Grand Canyon

On our way back from Arizona, we stopped at the Grand Canyon. It was amazing!

Thanksgiving

I am happy to report that the Snyder family had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent the week in Scottsdale, Arizona with my family roasting turkey and roasting by the pool. It felt like we had Thanksgiving at every meal. I felt hungry today for the first time in a week, and for a pregnant Ghent, that is saying something!

On the subject of Thanksgiving, I read a very cool study about people who keep a journal of all the things they are thankful for. Here are some of the benefits of having an “attitude of gratitude”:

• considerably more satisfaction with their lives as a whole
• more optimism about the upcoming week
• more connected with others
• builds and strengthens social bonds and friendships
• feel loved and cared for by others
• strengthens sense of spirituality
• broadens the scope of cognition and enables flexible and creative thinking
• facilitates coping with stress and adversity
• makes people feel good in the present, and increases the likelihood that people will function optimally and feel good in the future.
• more positive and optimistic appraisals of one’s life
• more time spent exercising
• fewer reported physical health problems/symptoms
• more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or offered emotional support to another

I am thankful for this study!


Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life, Emmons RA, McCullough ME, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84(2): 377-389, 2003.

So, I know I just keep posting pictures of Luke instead of writing something witty, thoughtful, or clever, like all of you other bloggers out there, but this is the closest thing I do to scrapbooking, so this will have to do. While enjoying the fabulous Utah weather, and I took some pictures of Luke at the park. He especially loved the climbing wall and did a pretty good job of making his way to the top. Just one more way Luke is like a mini Travis.

Halloween

So, this was the first Halloween that Luke wasn't wheezing with croup or vomiting all over his costume, and we had a blast! He wore his costume for a week straight - no joke. He thought it was so cool that all you had to say was "tickle treat" and someone would put candy in your pumpkin bucket. But he probably had just as much fun handing out candy to "the kids", except when a scary "idol" (aka skeleton) costume came by.