#dicksondailythanks

In November my main focus was on being thankful and teaching the kids the meaning of Thanksgiving and the feelings we should be experiencing during that time. I decided I don't give Thanksgiving enough credit for bringing in all those wonderful fuzzy feelings of gratitude and compassion that I love during the Christmas season. This year I wanted to try to teach my kids to appreciate the Thanksgiving season more and learn how to truly give thanks.
We did things everyday:

1 set out Thanksgiving decorations, started a thankful poster

2 Family Home Evening lesson on feeling thankful and turkey shooting game

3 Made thanksgiving cards for family

4 Fill a shoebox at Hobby Lobby to send to someone less fortunate

5 Did random acts of service throughout the day

6 Made a please and thank you sticker chart

7 Had turkey waffles

8 Caitlin gave ME a service by bringing me breakfast in bed, that night we read books and scriptures about gratitude

9 Family Home Evening lesson about the 10 lepers and had a treat

10 dropped off goodies for people

11 Veterans Day: made holiday mail for heroes

12 Thanksgiving/fall craft day

13 celebrated #worldkindnessday with random acts of kindness

14 Colored "my thanks book" printout

15 Made a hand print runner

16 Thanksgiving bingo

17 Played the "hot spot" game

18 Left a thank you gift for the mailman 

19 great grandparents visits

20 Welcomed baby Reese

21 Made donations, each of us picked a few thing.

22 Prayers and help for Bo and the Barnes family

23 made a video log of the kids' top thankful things

24 dropped off cans to the food bank

25 gave each other "service stars" when we noticed other people doing nice things

26 Thanksgiving: We spent Thanksgiving with my family in St. George, Utah. My parents drove up and my sisters and I and my grandparents went down. We all stayed in a couple condos and we swam, watched movies, played with cousins, hiked the Red Rock, visited the children's museum, rode the carousel, got frozen custard at Neilsen's and looked at Christmas lights around town. Thanksgiving morning a bunch of us ran the 5k turkey trot. Paul and I had Caitlin and Nolan run with us and they both did amazing! They did the whole thing themselves and were very motivated. both finished in under an hour! I'm so proud of them! Thanksgiving dinner was absolutely delicious, as it always is with my mom. Can't believe she can cook a Thanksgiving meal anywhere in any kitchen and always have it turn out so yummy. 
I really enjoyed the Thanksgiving season this year and the opportunity to give service and to spark that in my kids. Hopefully they learned a little about giving and serving and why we should do it. I know I had some special moments and experiences with them when I felt like they got it. I'm most thankful for my little family and for my Heavenly Father who has entrusted me with them. 

a SUPER Halloween

Having Halloween on a Saturday meant it was a long and full weekend!

The 30th: During the day we went to Gymnastics, came home and got changed into the kids' costumes. They were so excited for their class Halloween parties at preschool and they had a great time. Played games and did a costume parade and got to pass out treats to all their friends and of course get some in return. After school we got lunch and then went to vivint for their family trick or treating! There was a great turn out and lots of fun to see everyone. There were fun games set up and of course way too much candy. The kids look forward to trick or treating at Dad's work every year.

That night we had a big Halloween party in the Mead's backyard and it was so much fun. Bounce house, cotton candy, fire pit, chili, food, toilet paper mummies, donuts off a string and pin the spider on the web. It was a blast. There was something for everyone and the kids ran wile hopped up on cotton candy and sugar from the day's events. We popped a hole in the bounce house (luckily towards the end) and partied hard. It got pretty cold but no one seemed to mind. It was a wild night!



Halloween Day I woke up early and went with my neighbor Kathryn to run the Haunted Half! I had signed up for it awhile ago but never quite found the time to get out and run to train (I had been working out though). I told myself after just having done a full marathon, a half would seem easy and refreshing and there was no reason that I should not get my best time. I set out with that intention and made myself run as fast and hard as I could. The course was not very easy, some rolling hills and a steep climb at mile 12.5 but I stayed ahead of the pacers and would not let myself slow down. Paul and the kids met me at the finish line with cute posters and I crossed right at 2:00 according to the clock so I was nervous to see my actual chip time since I knew it'd be close. I got the print out and: 1:59 !!!!! My best time ever and finally under that 2 hour mark! So so happy.

Caitlin loved her sparkly supergirl costume ("NOT superwoman, superGIRL" she would correct anyone who made that mistake) and perhaps more than her costume she loved getting to wear makeup and glitter hairspray.

Nolan has had his Batman costume for awhile now and it's a favorite. He loved the muscles on it and he told me a few times "I'm really the real Batman right now!"

Robin was the cherry on top. He was so adorable and made the perfect sidekick.

Paul and I got in on the action with Wonder Woman and Captain America and had fun being the SUPER family.

We started trick or treating around 6 that evening and had so much fun. We drove the RZR to some farther streets and then nearby the kids rode their bikes from house to house. They loved it! We pushed Maverick in the stroller and he loved picking out candy from the buckets. The kids knew just what to do and had so much fun. Our neighborhood is a lot of fun on Halloween.. lots of outdoor movies, yummy treats like scones and lights and music. We even had a "Headless Horseman" riding the streets!

When we had finished trick or treating we came home and had dinner. Our kids love passing out the candy almost as much as giving the candy so whenever the doorbell rang it was exciting. Nolan took a few cues from Paul and was telling people "Nice costume!.. You look great!... Your welcome!" It was hilarious.

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Fall time: days get cooler (only a little though, its actually been amazing weather for October!), nights are shorter and everything seems to start to go into fast forward heading into the holidays! Here's a brief recap of our month:

1st: We were invited to the Idina Menzel concert at UVU. We decided to take the older two kids, hoping for a night full of Frozen songs but it wasn't quite that. By the time she sang "Let it Go" Caitlin was too tired to really get into it like she would have. Nolan was king of cheering the loudest at the quietest moments. It was a funny night, however there is no question that Idina is an amazing singer with an amazing voice!

2nd: Paul and I went to the BYU vs. UConn game with Woodleys. It was a little rainy so Megan and I made full use of their BYU ponchos. We also discovered red velvet waffle sticks in the VIP tent that were heavenly. With a BYU win it was a fun night!

3-4: General Conference weekend was great. I felt like I got to listen to the talks a lot more than in years past. We had our traditional yummy scones for breakfast and enjoyed the day with family.

6: The kids had their last soccer game. They were sad to end the season, they loved being on the team with their cousins and neighborhood friends and having Paul be their coach. And I loved squeezing one last season in when we only had to be at one game a week! Caitlin was definitely the leading scorer and ate it up. Nolan loved just running around and being a part of the action. He was way more into the side squabbles than ball handling. If they kept score in tot soccer, it definitely would have been a winning season!



6: Nolan started a sports class at the Pleasant Grove Rec Center. Each week they focus on a different sport and they have stations set up. The kids move around the stations and practice certain skills. We were all excited to go watch him. Although when we showed up they said parent participation was encouraged. Trying to play catch with Nolan while juggling (bored) Caitlin and (naptime and needy) Maverick is not the easiest. And of course my independent little Nolan took a look around and said, "Why is everyone just playing with their Moms?!" Haha he rather do things on his own! So we try to juggle and he's had fun and done really well. Football was probably his favorite. And then soccer.


9th: Caitlin and Nolan also started back into gymnastics class and they love it. They both work really hard and look forward to it each week! They have new teachers this session but are able to go at the same time and haven't skipped a beat!

9th: We went to Cornbelly's with the Deelstras and had a great time. Their theme this year is Minions so there were lots of fun things around that the kids liked. Including "a real life minion!" Caitlin of course got face paint and the rest of us of course got cotton candy and kettle corn. They have a "corn beach" which is a huge area filled with corn kernels that was funny to play in. And the slides, bouncy things, and other games are always fun. They also did fireworks which was a special treat!



10th: I took a cooking class with Whitney and Nan who were in town for the weekend. It was so much fun! We made Bagels and Schmear and I learned a lot!

15th: We went to Gardner Village and walked around spotting the witches. It was very hot and crowded but we still had fun! We found all the witches on the scavenger hunt and got our cookie for the bakery!


15th: We planted (and by we I mean the landscapers) 30+ trees in our back yard and extended the flower bed area. We are excited for this change and to have a little more foliage and privacy in the backyard. It was a fun project to see come together.

16th: We threw a baby shower for Rebekah and baby Reese. The theme was "Once Upon a Time" and it turned out adorable. We are so excited for Bekah to have her baby in November! If her mothering skills are even half as good as her babysitting skills her baby is in exceptional hands. Bekah and Jordan will be wonderful parents.





17th: My cousin Jenna Goulding married Riley Smith on the 17th in the Payson Temple. There was a lunch and reception that night and it was a great day. My parents were able to come in for the weekend and attend.

23rd: Girls night! We ate Thai food in Salt Lake, saw the Thriller halloween dance show, and grabbed desserts at Gourmandise. Always a fun time with these ladies.


24th: Used our Cornbelly's bounce back passes for one more visit for the season and enjoyed the beautiful weather!


24th: Cassie threw a witches' Harry Potter halloween party and it was a blast. All the theme details were executed perfectly and it made it want to brush up on all my Harry Potter trivia.

27th: Caitlin got to wear her costume to dance class, so of course Nolan wore his also. We carved pumpkins that night and the kids liked opening them up and scooping the seeds out but didn't stick around much after that. So Paul and I carved them as fast as possible so we could light them up before bedtime!


29th: Paul and I went to Garth Brooks World Tour concert and I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the BEST concerts I have ever been too. It was a blast. We didn't even realize what big Garth Brooks fans we were until we were singing along to every song at the top of our lungs. He sang all his classics and gave 4 encores. He seemed so down to earth and genuinely pleased that we had all come to see him and I would go again in a heart beat!

a word about me

I was talking a friend a while ago who said reading her grandmothers journals let her get to know her grandmother a lot better. This blog is my journal, although I started to wonder how much people reading down the road would learn about strictly myself.

A lot about me is projected through my family. They are absolutely my world and my life revolves around them. And I don't think that's bad-- I love it. My main interests, goals and hobbies are having a happy family.

BUT in an interest to preserve who I am between and underneath all of my mothering and wife-ing and for anyone who might want a deeper look into ME... Here's what's going on in my life right now:

Cortney Pelton Dickson
Age: 28

Goals: my biggest goal as of late was to run a marathon. It's something I never thought I would do and after I had Maverick I decided I needed a big goal to get back in shape and that's what I chose. It was a great experience and I've very glad I stuck with my goal and completed it. My next goals would be to run a half marathon in under 2 hours and also to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year.   

Health: In May I was having lots of symptoms where I felt like something inside of me was out of balance. Mainly that I was constantly fatigued, irritable and had daily bad head aches. I also felt like my metabolism had stopped. It was just really hard to function and be a fun mom so I went in for some blood testing and found out I have thryoid issues. After meeting with a few doctors and lots of bloodwork, I am now seeing an endocrinologist who diagnosed me with "Postpartum Thyroiditis" where basically your thyroid shuts down after child birth and your body is forced to reconcile and try to reboot the thyroid, which swings you between being hyperthyroid and hypothyroid in a pendulum of symptoms. The treatment plan is the get on medication (a thyroid supplement) in order to try to balance out the thyroid and kickstart it back to normal function on its own. Sometimes the thyroid will recover and sometimes it will never fully recover. It is also something that will most likely happen after every subsequent birth. So I've been dealing with that several months now. It's frustrating to me that my body is having issues. It's frustrating to me that everything can't just work normally and I feel like I don't have the time and extra energy to be going to doctor's visits for myself and finding courses of action and constantly having blood work done. But I also know that I need to get everything in alignment and stay as healthy as I can. So I'd say my overall health right now is OK because it could be a lot worse. But it's not where I'd want it to be.

Interests/Hobbies: traveling, cooking (not baking, I'm not good at that but I love eating treats more than food!), shopping, event planning (I LOVE planning parties and gatherings and I'm currently helping coordinate my neighbor's daughter's wedding).  I also like working out. It's a love/hate because I wish I didn't have to but I always feel so good when I do and I enjoy it while I'm there. 

Fears: I'm afraid my kids will grow up to be brats, really trying to prevent that. I'm also afraid of anything happening to me or my family that would be out of my control. I definitely have fears but I really try not to think about the bad things because I feel like it's wasted stress. 

Struggles: I hate disciplining my kids, it's the hardest thing for me always feeling like the bad guy and having to tailor my discipline to what each child will respond to. I also have a hard time waking up early. My only time to work out is in the morning at 6 AM before Paul's goes to work and I always feel better when I do but it's really hard for me to wake up early and put forth the effort especially when I feel like I don't see changes. I also am constantly working on being more patient, not being judgmental or gossiping, and being better at small talk (especially when I'm in random work settings with Paul).  

Strengths: I'm a good friend and I'm considerate. I'm reliable. I think I'm good at balancing things because we live a very busy life. I wear a lot of hats (mom, wife, wife of an executive, sister, friend, daughter....) Sometimes it can be hard to juggle everything but I think I do a pretty good job.  

Guilty pleasure: My #1 would be Dr. Pepper, especially a "dirty Dr. Pepper" which has coconut added. I know it's not good for me but I love it. 

Favorite scripture: 1 Nephi 7:12 (This one has been my favorite for a long time)

Favorite hymn: "Because I have Been Given Much" In general I feel extremely blessed in my life and I really have nothing to complain about. Sometimes I feel like things are too good to be true, and maybe that's the case. Maybe be have huge challenges coming ahead of us but that's ok. I know that we can handle whatever comes our way because we are rooted in the gospel and I have an amazing companion by my side. I'm so incredibly grateful to find myself in the situation I'm in.

neither here nor there

most of my September instagram posts:

joys of motherhood: september

A lot of times my kids say something funny and I think "Oh i gotta write that down. I'll remember that for sure." And then sure enough by the time I think to write it down I don't remember. I hate that feeling. The feeling that mom brain won again. Oh well, here's what I got:

Nolan is pure confidence. He's not always super competitive but he is aggressive and it's as if there's no question that he could do something. We were at the park and there were a few older boys running around and Nolan just walked up and said "Guys I'm faster than you. I'm faster." And ran off. Like where did that come from and why did he feel the need to assert his dominance? We'll never know.

Caitlin: is obsessed with doing her makeup right now. She always wants to have a full face of makeup and she'll sneak it in her room or do makeovers for her friends or anyone she can get her hands on. She loves makeup and everything that goes with it. I think it's so cute but I also don't want my 5 year old going out everyday with electric blue eyeshadow and hot pink lips. So we try to take it in moderation if we are going in public.  She knows certain parts of my makeup routine that I will usually say yes to and will always ask for eyeshadow or blush or, my favorite, a little "brownzer"

Nolan says, "When I grow up I'm going to be a dad and a firefighter and a cowboy." Sounds like a winning combination if you ask me.

Usually the kids are pretty good about telling me about their day at school. I get a few things out and then more comes out as the day goes along. This was my school conversation with Nolan the other day:

me: Nolan what was your best thing at school today?

N: When I met a real live ninja turtle.

Really? You did?

Yup.

Really?

No. I didn't.

So what was really your best thing today?

When my teacher took us to the farm and we saw a horse and a cow.

Really? Oh like maybe you sang about it in old McDonald's?

No. We didn't do that.

So what'd you do?

We all took a trip to the moon. My whole  class. And we even took real astronauts! They were our parents.

...Either he has an active imagination or his teacher is the best preschool teacher ever.

There is a biulding being built right by the kids' school and the other day when we drove past it was just being framed so it was full of vertical wood beam being framed in and not much else. I asked the kids, "What do you think they are building right here?" Caitlin answered, "It looks like I think it's gonna be a zoo!" Immediately all the other kids jumped on board. "Yah they will keep the animals behind those bars and they will have bears and lions...." I was laughing so hard because I could totally see how they would think they were building a bunch of big cages.

The other day I asked the kids if we should have another baby now that Maverick is getting bigger and walking and they both said "Yes but this time we need to get a girl one."

VSLR Europe Trip

The vivint.solar incentive trip for 2014 was a European cruise. We were so happy to be able to go and we had a fantastic trip. Ten days surrounded by co-workers could sound hairy but we are lucky to work with some of our best friends which made for such a fun time and lots of laughs. It was a great time to bond with others, spend time as a couple, and of course see some of the great sights of Europe!

|| Flew to Rome with the Deelstras and Allreds. and arrived early in the morning after flying through the night, but not really sleeping. We stayed at a hotel near the piazza del popolo. We tried to freshen wake up and set out to explore. We saw the Spanish steps, got on a hop on bus and rode to the Roman Forum/Colosseum. Toured the forum then went to the Vatican. We breezed through the museum and saw the Sistine chapel and then St Peter's. We met with a big group that night for dinner, then ended at Piazza Navona where we ate gelato (for like the 8th time that day) and bought a painting. 

|| Toured the colosseum and learned a lot about gladiator fighting! This was Paul's favorite site of our whole trip. Then we took a pedicab through terrific traffic to the pantheon. For lunch we went to "Alfredo alla Strofa" the original birthplace of fetucinne alfredo. They made us a huge plate of alfredo at our table.. the only ingredients being parmesan cheese, butter and fresh home made fetucinne noodles. It was amazing. They brought out the gold fork and spoon and asked who was the youngest at the table. It was me, so I was the "principessa" and got to eat with the golden utensils from the platter. Our best meal in Italy. 

From there we went out to Civitavecchia to catch our cruise ship! We were one the Norwegian Epic and it was a great cruise. The boat was very nice, great restaurants and we had a wonderful time. That night we hit up the late night buffet and the hot tub.

|| Livorno was our first stop, the port closest to Florence. We went into Florence for a few hours and got to see The David sculpture at the Accademia de Bella Arte. There are SO many tourists in Italy and people know how to take advantage of them. We fell for a few scams along the way, trying to skip lines and join tour groups and things may have gotten a little heated in line at the museum but it all worked out ok. After the museum we did some shopping at the market and got some leather goods. I love the colorful marble cathedral or Florence. 

On the way back we stopped by Pisa to see the leaning tower! It was so much fun to see. It totally leans! Of course we had to take all the funny pictures with it and then we headed back to the ship. That night was had a vivint cocktail party, ate at the Teppenyaki restaurant and got late night cheese fries on the upper deck. 

|| Our next stop was Cannes France. We decided to stick around and it was a cute little town! We went to the local farmer's market and sampled cheese, fruits and meats. We had lunch with friends and did some shopping around and Paul got a little suckered into buying a white linen beach shirt, very appropriate for european crusing. He tried it on at the store and had been wearing it around for so long finally the worker came to him and said "yup looks great!" and pulled the tag off. Then We rented tandem bikes with the Deelstras and cruised down the boardwalk. Paul did not lay off our little horn once. The French riviera is incredibly beautiful. The ocean water is SO blue. The beaches were pretty crowded and european beaches always allow to interesting people watching. They have a beautiful historic Ritz Carlton hotel there and across from it a private beach resort. As we were riding by a few workers motioned for us to come down the stairs on our bikes. Paul took it as a challenge. I hopped off and buried my face a little as Paul rode down the Ritz Carlton beach stairs on his tandem bike, linen shirt and hair blowing in the wind. Don't ever tell my husband he can't do something he wants to do. Luckily the workers thought it was funny, but said "Don't do that again." 

We had a dinner all together and saw a cool Cirque du Soleil show on the boat. Pretty impressive when they can do their stunts on dry land but on a rocking boat! I was impressed. 

|| We cruised all morning, Paul and I got to sleep in and get massages. That afternoon we arrived in Palma de Mallorca. We didn't have any real concrete plans for the day so we decided to rent these tiny cars called "twizy" basically a street legal go-cart and we rallied them around town. We got lost a few times and even took them on the freeway which I'm pretty sure they were not meant to do. We drove around town and saw their cool cathedral that looked like a castle and had lunch at the beach.

That night on the boat we saw a magician show. 

|| Our boat docked in Barcelona the next morning and after disembarking we went to the airport and flew to Paris.  We get dropped off at hotel, and found out our hotel was very fortunately close to La Duree so we stopped in for macarons first thing. Then we went to lunch at a nearby Cafe and I ordered French onion soup and it was perfect. We went and saw the arc du triomphe and walked down the Champs D'Elysées then that night went to Montmartre, place du tertre and had dinner. 

|| The next day we were with a guide for the majority of the day. A very nice lady who took us to the Eiffel tower, the Louvre and Notre Dame. And answered all of our many questions. I'm convinced she knew absolutely everything about Paris. The Eiffel Tower is always so fun. It's so iconic and it gives me the "I'm in Paris!" chills whenever I see it. We got to go up to the top and spot all teh big famous buildings and it was a lot of fun. She gave us about an hour tour of the Louvre and we loved seeing certain paintings come to life and of course seeing the famous ones like the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Nike of Samothrace. We ended with her a Notre Dame, and then went over to Sainte Chappelle and barely made it in to admire the beautiful stained glass windows. That night we went to a restaurant across from our hotel called "Le Relais de L'Entrecote" We had noticed the line going out the door every night and were curious. Turns out they do not take reservations. They open at 7 for dinner and they fill all their tables and if you don't make it in you wait in line until one opens up. They serve the same meal every day: a specific salad, steak with a secret sauce, french fries and then you get a choice of dessert from a dessert menu. Simple and delicious!! We loved our meal and loved our desserts as well. Paul got the creme brulee and it was the best he's ever had. Our waitress was very down to business and totally chose favorites at the table and didn't have time to explain much, just expected us to keep up and keep quiet and go with the flow.

|| Our last day we spent at Versailles. We took a bike tour and it was cold and a little drizzly. We took a train out to Versailles and then go our bikes and rode to the market to get supplies for a picnic. It was rainy at the market but we got some yummy food and then we rode to Versailles and began touring the grounds. With the rain and wind things were miserably fun and everyone was trying hard to stay up beat. Luckily the rain let off and the sun came out! We toured Marie Antoinette's Petite Trianon and then her petit Hameau. The grounds were beautiful and fun to see and ride around. We stopped by the grand canal for our picnic and had a French feast. The boys were crazy on their bikes and cut new bike paths and found jumps wherever they could.. probably more so than those over used beach cruisers were used to handling. In face Paul's kick stand broke off! After our picnic we entered and toured the chateau. The massiveness and luxury and over-the-top style of the chateau and amazing. It's fun to see and imagine their lives. We learned a lot about all the King Louies and Marie Antoinette. Afterward we took the train back to the city, made a final (daily) stop at La Duree and went to dinner at a cafe in town. That night Paul and I went to the Eiffel tower one last time and got crepes (another thing we had stopped for many a time) and admired the twinkly lights of the Eiffel tower! It was a magical way to cap off a fantastic trip!

Europe is always a fun adventure and I'm always reminded how different it is from the United States but how much there is to enjoy and embrace about another culture. It was fun to be able to go back to a few places I remembered and also experience some new ones and to share it all with Paul. He's not the museum and sight seeing type traveler but he was very patient and we've found our mix that works for us to both have a great trip. Plus with enough delicious meals and yummy treats who wouldn't be happy?!