Thankful Day Eight

I considered cheating and making each one of these kids a separate day, and I am SO thankful for them they really could be, but I won't.  Today I am thankful for each one of my grandkids.  

Aiden, I love you best because you were my first.  You came to us as a tender mercy from Heavenly Father.  You were meant to be a part of our family and your Mom and Dad had the courage to reach out, grab you and bring you in.  You are smart and funny and SO VERY COOL.  When I try to think what my life would be like without you, it hurts so much I stop breathing for a minute.  I love you!  And I am thankful every day for you.

Porter, I love you best because you were the first baby of MY first baby.  You are sweet and kind and have the BEST red hair.  You are smart and perceptive and I love how you run to me whenever you see me.  I also love that you KNOW you are going on a mission, and that you are going to Madagascar.  I love a young man who knows who he is and where he's going :)  I love you!  And I am thankful every day for you. 

Chaser, I love you best because you are my buddy.  Every Gramma needs a buddy, and not every grandkid wants his Gramma along everywhere he goes.  But you always want me to come along and you always quietly walk up and slip your hand into mine and walk along side of me.  I love your bright smile and how excited you are about things.  You are smart and handsome and a lot of fun to hang out with.  I love your good athletic ability, I love your giggle, and I love you!   And I am thankful every day for you.

Bridger, I love you best because you are my special little dimples guy.  I could fall into those dimples and live there :) And into your beautiful blue eyes.   You are a great looking hunk of a guy who is going to drive the girls crazy someday - hopefully a long ways off with the girls thing!!  You are creative and smart and full of personality.  I love how you and Porter are such good buddies.  Someday you will discover that there is no better friend than a brother!!  I love how excited you ALWAYS are to see me.  I love you!!  And I am thankful every day for you.

Brody, I love you best because you ALWAYS make me laugh.  And I LOVE to laugh.  Your Mom could always do that, too :)  You are SO handsome and polite and you try SO hard to be good.  Anything Chase can do you try to do, too.  You are SO brave, you dare to try ANYTHING!!  It is SO much fun to watch you bulldoze your way through life :)  You are incredibly handsome and sweet and I love you!!  And I am thankful every day for you.

Capri, I love you best because you were my first grand daughter.  Girls are just special, there's no getting around it.  I love your spunky attitude.  I've always wanted a spunky attitude, but I'm too shy for one.  I love that you are a little bundle of fire that isn't going to let ANYONE run over her.  Channel that spunk in the right direction and you can do ANYTHING you want in this world.  You are beautiful and fun and full of personality.  I love your chatter, how happy you are, and how much you love your brother :)  You are such a blessing to your Mom and Dad and to Aiden, and to me.  I love you, and I am thankful every day for you.  

 

Years ago I used to write poetry - well, my kind of poetry.  One day someone called my poems "Relief Society Poetry" and I haven't written a poem since.  Someday I am going to try and pull how I feel about my grandchildren out of my heart and put those feelings into a poem.  But for now I'll just say how lucky I feel to have these six beautiful people in my life.  Thank you Heavenly Father.  I am so blessed. 

Thankful Day Seven

 

Today, I am thankful for a Prophet - the watchman on the tower.  And I will be watching and following him more closely now than ever before.  And I watched him PRETTY closely before - just ask my kids :) I am also thankful that when I want a picture of President Monson, so I type "president" into google, President Monson comes up before President Obama.  Probably alphabetical, but today it was reassuring and as it should be.  Because of my beliefs, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. 

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Thankful Day Six

Yes, I am officially skipping Monday.  Not that I wasn't thankful on Monday, but I'm skipping it and going on to Tuesday's Thankful post.  Today I am thankful for the right to VOTE!  Even though I voted early, so my voting was done and I did NOT vote today, I am thankful that I, as a woman and a citizen of this great United States, can have my voice heard and my opinion count.  And now, a voting story . . .






Several many, many years ago, when we moved into our house, we needed to register to vote in our new voting district.  Dave and I were busy then with a business and four little active kids and voting just wasn't a top priority for us (gasp!!).  But Grandma Cozzens was the voting registrar and she got us over to her house to register to vote just days before the upcoming election.  But THEN . . . .come election day, we got busy and FORGOT TO VOTE.  Both of us!  A few days after the election we were at a friend's house and a new lady who had just moved into our ward stopped by, so my friend was introducing her to us, and when she came to me she said, "This is Carri Cozzens"  and the new lady said, "Oh!  You're the one who didn't vote."  I was a little confused.  "I was the ONLY one?!"  I asked.  Turns out, she volunteered to be a voting judge so she could get to know some people in our community, and she noticed that I had gone to the trouble to register just a few days earlier, but then had NOT voted.  It left an impression.  Not a good one I assume.  And I have NEVER forgotten to vote again.   
All the Fingers I have are crossed for the RIGHT man to win tonight!!  God Bless America.

Thankful Post Day Four

Yes, I'm already a day behind.  There are so many things I'm thankful for, it's hard to narrow them down to one.  But yesterday I taught the Gospel Doctrine lesson in Sunday school.  3 Nephi 27 was all about the Gospel and how the Atonement IS the gospel.  There were two verses in section 27, the imagery of which was overpowering to me.
 13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

 14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

I love the imagery that as Christ was lifted up by men so men should be lifted up by the Father.  He was lifted up in suffering so we could be lifted up without having to suffer.  

When we attended Dave's mission reunion this year, Elder Ballard made this remark.  "The power of heaven has the capacity to watch over the whole world individually."  I am so thankful to know that.  And I am so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.   

Thankful November - Day Three

O.K., there is no thankful day one or two, but I just thought of it.  I'm a little slow ☺  Today Dave and I were talking about people who struggle in life because they don't have much motivation to work hard, and Dave wondered whether he was one of those.  Really ?!  NOT EVEN CLOSE, MISTER!!  It is right now 10:00 on a Saturday night and he and Drew are out unplugging a sewer line. 

 

Today I am thankful for a good, hard working husband.  The last few years have not been easy, but that man of mine has been creative and we have made it through.  Last year when we didn't have work, Dave sold all the scrap metal that I had given him crap about for years for saving and junking up our shop yard with, and THAT was what got us through January and February.  Lately, when he was unsure whether there was going to be work after the mountain job was done, he hauled logs down from that mountain job, cut them into lumber and sold the lumber.  The Lord truly blesses us when we do all we can do.  

 

We started out here . . . . two kids with stars in their eyes.  That day Dave said, "Trust me"  and I have. 

This third day of the Thanksgiving season, thirty three years later, I am thankful for a good, hardworking husband who loves the Lord. And me : )

The Quirky Things I Love ♥♥♥

 With some random pictures that I love.  Don't try to figure out how they fit with the quirky things I love because they don't, but hey, they ARE pictures of non quirky things I love :) 

First of all, TIDE!!  I am a tide user.  I've tried different cheaper laundry detergents, but there's just something about tide.  This quirky post is actually the result of a sweepstakes entry on this lovely blog that I read daily http://www.somewhatsimple.com, but I do love TIDE!  And crest toothpaste.  And Zest soap.  AND living where I can see a sunset like the one pictured below any time I want to :)

I love that I wear jeans at work, but on my day off I wear a dress.  And heaven smiles.

 

 Last night as Dave and I were saying our night time prayers there was a freaky noise outside our bedroom window.  Remember, this was Halloween night!  And I (whose turn it was to pray) just continued saying the prayer without stopping or screaming, but as soon as we both said "Amen" we turned to each other and said, in unison, "What the heck was THAT!"  I love the reverence we have for spiritual things :)

 I love my church busyness. On any Sunday I may be visiting a ward as a councilor in the stake young women's presidency, teaching a lesson as secretary of our ward young women's presidency, leading the music in sacrament meeting or, once a month or so, teaching the gospel doctrine Sunday school class. I also love the sweatshirt I am wearing the picture below and wondering where it is right now, because I could really use it!
 

Unusual for a (ahemmm) mature, middle aged woman, I LOVE to learn to use new techy things.  Most recently, my silhouette, but I have been saving credit card points for three years for an Ipad :)   And, although I do it SLOWLY,  and it has taken years and years . . I SO love learning to use my camera in more and better ways.

 I love the weird guy in the picture with me below.  I don't think there are two people more different who manage to stay together and happy, but somehow the weirdness and differences work for us :)  Look at that smile :)

And finally, my quirkiest love of all, The West Wing.  I am STILL a West Wing lover. A die hard Republican West Wing fan, that's me.  And now, I am going to go eat a quirky salad for lunch.  What kind of salad you ask, " I don't know what kind of salad it is, I'm eating a salad, okay? I'm doing it, do I have to know the names? There's no difference between them, it's a bowl of weeds!"   Toby, The West Wing ♥♥  

Kenzie's Senior Pictures

Kenzie is the last senior of all the seniors in our Young Women's group whom I promised to take senior pictures of. 

She's so pretty : )

As it turns out, 8:00 on a Saturday morning was too late to start, so we were fighting with the sun all morning.  No cloud cover on this Saturday . . darn it!

So we did some back lighting on some.  Kimbrey helped me.  And I love how they turned out!!

We were on our way to the Rotary Park to take some pictures when we passed this old barn.  So we jumped out of the car and took a few pictures.  THANK GOODNESS!  Look how cute this is!

Here we are showcasing Kenzie's gold heels and her skinny jeans.  How lucky am I to get to take pictures of this beautiful girl?!  Pretty awesomely lucky : )