Thanksgiving, London, and the 3rd Greatest Night of the Year

To begin, let's talk about Thanksgiving 2009. Jesse and I switch off going to his family and mine for Thanksgiving every other year. This year was my family. We all got to my Mom's house at 2:00 PM and dinner started shortly after that.

This was my niece, Cameron's (aka Peach), first Thanksgiving. Even though she is only 7 months old she really enjoys feeding herself and trying new foods. Marissa, Peach's Mom, decided to let her go at it all by herself. So we stripped her down to her diaper and then she ate Jello, yams, a pickle, and some pumpkin pie. She had food up to her armpits and she couldn't have been happier about the whole experience :)

Meg & Peach before dinner

Me & Peach before dinner

Peach dives in...(and please look at Meg in the background! What is she talking about...man I am laughing so hard at this pictures...)Peach in pure bliss...
A bath after the madness...
Thanksgiving was an amazing day! And after dinner and some puzzle time Meg and I decided to go up to our Dad's house for some games and a sleepover. Sadly I forgot my camera, so I didn't take any pictures, but we had a blast! I always love sleeping at my Dad & Joyce's. It's so peaceful there, and even though Heber is only 45 minutes away, it always feels like a mini-vacation when I am there and I am always grateful for that.

Next, we come to baby London. One of Jesse's best friends from his childhood is Eric Wilson. Eric and Jesse got into lots of trouble growing up and still do. Eric and Linsey got married a year after us, and Linsey and I were forced upon each other. Luckily she and I clicked and she is one of my best friends now. I can tell her anything and she just listens. She also does my hair and I am grateful for her helping me be crazy when I want to be, and helping me go back to "normal" 6 weeks later. She never knows what I'll come up with next, but she helps me accomplish what I want to and always makes me look good, well, at least my hair :)

They had their first kid on November 16, 2009. Her name is London and she is absolutely perfect! I am excited to watch this little girl grow up and to help her learn that Eric and Jesse are fun, but they are certainly crazy as well, so it's usually best to sit back and watch them execute their crazy ideas, rather then get involved :)

Here she is (sorry it doesn't really show her face very well...you will be seeing more of this chick in the future though!):

And last but not least, we come to THE 3RD GREATEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR!

We have an annual party with my Mom, my step-dad Timmy, and my siblings and their spouses every year for Christmas. It's usually the first Tuesday or Wednesday of December. We go to the Roof at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for dinner and then we go on a carriage ride around the city. It is always a blast! Here are some pictures from that night:

Me & Peach...man, there are a lot of pictures of me holding baby girls in this post!

Here are the boys eating their delicious food (Jake, Colby, Quenten & Jesse)

Here we see my Mom, Meg and myself before we ate our first beloved "Chocolate Pots" as Meg calls them...they are pretty much a chocolate pudding but 100 times better...mmm...chocolate pots

My brother Jeff and his wife Amy at the Roof:

Tod (Ashley's boyfriend), Ashley and Cambria...

And finally a picture of the lights at Temple Square...Jesse took this one and I love it! Thanks Mom and Tim for another great Bean Family Christmas Party!

Merciful Blessings...

I am grateful tonight for merciful blessings. I just spoke with my sweet dad who was in a horrible car accident last night. A woman swerved into on-coming traffic and my dad t-boned her car. They were both going 55 mph. She then continued on and crashed with another vehicle behind my dad. The woman who caused the accidents passed away, and the man in the 2nd accident was taken to the hospital in serious condition. My dad only has some pretty deep cuts and bruises on his hands, but other than that he is ok.

So tonight, I am grateful that he was watched over. I am grateful that he was kept safe while all of this craziness was going on around him. I am grateful that he and I can become closer through all of this and that I can understand what he is going through in some respects.

Really this post isn't to be depressing. It is to say that I am grateful for family. I am grateful for this life. I am grateful for my amazing dad and for all that he has taught me and continues to teach me. I am grateful that we are such close friends now that I am an adult and we can relate to each other even more now that I am no longer a little girl. Don't get me wrong, he was amazing to me growing up, it's just nice to understand him more and respect him for all of the things he has gone through and all of the things he has told me so I don't suffer the same things he has.

He is so good to me and I am so glad he is my dad. And thank you to Heavenly Father for answering my prayers and keeping my family safe. What a sweet and precious gift that is. I love you dad!