~ I am thankful for my blessings ~

Over the last year we have gained a greater appreciation for our blessings.

We are thankful for our FAMILY . . . for a Dad who works to support us and never lets us loose our way . . . for a Mom who is always there when we need her . . . for our beautiful children who are good, thoughtful and kind to others, who make each day so much more joyous to us all . . . for brothers and sisters and the closeness that they share . . . for parents and in-laws and family around us and far away that love us for who we are . . . for ancestors that endured much and taught us by their examples . . .

We are thankful for THE GOSPEL . . . I honestly don’t know where I would be without it. It is hard to contemplate how some people can go through hard times without the knowledge of it. We are thankful for the Plan of Salvation, to know that we can be together forever, that death cannot separate us cause we are an eternal family . . .we are grateful for the blessings of the temple . . . We are thankful that we are able to have the Priesthood in our home.

We are thankful for THE WORLD WE LIVE IN . . . for every season and the beauty it brings . . . for sunny days and greenery all around . . .for spring showers and beautiful flowers. . . and fall colors . . . for glistening snow and glittering trees . . . and for all the many creatures of our time and their purpose on this earth . . .

We are thankful for our HOUSE . . . it may not be our dream home but it is a haven for our family . . . a place to rest . . . a place to learn . . . a place to draw closer together as a family . . . a place of shelter from the elements . . . a place to share precious memories that will live on in the hearts and minds of our children long after they leave to raise families of their own. Where we love is Home, Home that our feet may leave but never our hearts.

We are thankful for SMALL LUXURIES . . . for a warm shower, a pillow to lay our head on, a soft bed to crawl into, Heat in the winter, cold water from the tap, Shelter over our head, transportation that is more than just our own two feet or at most a buggy and horse like our ancestors, Light at the flick of a switch . . . among other things. We are fortunate to live in these latter days.

We are thankful for our FREEDOM . . . We are so blessed to live in a free country that we live in and the people who fight to protect that freedom . . . We are thankful that we have the right to choose our way of life and that we have the ability to pursue our dreams.

We are grateful for KNOWLEDGE . . . for the opportunity that we have to gain a testimony and knowledge in this life . . . for the books that have been written for our benefit and use.

We are grateful for our DIFFICULT TIMES . . . because without them we would not be who we are today
. . . each of us has a journey and trials will come and make us stronger and we are thankful to be able to learn from them and grow individually and as a family.

We are thankful for OUR TALENTS . . . Each of us have many different talents that we have been blessed with and because of this we can help others and that is a blessing in of it’s own.

We are grateful for NEW OPPOURTUNITIES . . . because of them we can learn what we are capable of and new challenges build and strengthen us . . .

We are grateful for FRIENDS . . . for them being there to share triumphs and failures with . . . to laugh and cry with . . . for the relationships that we have built and the knowledge that we have as friends
. . . that they really know us and we really know them and they love us and we love them in-spite that we all are not perfect is priceless.

We are thankful for WORK . . . for the opportunity that Dad has to work in a field that he loves . . . that he is contributing and helping children which was his ultimate goal in choosing a job in the first place - to help people
. . . for the experiences that we have to help others and teach our children to work for themselves, not only to follow Dad’s example, but the Saviors example also.

We are grateful for OUR SAVIOR . . . that he loved us so much that he was willing to give his life for us so that we can live with Him and Heavenly Father again . . . for his great example to us that we can learn to become like Him . . . for His love and His guidance in all we do.

Hope this finds everyone Happy and Healthy and that you all Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

Brooklyn Blessing Day

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Brooklyn was born August 29, 2009

Here is her announcement that my best friend Alicia did ~ isn't it awesome!!! Thanks leesh!!!!!


Some more pics of our Precious Baby Girl when she was oh so tiny ~ 7# 3oz !!!! ~


our newest Buchanan !!!!

It is rough being a princess!!!!!!!

Kitchen Remodel ~

Here is our New Kitchen!!!!!!!

Much better than before -- Our Awesome Tile was just done in these pics ~ Love it!!!! In these pics we still have to put the cover plates on everything but other than that it is finished. I can now put a cereal box and other tall objects under the cabinets!!!!! LOVE IT!!!



We decided to go with a flat top and double ovens . . . Love it!!!!!


A dishwasher that is sleek and has all the buttons hidden at the top and that doesn't have to be hooked up to the sink and make the sink unusable, LOVE IT !!!!!

The opposite side of the kitchen with my Tall pantry, Garbage hole, Garden window
and Double ovens.

I love My Garbage Hole ~ yup the hole in the counter is for garbage and the trash fits right in the cabinet. It is SWEET!!!!! Plus it is handy when you are chopping up stuff !!!!! And my Tall Pantry in the kitchen that is ever so handy!!!

My Double ovens !!!!! Love and in each corner of the kitchen are corner cabinets with Lazy Susans!!! this one holds all of my small appliances.

Lot of work in part of my Husband and It is finally finished Thanks honey!!!!! Did I mention that I LOVE IT????? ha ha ha.

Wow does TIME FLY!!!!!!!

8 months has went and gone lot has happened and I am going to be better at this whole blogging thing!!!!!!!!!!
Man things that have happened in the last 8 months ~

1. Finished our Kitchen Remodel ~ Pics soon

2. Our Precious Baby Girl ~ Brooklyn Angelis was Born August 29, 2009 ~ Pics Soon!!!

3. Brooklyn was Blessed by her dad ~

4. We had another addition to our family in the last 8 months ~ our Exchange Student Gaby from Linares, Mexico

5. We had a litter of 5 puppies ~ 1 week after Brooklyn was born. All sold and glad that is over for now. We will do it again as long as it is summer when they are born!!!!!!

6. Connor tested positive for the Swine Flu ~ Luckily no one esle got it!!!! Scary with a newborn infant!!!!!!!!!!

7. Parker was Baptized and is now in the Senior Primary ~ wow does time go fast!

8. Grant is now a Sunbeam and in Junior Primary (He turned 3) !!!!!!

9. Kenzie turned 5 and is so ready for Kindergarten! She is still the princess and has us all wrapped around her finger!!!

10. Trevor and I (well mainly Trevor cause I just had Brooklyn ~ I oversaw and helped a little and so did Gaby) We canned 66 pounds of peaches. We also canned 20 pints of strawberry jam, 12 pints of raspberry jam, we canned 55 pints of plum jam also. Way too much pitting!!!!! That dyes your hands purple for awhile. Our house was about 20 degrees hotter than outside. FOOD STORAGE BABY!!!!!!!!!

10. We butchered our 1st cow ~ we now have a freezer full of meat!!!!!

11. We went on a Vacation with out the kids to Alaska for a week that was so fun!!!! Thanks mom for watching them we had so much fun!!!!!!!!

12. Trevor and I celebrated our 10 year Anniversary ~ what a great 10 years it has been!!!!!!

13. NEW YEARS RESOULTIONS ~ I will be posting more later on this subject!!!!!!

A lot has happened in 8 months these are just the main points of life the last 8 months !!!! I will try harder not to wait so long to post!!!

Quiet doesn't always mean they are being good . . .

I just have to post this I think it is so funny!
Yesterday Trevor got the heartbeat monitor out to hear the babies heartbeat and it was fun for us all. The kids were all mimic-ing the noise the baby's heart made. (koo - koo- koo- koo :) ) IT was cute. Anyway, this morning I was in the kitchen finishing up the dishes and I hadn't seen Grant for awhile. I don't know about any of you, but when I don't hear or see my kids for a period of time I know I need to go check on them cause quiet doesn't always mean they are being good. So, I went into my room and guess what I saw ?? -- Grant was completely naked -- He took off all of his clothes and his diaper -- Not only that he had gel everywhere and the heartbeat monitor on him trying to hear the baby's heartbeat! I couldn't get mad at him -- It was so funny!

Baby Buchanan's Reveal

We just had our ultrasound and are excited to ANNOUNCE -
that they say the baby is a GIRL!
So it is cool that the gender identity test was right that we took awhile back --
All 6 of us were in the small room and surprisingly it wasn't that bad. We were just worried the kids would be restless or act up the way kids sometimes do and we didn't want that to ruin the experience. They loved it though and were really attentive and good the whole hour. Thank goodness. The ultrasound tech asked us all what we thought it was and all the kids wanted a baby sister so they said 'girl' and she said 'looks like you all are right!' The kids loved watching the baby and they kept saying "I can see it, I can see it" We all are really excited to have a precious little baby again. It seems like it has been a long time since we have had an infant. This will be our farthest gap between our children, which is 3 years. Which isn't that long to some, but to us it is our longest gap so we are really excited. We didn't care if it was a girl or a boy, but it will be nice to even things up a little since we have 3 boys and 1 girl now. I was hoping to put up a pic of the ultrasound but I am not sure how to scan it in -- I will see if trevor knows and try to post it later if we can.