My Simple Gifts:
Joe - best friend and calm to my turbulent storm
My Children - teachers of humility, sacrifice, and love
My Moms - joy and sunshine, laughter and tears, best girls-get-away makers
My Dads - priesthood blessings and unconditional love
My Brothers and Sisters - examples and eternal friends
The gospel of Jesus Christ - peace, refuge and the knowledge of eternal families
Music - beauty
Friends and neighbors - strength and belonging
Visiting Teachers - comfort and lesson on Simplicity:
"We can’t predict all the struggles and storms in life, not even the ones just around the next corner, but as persons of faith and hope, we know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the best is yet to come," ("Let Him Do It with Simplicity," Elder L. Tom Perry).
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jared really did end up a Grim Weeper for Halloween after all. His mask kept slipping and he couldn't keep up with his friends trick-or-treating, so he ended up at home in tears for a bit before going out again with his brother and sister. Rachel complained about her hat, saying it was too itchy (I wonder if she has eczema again), and almost didn't make it out trick-or-treating at all. She cheered up though when she finally got candy. Brock loved it and shouted Trick or Treat as loudly as he could at each house. The kids partied at a city Halloween Carnival the night before and loved it, so I suppose Halloween was a semi-success.
We went to St. George earlier this month to visit Gran and Grandpa Saurey and cheer for our friend Landon as he ran the St. George Marathon. Landon did great – despite the rain! The rain poured down the entire race. I ascribe it to luck: it’s only rained twice in the Marathon’s 30 year history. The last time it rained? 25 years ago. 
I asked the children what they want to be for Halloween. Jared said, "I want to be the Grim Weeper."
We looked at costumes the other day and Brock said, "Look, the Grim Sweeper," and Rachel said, "No, it's the Grim Weeper."
Joe says, "We weep what we sow."
I say: That's the grim truth.
Joe asked Rachel about her day. Rachel said she told a boy at school, "I have a crush on you."
Joe asked, "Why did you do that?"
Rachel replied: "Because he's sooooo handsome."
She and a friend chase him at school, but he doesn't like them to chase him. Why? Girls have cooties.
Joe took me to see Wicked on Broadway in New York! He surprised me for my birthday and also, he said, to celebrate our tenth anniversary. I know, I don’t deserve it, or Joe, but I love him, and I did love seeing Wicked – it’s, well, fabulous! 
Some may describe New York as a melting pot; and, if that's the case, Joe says the melting pot of New York reaches its boiling point at Times Square. I read an estimated 1.7 million people pass through Times Square daily. Last weekend, we became part of that statistic. 
Brock wears glasses now, even though he wishes he didn’t. Brock told Joe: “Jack Sparrow doesn’t wear glasses.” The kids told him he looks like Harry Potter. I think he almost likes Harry Potter again. 
Joe and I took the kids for a vision check, a year ago, before school started. I thought Brock young at age 2 for a vision test, but the eye doctor said no, he’s not too young, and she tested him. It turns out Jared and Rachel got Joe’s excellent vision; Brock got mine, but worse. He’s farsighted (like me) with astigmatism (like me) and lazy eye (like me). And now, a year later, because his eyes didn’t improve enough on their own, Brock got a new look – wearing glasses. The eye doctor hopes if he wears his glasses and strengthens his eyes now, he won’t need to wear an eye patch later.
At first, Brock loved his new look. Then, after one hour, he wanted to give his glasses away. I put them back on every time he took them off, and forty tries later, he realized he couldn’t get rid of them that way, so he tried taking them off and throwing them across the room. Finally he resorted to hiding them: I found them, in the past couple weeks, under the couch cushion, under Rachel’s bed and in Jared’s closet. Today I had his scratched lenses replaced (after two weeks of abuse).
I’m glad Brock’s vision will improve, even if he has to wear glasses to do it. I just hope Brock doesn’t ever need to wear an eye patch, even if he does look more like a pirate, he’d probably tell me, “Harry Potter doesn’t wear an eye patch, he wears glasses.”
