The Gonzalez Family

This year I feel like there is so much to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my Savior and His church and especially that we will have a sweet little baby in our family in only six more weeks. I am so excited to meet our little baby boy and see what he looks like and get to know his personality. I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband and a beautiful, warm home to live in. I am so thankful for my wonderful family and families. I am so thankful for the blessing of living in this great country and I'm thankful for all of the opportunities that we have here. This year for Thanksgiving we went up to my Grandma's house in Pocatello, Idaho, like we do every year. I will post pictures soon. We had a great time visiting with my aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins. We went to see the movie, Australia, on Thanksgiving night and we loved it! Then on Friday morning Israel and I hit the black Friday sales at 4:00 am...the earliest ever. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgivin...

We celebrated my Grandma's birthday on Saturday, but her actual birthday is November 9th (same as mine). I just want to say how much I love my Grandma Ransom. I am named after her and I always thought it was cool growing up that she and I had the same birthday. She is an angel and has touched so many people's lives. She is truly a Christ-like woman and she is a wonderful example to her children and grandchildren of how to live the gospel. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful grandma. I hope that when I reach my 80th birthday I can look back at my life and accomplishments with as much satisfaction and peace as I know she can. She is an amazing, beautiful woman and I admire her so much. My uncle Dennis put together an amazing video tribute of her life with lots of fun pictures of my grandma and grandpa and all of the grandkids. (I'll try to post it). It was so nice to get to see the family. My Uncle Joel and Aunt Patty drove all the way from North Dakota (our baby i...

My friend Anna got married yesterday and I am so happy for her! She's moving to Alabama with her new husband. It was great to see her and her family. She looked so beautiful and her dad looked so happy and proud! I love weddings. (I'll post pictures soon).

I heard this poem for the first time today on "Music and the Spoken Word." It was written by Rudyard Kipling, the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Prize for English Literature. He was only 30 years old when he wrote it. Lloyd Newell introduced the poem on the show by saying that it is a beautiful description of what true success is and it contains some of the best advice a parent could give a child. I really loved it so I'm posting it here for all to enjoy. "If" If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you But make allowance for their doubting too, If you can wait and not be tired by waiting , Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream--and not make dreams your master , If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim ; If you can meet with Trium...

Today we celebrated Israel's birthday. We went to our traditional conference breakfast at my parents' house in the morning and opened presents and had cake in between sessions. Then we had Israel's whole family over for a Peruvian dinner. We had a great time.

This weekend is the first weekend in a while where we have nothing planned. I'm excited to have some time to just hang out with Israel and relax! We're not apart very often and I missed him a lot last week when I was gone on my business trip to Boston and New York for five days. I love coming home to my hubby after a busy day at work like today (it was a crazy week). He always gives me a big hug and reminds me what's most important in life and it makes it all worth it. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing husband!!

This weekend I got to spend some time with my niece and nephew in New York City. My nephew, Owen, was so curious about the baby in my tummy and he constantly wanted to talk to the baby and hug and kiss the baby. It was sooooo adorable. On Sunday morning, I was reading a book to Owen and Emma called "Baby On the Way." In one part of the book it says that when you hug your Mommy, you are also giving the baby in her tummy a hug. I decided to insert "Auntie Melissa" where is said Mommy in the book and Emma stopped and decided that she needed to give the baby in my tummy a hug right then. She and Owen gave me a big hug around my tummy and it was so cute. Owen kept asking me when the baby was going to come out and Celeste and I kept telling him that he would be coming after Christmas. I'm so glad that I got to spend a few days so that they could get to know their "Auntie 'Lissa" better. :-) I'm hoping that I'll be able to go back for a v...