The title of this post is one of my favorite hymns. It's short, sweet and speaks of how I feel on a regular basis. Utah is full of beauty everywhere I look -- the mountains in any given season, the valleys, and the sunsets. We truly live in a beautiful state. While driving home from my parents' house to ours after Thanksgiving, my husband and I encountered the below scenes. Excuse the poor quality pictures, we were driving in crazy holiday traffic so they are all through the car windows. Also note, there is no filter.

God is a master artist.

Guys, my Thanksgiving holiday was truly THE best. Here's why:

The entire setup and most of the group. (Crazy Panorama)

My siblings and I arranged to cook the entire meal by ourselves. We ended up roping my stepdad in to cook the turkey, but other than that, we set everything up, prepared the food and organized the whole day. All my mom had to do was show up and eat. It worked out to be a HUGE success. My mom just hung out while her children prepared food in her kitchen and got everything together. When it was finally ready, I asked her what she thought of the day. And she said, "I should've had you guys making all the food for the past several years. This is really great."

I'm so glad we were able to make her Thanksgiving. She is unable to cook anymore and half of the time she can't even eat anything, so it made me really happy that every single one of my siblings was on board to execute my plan. When I first thought of the idea, I texted my oldest brother and his response was, "OF COURSE, I will make the turkey!!!!"

We had to change those plans because he has 5 kids, and couldn't get there with enough time to cook it, but I loved his enthusiasm. Everyone was the same way. After dinner we all just hung out, watched old home movies, and talked with my mom.

My mom and her newest granddaughter.

My sister, sisters-in-law, mom and me.

I spent the entire next day with my mom. It was nice because I never get time alone with her anymore, and I really wanted it. Also, it allowed my stepdad to get some work done and not have to worry about her for several hours. I cleaned their house and sat with her while she slept. She used all of her energy staying awake on Thanksgiving so she slept almost the entire day Friday. I can't imagine what her life is like anymore. We talked a little bit about how she feels lately, and it's been really hard on her. She can't form a sentence almost 80% of the time now because she can't find the right words to get her thoughts out. Her thoughts are a big jumbled mess. Every now and then she'll be able to say exactly what she means, and it makes her really happy. The rest of the time she's pretty frustrated. I feel so bad. It's amazing what 9 months of time can do to a person. Back in February, she was as she always was -- healthy, vibrant and full of energy.  Nine months later, she's deteriorated quite far. It breaks my heart every time I see her, but I know that she's still my same mom that has always been there.

Despite all this, her hair is finally starting to grow back. It gives me hope that good things are coming.

Saturday, my sister, and one of my sisters-in-law, came back over to my mom's house. We spent the whole day decorating her house for Christmas. We had a lot of help decorating by way of some little elves (three of my nieces), and it was a lot of fun! My mom slept through most of it, but when she woke up and could see it, she made sure to tell us it looked great! Christmas is one of my mom's favorite times of year, so I'm really grateful we were able to get her house all setup for the holiday season.

Mom's tree, freshly decorated by the granddaughters (ages 3-7).

All I want for Christmas this year is for my mom to have a great holiday, and to have vast improvements in her health. She is the most beautiful person I know, and I hope and pray that we'll find a way to get her health to improve. It was such a beautiful Thanksgiving, full of help, service, and family. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I feel rejuvenated and ready for this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I'm too busy cooking food, and eating it to write a real post. So you get THIS DELIGHTFUL GEM OF A PHOTO. (I save my best work for when I'm not salivating over turkey!) Don't forget to tell everyone how grateful you are for them today.

I'm just happy my whole family gathered together this year to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom. I am so thankful for my loved ones. I couldn't handle life without them!

What are you thankful for this year?

Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you on this lovely holiday!

You know how we all love vacations from work right? Well... does anyone else have to work all those vacation hours you are planning on taking before you even go on a vacation?

Sometimes I feel like my job is so busy that if I want any days off, I have to work all those hours prior to taking them off. For example, I get two days off this week for the Thanksgiving holiday.

YES!!!!!

BUT... Saturday I worked a full day at my house. Sunday too. So technically, I should be getting 2 extra paid days this week instead of just the two I'm not working because of the holiday.

Does anyone want to let my boss know? HAHA...NOT (yeah I just said NOT). I love my job, but sometimes I just need to not have to burn myself out just so I can take a day off. But hey, all complaining aside, it's job security and I really love that about it. Plus, they do take care of us in other ways, so I can't complain too much, right?

It could be worse. I could be a manure scooper at a ranch. Or I could be a drive-thru clerk at Weinerschnitzel (does anyone actually eat there?). So I will just take this Thanksgiving week to say this:

I am extremely grateful that I have a job that keeps me busy and helps me pay my bills. It adds to my ever-expanding resume constantly, and that is something that doesn't happen too often in today's job market. So, I actually do have a great job and I'm VERY grateful they've loved me for the past 4.5 years.

I'm just tired...REALLY TIRED... and ready to see my whole family, stuff my mouth with turkey, gravy, pie and potatoes and not have a single care in the world except, "PIE...MMMM...GOOD."

*SIGH*

2 more days.

In other news... when I took a few hours break from working on Saturday, I met up with a friend I haven't seen in almost 7 or 8 years. She just moved to the area and I am excited she's here!
I just love reunions with great people.

I stole this photo from her Instagram. Aren't we a lovely pair?

Did I ever mention how much I love Fall? I love the warm tones on all the plant life, crunching through piles of leaves on the ground, the cooler crisp air, the clothes, and jackets!!! I just love this time of year. Maybe it's because my favorite holidays happen in the cooler weather that's coming. Maybe it's just that this time of year always fills me with hope, nostalgia, and I crave family time.