THREE GREAT THANKSGIVING BLESSINGS!! (Actually four)

1 - NATHAN HAS A JOB.......Hooray!! He called yesterday to let us know that the Twin Falls, Idaho County Public Defender's Office has offered him the position after a successful phone interview a couple of days earlier. They are thrilled to at last be numbered among the employed and on their way to true careerhood (and eventual home ownership!). Nathan's cousin Diane Deming Jensen and her family live there, they can be close to a gorgeous new temple and have some beautiful new neighborhoods to check out for home purchase. All around, a rather nice LDS community too. The winters will be much colder than Boise, but there will be room to plant a garden in the summer. They will be in the heartland of some beautiful countryside and they will be just that much closer to us and to Nathan's friend Ryan up in Idaho Falls. They are happy! (This public service job will also help defray MUCH of the loan incurred just going to law school) Twin Falls Temple

Twin Falls. The Snake River, famous for river rafting, etc., winds through deeply cut gorges in this part of South Central Idaho.

2 - Granddaughter Alyssa (Peter and Jill's) turned one year old, is walking and able to consume huge pieces of birthday cake with her fingers all gooshy and not even bat an eyelash! (Audrey cried when her hands got dirty from the frosting when HER first birthday came around). Aly is a lovely, mellow, smiley little girl with gorgeous coloring. We all had a lot of fun at her Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's house surrounding her with presents and she just sort of took it all in stride! If I can figure out how to upload the video of the cake eating I will do so.

Aly gets to have her shirt off because we all know that the ensuing cake attack will not be nice to clothes!!

3 - We are about to be grandparents again even a little sooner than we expected. Becky's due date is December 1st, but she has already begun to dilate and her doctor agreed to induce delivery the day after Thanksgiving so that Nathan and Colleen will be able to see new little Ethan Austin Graf before they head back up to Idaho. She is more than ready to deliver! She says she gets pretty tired and doesn't sleep well at night, but she sure has had the homing instinct and has been sanding, staining and preparing some furniture that was given to them to put in their NEW HOME! (Blessing 4). Yes, they have made an offer on a place which has been accepted so now it is a waiting game to see how fast they might actually be able to get into the house. They will leave a big void in our home...but they are very ready to be off on their own and closer to Audrey's cousins (Charles' family) in North Las Vegas. I think Audrey will love her little brother ... and maybe that will take her mind off her newest interest - screeching at the top of her lungs and throwing herself onto the floor in cute little tantrums, complete with hands over the eyes and sobs as though the world has come to an end! (We've been through that with all the kids, right??)

Becky with Audrey and baby Ethan.

We love our family! It will be so good to have us all together again for a few days at Thanksgiving. With 5 little girls under four years of age the busyness level will be pretty high, but it will be great just the same to love them all and hug and hug.