Thanksgiving!

Have I ever said how much I LOVE Thanksgiving? It is absolutely my favorite holiday. I was looking through this last month's pictures and just had to add this post.

My Top 10 reasons I love Thanksgiving:
10. Feeling Blessed. Thanksgiving gives me the chance to feel grateful for all the blessings that we have. Nothing feels better than a thankful heart.
9. Collard Greens and Candied Yams - two foods that Eddie makes and that I wasn't sure about at first but now Thanksgiving just isn't the same without them.
8. Pumpkin Pie. Need I say more?
7. Turkey-induced Naps. Can you ever get as good of a nap than on Thanksgiving?
6. Making Grandma's Rolls. My Grandma Black made the best rolls in the world, and I am so glad that she taught me how to make them. Although I still haven't perfected this, it is one of the few things that I bake at least once a year. The kids and I love rolling and cutting them out together.
5. No guilt. I think that one of my favorite things about this holiday is that it's not about stuff. There are no presents, no crazy schedules. Just thankfulness.
4. Playing games. And watching everyone else play games.
3. Spending time with my brothers and their families. It still amazes me that my funny brothers have all grown up to be such good men. They are all doing good things with their lives, and I love to spend time with them. And my sisters-in-law are some of my dearest friends.... I wasn't sure at first about all these girls coming into the family, but they all amazing women who are teaching me so much. And if I could top that off, it is that I have the CUTEST nieces and nephews in the world. (I love being auntie Heather)
2. Celebrating my Parents. All I can say about my parents is that they should be sainted. There are not any better people on the planet, and I feel blessed to be their daughter.
1. Hanging out with my family. I have the absolute best family in the world. I feel so blessed to be in love with my best friend, and the cool part is that HE loves me TOO! I have wonderful kids who constantly amaze me with what good hearts they have.

So that is why I think Thanksgiving ROCKS! I hope that all of you enjoyed the holiday as well, and that you have a very Merry Christmas Season!

Birthday (Pan)Cakes!

Sariah turned 9 the day after Halloween, and since Halloween was on a Friday, we decided to have a slumber party for her that night. The girls went trick-or-treating with us then came back to our house to watch not-scary movies. We put mattresses on the living room floor and all the girls settled in to watch a movie, it really was fun. In the morning we had birthday pancakes and then spent a while in the hot tub.

Overall It was a really fun party. I just don't understand why we call them "Slumber" parties. I think they really should call them "Stay awake all night" parties.

Sariah Blowing out her Candles...

Sariah with her best friends Farrah and Lexi!

Halloween!

Ok, I know that it is almost Christmas, but I still haven't posted Halloween pictures. Sariah was the only one of the kids that really dressed up, and she was a "Spy" The costume was actually a 1920's Gangster, but she turned out pretty cute. I am having trouble getting the pictures from my camera to upload, so here is the best one off my phone.



The rest of the kids (E.J. , Troy, and Shelby) Dressed up just enough to go to our "Trunk or Treat" and get as much candy as barely-dressed-up-teenagers could talk people into giving them.

Eddie and I were Barack Obama and Sarah Palin.

My mom had entered me in a Sarah Palin look alike contest with this picture:

Anyway, I picked up an Obama mask for Eddie for Halloween and we got a ton of funny comments. I'll tell you what, we learned more than we ever wanted to know about all of our neighbors' political views, but it was fun.

Here's the only picture we got of the two of us, but I don't think it turned out very well. We both look a little crazed, but then maybe that was part of the charactor, huh?

Anyway, that was the first part of our Halloween. The rest of our night was way more scary, because the teenagers all had a boy/girl party to get to, PLUS we had planned a slumber party on Halloween night for Sariah's birthday the next day. Screaming and freaked out 8 and 9 year-olds AAAAACCCCKKKKK!!! But that story will have to wait until the next post...

Boot Camp Graduation

Eddie and I had the coolest experience last weekend. Eddie's sister Charlene invited us to go to San Diego to be at our nephew Marco's Boot Camp Graduation. It was absolutely amazing. Over 500 young men were graduating, and it was awe-inspiring to see them march out onto the field behind the American flag with the National Anthem being played by the Marine Corps Band. As the last echos of the music bounced through the air I felt incredible joy and gratitude at the blessing of living in "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave".

It was really nice, with all of the negative messages being broadcast between the presidential candidates, the war in Iraq, and the mess that the economy is in, just to be reminded that we are so blessed to live in the United States of America. We live in a country with freedoms and blessings and prosperity that billions of people throughout the world can only dream of. How amazing is that?Marco is right in the middle. He lost about 20 pounds while he was there and had to buy new pants because the ones he arrived in were WAY too big.

Here is Marco and his mom Charlene, you can't see her "Marine Mom" tee-shirt. She was so proud of her Marine.

Whew...What a Summer!

What a Summer!

I can't believe that it has taken so long for me to post again! This summer was crazy, but soooo much fun! We did a lot of traveling, camping, laughing, crying, cuddling, playing, and working. Anyway, I know that I should have been posting these as we went along, it is so much to cover all in one post, but here are some highlights:

Meet our new son, Troy!
Now we are 6!

Troy is our son E.J.'s friend who has grown up across the street from us. After his father passed away last year he asked if he could come and live with us. It didn't work out at that time, and he spent the last school year living with his Grandparents, but in June he came over to our house the last day of school and stayed! We bought a new bunk bed and dressers for E.J.'s room, and he moved on in. It has been fun to have him here, we have had to work out some kinks (Poor kid had to get used to new rules :)) and legalities with the guardianship, but we have now been named his Custodial Guardians and it looks like he is here to stay! We are so happy to add him to our family! What a huge blessing it is to have him here! (We have also added, or I guess become part of, the Gillen family, with Troys aunts and uncles and his beautiful Grandma Iris. They have been an amazing part of all of this as well!)

Then there were 8...

I joked with friends during the summer that I started the summer with 3 children, in the middle had 6, and ended up with 4. Eddie's nephew Donielle (Charlene's son who is 15) came from Kansas to spend the summer with us, spending about 6 weeks, and his niece Taneisha (22) moved out here from North Carolina to go to college, but sadly had to go back home. We did get to take Donielle on some adventures with us (he thinks we are crazy for camping) and it was a fun summer with a full house. There were days, though, where it was all I could do to not run screaming from the house. And then there were days when I sent them screaming from the house while I ran rampant with a bottle of febreeze. (3 teenage boys in a bedroom... you don't even want to imagine) I have to admit that several times during the summer I felt like the little old lady who lived in a shoe, who had so many children she didn't know what to do.

2008 Summer Travels...

Orlando
We spent a week in Orlando, Florida with Eddie's brother Red and his wife Sophia, and thier girls (we celebrated Whitney's 16th birthday!) Eddie's sister Charlene also came with her older son, Marco (just before he went into the Marines... keep him in your prayers!) We had a great time cooking, swimming at the water park, swimming at the hotel, going to Disney World and Universal Studios, and just hanging out. It was really nice to spend some time with the Gist side of the family. One of the highlights of the trip was getting to have an evening visit with Troy Wright, one of our very closest friends from New York. Another highlight was eating Charlenes' fried chicken. She can seriously cook.

Black family Reunion

For those of you who don't know, my mother's maiden name is Black, so this was a family reunion celebrating what would have been my grandpa Black's 100th birthday. Having a "black" side of the family and a Black side of the family has always been a source of humor for our kids, and I have to admit...it was kind-of funny to see Eddie running around in his "Black" reunion tee-shirt. It was a really nice reunion. We camped for 4 days at the "Monticello Dude Ranch", and spent most of the time relaxing and enjoying family. My mom and 4 of her brothers were there, with tons of their kids and grand kids. We had a float in the Blanding 4th of July parade, which the older kids thought was pretty dorky (or at least they couldn't act like they were enjoying it) and the little kids had tons of fun.

Scout Camp
The week after we got back from the Black family reunion it was time for Scout Camp! Eddie went up with E.J. and Donielle because there weren't enough adult leaders. Troy spent the week at Lake Powell with his Dad's side of the family, so he missed camp, but it was good for him to be where he was. When they got back from camp I asked the boys if they had fun and Donielle goes "NO!" and stomps off into the bedroom. Minutes later they were in there laughing about the skits and singing scout camp songs (something else you don't want to imagine) so I am pretty sure it wasn't the worst time he ever had. E.J. finished up most of his Merit Badges and is now only 3 away from his Eagle Scout.

Yellowstone
See, I told you it was a crazy summer! We spent the 24th of July weekend in Rexburg, Idaho, were my oldest brother Jackson, his wife Libby and their three boys Isaac, Ben, and Jared, live, and spent a day and a half in Yellowstone. My parents, and the rest of my brothers and their families went as well. We only camped one night up near Yellowstone, and spent the other nights at Jackson and Libby's. They have a beautiful home there in Rexburg and we all just kind-of piled in. One of Libby's neighbors asked where she was keeping all of us, and I think her reply was "everywhere". Yellowstone and the surrounding area was gorgeous, and we got to see elk, a bald eagle, and buffalo. One buffalo walked right past us down the road like it had been built just for his personal use. Traffic was backed up behind him for at least a mile. The best part, though, was spending the time with the family. I feel so blessed that my brothers married the most amazing women! I love them dearly, and each of them has amazing gifts and talents that I treasure. They are truly some of my best friends. Plus they keep making the cutest nieces and nephews for me to cuddle and love (keep 'em coming, girls!)

Young Women's Camp! (again)
I know I said in my last post that I had been released as the camp director, but I was asked to go up with our ward Young Women, including Shelby, of course. It was SO MUCH FUN to be at camp and not have to be in charge. The stake theme was "Quest for the Best" and our ward theme was "The Kingdom of the Armed and Dangerous". I am so glad that I was able to be with Shelby for her first camp. We had a great week learning to look for the best in ourselves, in others, and in the world. We had this great moose that lived not far behind Shelby's tent, though, that kept freaking all the first year girls out. And Shelby LOVED her first snipe hunt. (I hurt myself a little when I dove into a bush after a snipe, but hopefully it just made it a little more authentic)

A week after girls camp Shelby and Sariah were back in school, and E.J. and Troy started the week after that, so that was the Gist Family summer in a nutshell! Crazy, huh? Can I just admit one thing? It is sooooooooooo nice to have the kids back in school....

Girls Camp

Well, It finally happened, I finally got released as the stake camp director. I loved the calling, but it was definitely a hard one too. I love the whole camp experience, and it has been fun to watch the girls in the stake grow over the last 5 years. They are so amazing. Young Women have so much to deal with now, everything seems so much more complicated. I loved planning activities that were empowering, and that helped them gain self-confidence. I loved planning activities that helped them learn how to recognize the spirit, and I really loved to plan activities that helped them build their testimonies of their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I guess I loved it because all of those activities did all of those things for me, too.

So anyway, I had about 4 days to think about how weird it would be to not go to camp, but then I was called as the Beehive adviser, so I am now really excited to get to go to camp (and have all of those amazing experiences) without having to be in charge. (woo-hoo!!!)

I wasn't sure about accepting the calling as the beehive adviser, mostly because Shelby is a beehive, and I really don't want to be the overbearing mom who can't let her kids have their own lives, but so far it seems to be going ok. We worked out a few code-words so that she can let me know if I am being "totally embarrassing". My friend Jenny is the Young Women's president, and she keeps teasing me that the only reason I was called was because I have a Suburban and I can drive everyone to all of the activities. It is kind of fun to drive through the neighborhood and pick up all the girls, so if that's my whole job, I can handle that.

Last Tuesday for our activity we learned how to make our own lip-gloss, flavored and everything... it can't be better than that, right?

General Conference

Our whole family was able to go to the Saturday morning of General Conference on Saturday April 5th. Kids can't go until they are 8, so this is the first time that we have taken the whole family.

The lines were really long that morning to get in, and there were a ton of people trying to get tickets, I felt really blessed that we got to go.

It was such an great experience to be there to sustain President Monson. The spirit was so strong that I felt like crying and yelling hallelujah all at the same time. I hope the kids will always remember the experience, I know I always will.