friends that are still without power.  One of the family's even have a week old baby to contend with.  Not a good situation.