Thanksgiving 2014

Oh, my heart. There is so much for me to be thankful for. Robbie and I celebrated Thanksgiving with the Bean family this year and had a total blast. One of my favorite things we did was our Thanksgiving devotional Thursday morning. We sang Thanksgiving hymns, my parents both shared some inspiring thoughts, and then gave each of us the opportunity to share what we were particularly thankful for this year. I love opportunities to share our hearts with each other, it's always a very strengthening and unifying experience. As I thought about what I would share, three things I was especially grateful for came to my mind:

1. I have never had so much respect and love for my body. Watching it carry two sweet babies has opened my eyes to the divine purposes our bodies have. I'm so thankful for a healthy and strong body that can carry out such an important work.

2. Robbie takes care of me better than I ever thought my future husband would. His kindness and compassion towards me is incredible and I just fall more in love with him every day. His excitement for being a dad about pulls my heart right out of my chest. I love going through life with him.

3. This past year has been full of a lot of growth opportunities. I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows me and knows how I need to grow and develop to become my best self, and ultimately like His Son.

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of our weekend together as a family, but some highlights include:

• Richard & Emily flying in from California and having everyone from the family together
• Cooking in the kitchen with all the women
• Playing 8 player Super Smash Bros. with the whole family. "Guys, this is a little intense" -Elissa. It was complete pandemonium. 
• Trip up to the Traverse Mountain outlets to do some Black Friday shopping
• Going to see "Big Hero 6" Friday morning
• Dinner at Red Iguana and "A Celebration of Christ" concert at the Capitol Theater in SLC
• Helping prepare Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless at the Lindon Community Center Wednesday night
• Thanksgiving meal with the Bean side of the family at Grandma's house
• Seeing my family, especially my brothers, so excited about my pregnancy. Babies are a new thing for my family and it's so fun to see everyone's curiosity and amazement. You'd think I was some exotic animal from the way Todd kept poking my belly. "This. Is. Crazy."

There's just something about going home, isn't there? I loved waking up, walking upstairs, and getting a big good morning hug from my mom while she cooked breakfast. Some things never change, to which I am so thankful for :) Kudos to mom and dad for working tirelessly to make this weekend so memorable.

 Peeling potatoes in his "super cute" apron at the Lindon Community Center

Oh, Todd...

This boy. I love him more than I can say. I want to remember this picture forever and I still die laughing whenever I look at it. Get it, Todd.

"Hey baby gurl let's dance."

Robbie's Surgery

At the beginning of October, Robbie had surgery on his peroneus brevis, a tendon on the outside of his ankle. It had been bothering him a lot lately, especially when he ran or played basketball. He thinks that over the last couple years with various basketball injuries that it tore. We decided to get it taken care of before our babies come because heaven knows I'll need him walking and in excellent health! We found a great doctor and set the surgery date.

Robbie was a champ and the healing process has gone so smoothly, which we are very thankful for. Waiting in the waiting room while he was being operated on was hard! I felt like I shouldn't be there, that I wasn't old enough for this. Where was his mom? Did I know how to even take care of someone that had just had surgery? Haha gotta love these growing up experiences. Robbie was never in a ton of pain and has followed (well, mostly...) the doctor's orders of when to start putting pressure on it and when he can walk without crutches or a boot. As of today, he can officially start weaning himself from the boot and walk normally again. Hooray!!! He's been such a trooper and I'm sure proud of him.

 Going over the pain chart before surgery. Obviously, he can't wait for what's ahead.

 Recovery room after surgery. Such a champ! Unfortunately, he wasn't very loopy or hilarious, but I do remember him talking about noodles or something?

We got him all set him up in the laundry room so he could talk to me while I cooked dinner. Love this boy.

 Right before he got his cask off. We were so happy to get that blasted thing off.

Apparently the doctor who did Robbie's surgery is known for his beautiful incisions. Looks pretty good to me...I guess. It's amazing how much better the incision looks weeks later. He's almost back to normal!

Experiences like this help me be thankful for good health and strong bodies. We hope to not have to do another surgery like this that limits mobility anytime soon!