Firearms READY?

This year, we saved our pumpkin shooting for Thanksgiving when my family would be able to go with us!!! We had A BLAST!!!! 

Here is Tyler and I..... he is a good student :) He is right handed but he does a lot of things left handed, shooting a gun is one of those things!!! It makes me happy to see one of my kids shoot the way I do!!!

We could barely get this gun out of his hands!!! 

He had a pocket full of bullets and just kept reloading and shooting!!! 

Woowoo!!!

Cambelle and Maddison only wanted to shoot for a minute, 

but they had a blast playing with the cousins!!!

Maddison looks cute even shooting a gun!!!! I love this picture!!!

Then we went back to Blanche's to eat. The food was D-LISHUS!!!! :)

Starting Harper out early!!! Just kidding, if you know me, 

you know my kids don't get Coke till they're one, but she's practicing!!!!

Yes, she is part Albrecht and I'm proud of that!!! 

See it? Randy found a tiny snake at Blanche's house. Everyone took turns holding it and I was safe until Brittney said she would hold it if I would. She did and because I'm a sucker for a dare, I held that stupid snake. It TOTALLY freaked me out. What's even better than that? My DAD held the snake too!!! I'm pretty confident that he is more afraid of snakes than anyone else I know!!! SO PROUD!!!

It was a great day!!! We had Brandon and Lacey up from Kingman. Brittney and her boys, Amy and Dan and their boys came up from Vegas. My cousins, Jimmy, Janice and Theron. My mom and dad, Blanche's family and Launa's family. It was a perfect day!!!

We ended the day with Randy's brother, that is a highway patrolman coming up to Blanche's to show all the little boys his "woo woo car"!!! He turned the lights on for them, ran the sirens and even let the kids talk on the PA system, telling "papa to come out with his hands up"!!!!! Such a fun time for everyone!!!!

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with family and fun also!!!

GOT MILK?

First off, I want to say that I know I'm about 2 weeks behind on my "thankful" posts. Having acknowledged that, I LOVE that my personality makes it so I don't carry the guilt from not keeping up on those posts. Sometimes doing a blog post is just another thing on my check list and I don't do good with doing things just because I'm supposed to!!! haha!!! So, you may or may not see more "thankful" posts, but if you don't, you'll know why!!!

Now, on to the goods of the day...... When Tyler was a baby, we were in Salt Lake City, in the winter, during the 2002 Winter Olympics, 300+ miles from my family and friends and to say that I struggled would be an understatement. 

One day we were in the gift shop at the hospital and I saw that they had bottles that said "GOT MILK?". As funny as those were, I mentioned on the phone to my best friend, Anna that I needed a shirt that said that. I was pumping and pumping and pumping like a mad woman at that point. Not able to breastfeed my own baby, care for him, take him home... nothing!!!! I felt jipped. 

Fast forward a week or 2. I don't remember who brought this package up, but Anna had sent up a present for me. I opened it up and this is what was in it.........

Yep, Anna had a t-shirt made for me that says "GOT MILK?"! I can't even tell you how I felt right then. I was overcome with emotion. This was more than a shirt for me. It was a symbol of love. It was the hug that I had ached for from my best friend for WEEKS AND WEEKS. It was something that she did and it probably only took her a couple of hours, but this shirt and the meaning behind it had effected me from that day on.

Every time I have a baby I get excited to wear my GOT MILK? shirt!!! I wont wear it when I'm not nursing, it's just wrong!!!! So, here I am, nursing another baby and I get to wear this shirt again!!!! It makes me happy. Anna makes me happy.

There are some friends that just GET you. That's Anna for me. She knows all about me and loves me anyway! I wish everyone could feel the way I feel when I'm with her. To say we're best friends sounds so.... fourth grade!!!! We've been best friends since we were born and no matter what, she is there for me and my family.

I have a handful of friends that I love to THE CORE. Anna is one of them and it's stuff like this shirt that makes me realized how blessed I am to have such amazing people around me in my life!!!

Day 10.... what a pill!!!!

Day 10:

Today I am thankful for pills. That's right... pills. This is a picture of the pills that I take every night. It's the most medication I have ever taken in my life. But let me tell you how grateful I am for each of them. I just got back from the cardiologist for my 3 month appointment after my heart surgery and everything is PERFECT!!! I am so happy. I found out I have to be on my blood thinner for another 3 months and I was going to complain about the side effects from the medication (bleeding and excessive bruising), but then I realized how blessed I am to get to take a medication that will keep me from having blood clots and making me have strokes or die.

Let's list these meds and I will tell you why I am so grateful for them all.....

*little, pink pill- Plavix, my blood thinner. As much as I hate how I bleed and bruise right now, it's so much better than getting blood clots!!!

*yellow-Asprin. Not because I'm an old woman (even though I feel like one when I take it), it helps thin my blood also. Most cardiac patients have to take this. Like I said, though, it doesn't make me old. ;)

*big pink pill- Pre-natal vitamin. As a nursing mommy, I feel lucky that there are vitamins that I can take that will help give my baby the healthy start that she needs!!! 

*long white pill- my anti-depressant. I get post-partum depression pretty bad after I have babies. I am so blessed to have medication that helps me feel like ME and know that I wont kill random people that bug me ;) It also is a blessing for my family. No one wants "crazy Hopie" around!!!

*round white pill- Ambien (AKA the best drug in the whole world). I didn't sleep regularly for over 9 years. It's so nice knowing that I get to sleep at night and function like a normal person during the day!

*clear green pill- Vitamin D. My Vitamin D levels are REALLY low right now, so my doctor is trying to get that where it needs to be to prevent future problems.

Now, I know that's a LOT of pills, but how grateful I am that I live in a time that by taking those medications, I can better my life and feel how I am supposed to. What a blessing. Having said that, I think those pills are ENOUGH, don't you? :)

Day 9: my 35th birthday!!!

 

Day 9:

Today is my 35th birthday. I am grateful for my parents!!! As an adopted child, it changes the way I see the day of my birth. It's not as big of a deal as some other days in my life. It represents the bad and good in my life. I try to focus on the good. My parents have been with me right from the beginning. They have chosen to raise me, love me and do what's right for ME despite wanting to go on to a different phase of life at the time. I'm sure after having a 7 year old (my sister, Launa), the last thing they wanted to do was start all over, but they did and I am grateful.

These pictures are fresh from coming home from the hospital!!

Good times all around, even when in the paper, they called me the "son" of my parents!!! haha!!! To give them credit, I really didn't have hair!!!

Jetette Reviews in High School. Always a fun time to spotlight our parents and how much they did for us to be on the drill team!!!

Our wedding day!!! Lots of love and support from my parents on our big day!!!

A family trip to Disneyland in 2006, we dragged my parents with us!!! SO FUN!!!

They've always been such good sports!!!

I love these 2 so much. They really have GIVEN me life. Without them, I would not be who I am, what I am, have the confidence I have or possibly even be alive.

They are my angels sent from Heaven.

They have never made me feel like I didn't come from them. 

I have even always felt like they love me more than my sisters in a way.

So, on this, my 35th birthday, I am grateful for my parents. I hope one day I can be the kind of parent they are. Ever loving, ever supportive and always sacrificing for the well-being of their family.

I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!!

Days 7 & 8

Day 8:

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to breastfeed my babies. I love that special time. I don't do a lot of things good, but I can breastfeed like a PRO!!! It takes a lot of support from my family and friends, it takes guts (not everyone thinks it's a good thing) and above all, it takes love. It is the way that I show my babies that I love them when they are so tiny. I'm glad I live in a day that it is not just ok for me to breastfeed, but encouraged. I have strong opinions about a woman's right to breastfeed in public and anywhere she wants to. I have always wished that someone would tell me to stop, I think they can feel that that would be a bad idea ;) Over the years of me nursing my 4 children, there's a good chance that those closest to me have been flashed, but I am really good at keeping them under control in public!!! HAPPY FEEDING Y'ALL!!!

Day 7:

Today I am thankful for Family Home Evening. I know we don't follow how some people do FHE, but WE DO IT!!! That's what is important. I think as moms, we have enough on our plate. Doing foofy stuff as a family is just more stress to me than I need. We try to just be TOGETHER. Sometimes we go shopping, to dinner, play games or sometimes we just PJ up and watch a movie together. There's not formal lesson, treat or musical number, but our family is putting each other first on Monday nights. I'm grateful for my church leaders that see the value in doing things together as a family on a regular basis!!!

Day #5...zzzzzzzz......

 Today I am thankful for NAP TIME!!!! YEA!!! Me, Randy, any and all of the kids. Together or just some of us. It doesn't matter, it's all good!!! My mom used to say to me when I was younger, "you just wait till you're older, you will BEG someone to make you take a nap and go camping!". I am still waiting for the desire to go camping, but the nap.... I'm all over it!!!

Maddison on Tyler's bed.....

 Tyler on the Big Bag.....

 Cambelle on the couch with daddy's blanket.....

 Harper in my arms after getting her belly full......

 And then daddy and Harper....

With a baby in the house, these naps for Randy and I are few and far between, but when we can get away with a little snooze, we sure do!!!

HAPPY NAPPING!!!

Day #4-dorky!!!

That's right, today I am thankful for a dorky sense of humor. This is how Randy came home yesterday. He said, "go look at my little truck" AKA the rice rocket, AKA modified go cart. As I went out, I couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Apparently Randy found a 4 wheeler flag on the road and decided to bring it home, how better of a way than to put it up like this on his truck? hahahaha!!!! He said, "at least people will be able to see me"!!!! Ohhhhhh dear, I'm telling you, it's our stupid sense of humor that gets us through sooo much!!!! For us, we just have to keep it light and fun!!!

Day #3

Today I want to express my gratitude to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!!! That's right, mac and cheese. In all of it's deliciousness. I CAN NOT cook. Really, not at all, but with that beautiful blue box, I feel like a gourmet chef!!! Sometimes I will put cut up hot dogs in it and sometimes as a special treat for myself (because no one else likes it, as no one human should), I will burn and pepper the crap out of some hamburger to go with my mac and cheese!!! YUMMO!!!!! Anyhow, back to cooking your wonderful meals for your family, I will stick with my Kraft!!!

Day #2

It is super cold today (like 45... burrrr.....) so, today I am grateful for my favorite pink hoodie and my denim quilt that my best friend made for me a couple of Christmases ago!!! Not only is my quilt heavy and denim with pink backing, but it has a GREAT BIG H on the front!!! HOW COOL IS THAT? I love it so much!!! I have used it soooo much. Everyday, I use it!!! These 2 things are the only 2 things when it gets cold that I look forward to!!! I hope you are all having a good day!!!

Month of Gratitude!

It's November again and it's time to do the Month of Gratitude posts. I know I haven't been a good blogger lately, but my goal is to blog about something everyday of the month of November that I am grateful for. Now, you know me, it's not going to be a traditional list of things. I want to mix it up a little bit this year and think out of the box. So, STAY TUNED!!!!

Day #1

The first thing I want to blog about is Harper. It's her 8 month birthday today, so I think it's a great day to blog about her!!! She is such a blessing to us. She makes me so happy. She is absolutely a gift sent from Heaven!!! She is starting to crawl like an Army man! It's so cute!!! NOTHING is safe anymore!!! She also waves goodbye.... awwwwwwww!!!! We didn't plan on having her, but she has proven to me that some of life's sweetest blessings come when we least expect it!!!

HAPPY 8 MONTH BIRTHDAY, MY SWEET HARPER ANN!!!!