I am grateful for a happy family

Jonathan and I are so lucky to have the two best families in the world! I felt especially blessed because all of the Patterson family was able to be together for Thanksgiving this year. (It's really hard to get all 16 of us together.) We spent lots of time with my family and not as much with the Nelson's because Jonathan and I were sick, but soon all of the Nelson's except us will be living together so we will have plenty of time to spend with them! YAY! The best part about our families is that we are all stuck with each other forever! We are all sealed to each other and if we are all worthy, we get to spend eternity together. That is the biggest blessing I have in my life!

The growing Patterson family!

The fighting to stay alive Nelson family!

I am grateful.

This is another weird post, but I am grateful for this blog. When I first started it, I just thought it would be a fun way to keep people up to date on what was going on in our life. Little did I realize that it would help me express my feelings and share my testimony. This month of blogging things I'm grateful for has been such a good opportunity for me to look at my life and find things that I'm grateful for. This has definitely been a great thing for me to do and I plan on continuing to write about things I'm grateful for throughout the year.

A Double Baby Shower

While all of my family was all together, we celebrated our two new baby girls, Lyla and Clara. Lyla is 5 weeks old and Clara is due on January 25th. They are my parent's first granddaughters and we all love them so much! We had dinner at Fats. Oh my goodness! The food was amazing! I want to go back so badly. As soon as the table was cleared, we started opening all of the adorable presents. Both Lyla and Clara hit the jackpot! There were so many cute clothes and headbands for both girls.

Some of the group celebrating our baby girls!

Mom and Annie

Every little girl needs a tutu!

Every Apple employee needs an iPood onesie for their baby!

I am just grateful!

I am grateful for unexpected opportunities. Earlier this week, Jonathan and I were contacted about a new adventure and then we also came up with one of our own. We'll see if things actually work out, so I won't say anything more about it at this time, but we're really excited about both things! (Neither one is a child by the way...)

I am grateful for a day that happened 9 months ago.

We've been married for 9 months?! That is so crazy!!! In some ways it seems like we've been together forever and yet it still seems like we got married yesterday.
I love thinking about our wedding day. It was a very bright, sunny February morning when we were married at the LDS Sacramento Temple. I remember sitting in the temple with Jonathan before we were married. It was so calming just to sit there by ourselves. Then we were escorted to the sealing room. It was overwhelming to see all of our family and friends there to share this very special day with us. After the ceremony concluded, we were told to kiss and my dad groaned so loud! I love my dad. In the sealing room, there are two large mirrors hanging on opposite walls. As we stood inbetween them, we saw eachother standing. The interesting part is that I saw hundreds of reflections of Jonathan and only one of me and he saw the opposite. We were told that it is symbolic of who we need to focus on. Jonathan needs to focus on me and I need to focus on Jonathan. After the ceremony was over, it didn't feel like we really needed to do anything else. The most imporant part of the day was finished and the rest was just icing on the cake.
The LDS marriage ceremony that happens in the temple is different from your normal marriage ceremony. The main difference is that we are married for time and all eternity. There's no til death do us part. This means that I get to be with Jonathan for our life here on earth and after we die. It such an amazing blessing to know that whatever happens to us in this life, we can be together forever.

I am grateful for the internet.

Think back to when you didn't have the internet. Yes, we did somehow live without it, but it has helped make things easier to do. Think about it. My oldest brother went on a mission for our church before they allowed the use of email, so we were forced to write letters to Brazil. If I remember correctly, it would take over a week for a letter to even reach him. It was nearly impossible to have a real conversation with him. Then just a few years later, when my other brother served his mission he was allowed to email us once a week. It was amazing to have him answer our questions so quickly. It was amazing! It is so helpful with school and just everyday life. I am so grateful!

I am grateful for our first married Thanksgiving!

So, it didn't turn out at all the way we planned, but it was still ok. We really figured it would be like last year, but that didn't happen at all.

In the Nelson family, the girls bake pies on Wednesday. It was so much fun doing that last year, so I was really looking forward to it for the whole month. So of course, I get a cold this week. You see, Jonathan's brother Adam has cancer and is on chemo, so his body cannot handle being sick right now. I am super paranoid that I'll get him sick, so I'm not going over there until I feel a lot better. That means no pie baking for BJ. Lame!


This year we also planned on doing the opposite of last year so we would have dinner with the Nelson's and dessert with the Patterson's. Well that didn't turn out either. Jonathan was sick for a couple of days before Thanksgiving too and was trying so hard to get healthy in time for Thanksgiving so we could spend the day with both families. But that didn't happen. His worse day was Thanksgiving. We were just going to stay home, but then he got a horrible headache and we had no medicine to help with the pain. So, we ended up going to my parent's house to get medicine and food. As we were driving, Jonathan told me that this was his worst Thanksgiving ever. (Though he did remember a worse one.) That made me really sad, but it didn't really surprise me. His family loves Thanksgiving and this year has been a really tough year for pretty much everyone so we are all extra grateful for our blessings.

So we got to my parent's house and I immediately sent Jonathan upstairs to lay down. He ended up sleeping for 4 hours in spite of the insanity going on in the rest of the house with my brood of 5 nephews and a sleepy little niece. He then got his own little Thanksgiving dinner at 9, and I was sure glad to see him up and eating.

So this year was our very unusual Thanksgiving day. I am still grateful though. Sure, we didn't have the perfectly planned Thanksgiving we wanted, but I think we have something so much better. We will now always remember our first Thanksgiving as the time when Jonathan was sick and I was there to take care of him. I think that will be so much better than anything we could have ever planned.

Garrett finally likes Chris!

Grandpa with most of his great-grandkids.

Some of the madness Jonathan slept through.

I am grateful for today.

I am so grateful that I get to spend all of my day today with my family. (That's why this post is so short). I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of family and even more delicious food!

These are some of the people I get to be with today!

I am grateful for my brothers and sisters.

I love my family and I really love that it keeps growing. I grew up with 2 older brothers and an older sister. It always seemed kind of small, but it has grown a lot since then. Thanks to a few great marriages, I now have 5 older brothers, an awesome younger brother (yeah be jealous) and 6 wonderful sisters. I love my family so much and all the wonderful examples they are to me. It is such a blessing to have them around and see how strong they are in various ways. 


There are times in each of their lives that they have hard trials to go through, but they rely on the Lord and are able to be better for what they've experienced. I've seen this a lot lately with two of my brothers. They are both having health problems and now both are on chemo. Instead of feeling self-pity or questioning why it has to be them, they are both full of hope and working hard to get healthy again. I haven't even mentioned the hard work that my sisters are doing to take care of them. They are such a strength for their husbands as they've done all that they can to take care of them.


I love the my siblings that I was blessed to grow up with. Each one of them have been such great examples to me. Because I'm the youngest, I've been able to see the importance of the decisions that you make throughout all stages of your life. What really had the biggest impact on me was seeing their joy at their weddings. I realized that it was not only important to marry the right person (which all three of them did), but to also marry in the temple. There seemed to be a change that happened to each one of them and at the time I didn't understand it, but I knew that I wanted what they had. I now understand what was different about them. When someone gets married in the temple, they are not just married until death. They are married for time and all eternity. This means that they will have each other forever. The individual becomes part of a pair. That was the change that I saw in my siblings. I am so grateful that I followed their example and was also married in the temple.


I love having a younger brother. It is the BEST! Being the youngest in my family, I was a little worried about how it would be to be an older sibling. Luckily, I have one of the funniest, silliest, and sweetest younger brothers. I just love him so much! I am grateful that I will be able to watch him grow into a strong and righteous man.


I love all of my siblings. I can't imagine what life was like before they came around. They are all such great examples to me and I am so grateful to have each one of them in my life.

I am grateful for temple Tuesday.

I am grateful that every Tuesday Jonathan and I go to the temple. It is such a wonderful place to go to and serve the Lord. I love the temple. It is a very sacred place. Every time I'm there, I feel like I'm home. It helps to give me some much needed perspective on my life. I have the tendency to stress myself out, but almost as soon as I step on the grounds of the temple it feels like my worries and stress just melt away. My mind is so much more clear when I am there. I know that the temple truly is the house of the Lord. I am so grateful that we live so close to the temple and have decided to make our attendance a priority. It has given our marriage even more strength. I know that we can face any challenge so long as we continue to strive to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.


I attached this video because I feel like it will help show why I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saints. There is a strength that comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ that will help you through times of trial. I know this is true. I have seen it in my life and the lives of so many around me. If you want to know know more about my beliefs, click here. You won't regret it.

I am grateful for hidden talents.

Everybody has different talents. Anything from being comfortable with talking to strangers, to cooking amazing meals, to being a good listener. For the longest time, I didn't think I was able to be crafty and make things myself. This past year has shown otherwise. Not only can I use a glue gun for various projects, but I can sew, really well. I've never even taken a single lesson and yet if I put my mind to it I can do it. My mom even told me that my top stitching (that's when you sew really close to the edge of the fabric) was comparable to her own. It's just so neat that we can learn and discover new talents that we never thought we had.

I was able to cut these out and make the cute little bows.

I didn't cut these out, but I did put them up for Halloween.

Some of my projects for Christmas.

Printables are so easy to make!

A present for my mother-in-law.

I am grateful for the beauty of the earth.

We live in such a beautiful world. It is remarkable just how much beauty there is around us. A few nights ago, I was walking to my car after class and I saw the most incredible sunset. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was. It was a breathtaking sight. I'm going to share some words from one of my favorite church children's songs.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird 

Or look at the blue, blue sky, 

Whenever I feel the rain on my face

 Or the wind as it rushes by, 

Whenever I touch a velvet rose 

Or walk by our lilac tree, 

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world 

Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see 

The color of butterfly wings.

 He gave me my ears that I might hear 

The magical sound of things. 

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart: 

I thank him reverently

 For all his creations, of which I'm a part.

 Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

I know that this world was created for you and me. It is so beautiful and diverse. I hope that you can see all the beauty around you too. 

I am grateful for modern medicine.

It is the such a wonderful blessing to have modern medicine and so many people that are working to make it even better. My eyes have really been opened these past few years seeing how it's helped my family members. It is incredible to see illnesses that used to be death sentences for people are now treatable. We will in such an amazing time!

I am grateful for time.

I am grateful for time. Yeah, I know that sounds really broad and weird, but let me try to explain. Time is a wonderful thing. Everyone gets to have a different amount of time some get over a hundred years while others maybe get a few minutes. Now, what do we do with that time that we are given? Do we focus solely on ourselves or do we use it to help others? I've been thinking about the time that I have and how I use it. I'll be honest, I waste so much time. I easily get distracted and there goes an hour or two that I could have been using in a much better way. That is a major weakness of mine. I am going to challenge myself starting today to keep a record of how I use my time. I need to be more responsible for what I do with my time because I don't know just how much I will end up having and so I should use it more wisely than I have been lately. I am going to show my gratitude for time by using it in a more productive way!

I am grateful for a guy.

This isn't just any guy and no it isn't Jonathan either. I've been lucky enough to know him my whole life. He has been a great example to me and even though at times he drives me crazy, I can't help but love him. I'm talking about my brother Chris.

I've had the opportunity to watch him over many years and see the kind of man he has become and I'm telling you, he's amazing. (It also helps that he has an amazing wife!) Chris was always loving, but I think it grew even more while he has serving a two year mission for our church. I saw him grow so much during those years that I could not wait for him to come home. As soon as he came home, he was on a new mission, finding his wonderful wife. It didn't take him too long to find her and we all love her so much. Once Chris found Annie, he became a complete person. I don't really know how to describe it, but he went from being a crazy, all over the place guy to a well grounded man. It was an amazing transformation to see. He's still the same, funny brother but he draws some extra strength from Annie. He is a great father and thoughtful husband. I am almost always making a countdown to the next time I get to see him. I love spending time with him and doing just about anything with him. It seems like when Chris comes around we play more games and watch more sports. I think it's so funny that he calls Jonathan Mr. BJ Nelson. I am so lucky to have a big brother like Chris. I can talk to him about anything and he'll listen. He is a wonderful example to me and I can't wait to see him next week!

Isn't he such a cute dad!

Chris is still telling me what to do...

I am grateful for sunshine.

I love all different types of weather, but today I am grateful that it's bright and sunny. As I'm sitting outside it feels like a warm blanket is wrapped around me. It just feels good when life gets a little too crazy. In my head, I make a connection with sunshine and our Heavenly Father. There are storms that try to block out the sunshine at times in our lives, but if we persevere and do all that we can to get through the dark times, we will be basking in the sunshine once again. That is why I'm grateful for sunshine.

I am grateful for a little girl.

I am grateful for my niece Mercedes. I honestly never thought I was going to have a niece because of all the little boys in my family, but thanks to Jonathan I got my first niece. She is just adorable, sweet, and such a girl. She's incredibly quiet and then let's out high pitched skwills of joy! At first, I wasn't very comfortable around just because I'm used to little boys and their style of play. Mercedes hugs just about anything you tell her to and she loves her stuffed bunny. Lately though we have started to really get along and play together. She really has prepared me for Lyla and Chris and Annie's little girl. At one of the last Nelson family gatherings, I was sitting next to Mercedes and after awhile she decided her plate was a really fun toy to hide behind. So, I decided to follow her example and hide behind my plate too. She thought that was just the funniest thing ever! I just love playing with little kids and making them laugh. They are so wonderful!

Our first picture together as Aunt and niece!

She's too cute!

I am feeling grateful.

Okay, so I am so grateful for the state of California. Ironic because it's usually driving me crazy with the horrible politics and all the one million regulations that are trying to interfere with everyday life. So, I married a super smart man. He has been using a Board of Governer's grant to help pay for his college education. When I signed up for my classes he told me about it and so yesterday we went to the financial aid office and took care of the paperwork. Not only are they paying for spring semester, but I'm going to be getting a check for this fall semester as well! Thank you California for making higher education possible for people that couldn't afford it otherwise.

Meet the newest Patterson!

This weekend we were able to meet Miss Lyla Nicole Patterson! She is just the sweetest little girl. It is so different having a little girl in the family. She's definitely helping calm things down, even just a little bit. We just love this little girl!

Doesn't he look so cute holding a baby!

A very proud older brother!

I am grateful for the faith of my fathers (and mothers too)

I love Sunday. I get to go to church and learn and teach and sing for 3 hours. Today was a special day because the children presented their Primary Program. They work all year long and this year was about the importance of the scriptures. It was so wonderful to listen to the songs and lessons we can learn from the scriptures. Not only do we learn about Christ and prophets, but we can learn to be better people. We can read the stories and see how we can follow the good examples there.
I am so grateful that I was raised in a home that read the scriptures. This didn't happen by accident either. Both of my parents were raised in homes that read the scriptures. When Jonathan and I have children, they will know the scriptures.
I don't know what kind of person I would be if I didn't have the scriptures in my life. However, I do know that I wouldn't have the same perspective and subsequently the same goals. I feel like I can handle whatever challenges will come my way because I know that our Heavenly Father will help me. That help can come in various ways, but it will come.

Yes, I am grateful for this!

I am grateful for my crazy nephews. I have a herd of nephews and they are all so different, and yet so simlilar. My oldest brother has been in town this weekend to introduce their adorable little girl to the family. (She is the first little girl in our family since me!) I've been trying to spend as much time as possible with the kids because I just don't seen them enough anymore. It is so wonderful to be able to play with them and watch them interact with eachother. It makes me wonder what my kids will be like and how they will fit in with this crazy bunch. I am so grateful for my great, big family!

Tyler is such a sweet brother!

Grandpa and the big boys camping in the living room.

PS Only 11 days until this kid and his parents fly in from Idaho!!!!

I am grateful for change.

(11-11-11. Yeah, I feel pretty lucky.)
I am really am grateful for change. Not just for the sake of change, but change that is truly for the better. I'm not exactly sure how to express just what I am thinking. I guess I am grateful that we don't stay the same way forever. We can grow and learn from the experiences that we face in life. We can always change our nature. Though, if we choose to not work for it we can easily lose all the progress we've made.
As, I'm rereading this, it sounds like this is such a wierd thing to be grateful for. I am grateful that I've been able to learn a few things in my short 21 years and that I have been able to change somethings about myself. Here's to a long life of learning and changing for the better!

I am grateful for a very special person!

Sorry this is a couple of days late, I've been hanging out with my nephews and baby niece! Anyways....
This person is truly amazing. They are so selfless and loving. My day is better when I see them and we have way too much fun together. This person has made a huge impact on my life and I want to be just like them when I grow up! This person is my mom!
I love my mom! We honestly are like two peas in a pod! We think alike in so many ways. She truly is my best friend. My life would not be the same without her. Thanks for being wonderful mom!

I am am so grateful it worked!

Oh boy, so if you know me you know I'm a bit of a procrastinator. (My mom can vouch for this!) Well, I had a physics lab this past week and of course waited until last night start it. I had to build a motor by making two electromagnets using copper wire and nails. I was looking forward to building it, but was also a little scared. I've never built a motor before and was so paranoid that I would mess up in any or all of the steps. So, it took way too many hours and help from Jonathan, but it was ready to be tested. At first it didn't look like I would be able to test it until today at school. (Yeah that's terrifying!) Then I realized that the battery in my phone should be enough to get the motor running and sure enough it worked! Boy was I relived! That could have been the end of the story, but it wasn't.


I took my motor school and it was acting up, so I tried a few simple things and it worked. Then my lab partner looked at my motor and was telling me that I could probably get it to run on even less volts. At first, I was content that my motor was just working and going to get a decent grade. Then, I was tempted by the idea of having one of the best motors in my class. So I decided to go ahead and improve my motor. Part of the motor has bent nails wrapped in copper wire and so we were going to try to bend them more. In the process of bending the nails, part of the copper wire broke. (NOT GOOD!) We tried an easy way to fix it, and of course it didn't work. So we unwrapped all of my hard work from the night before and fixed the break. I re-wrapped it and thankfully it WORKED!


Now, why this experience made me so grateful. Throughout this project, I was stressed and worried. (Jonathan got to see this firsthand.) Last night, after testing it I honestly thought it was all over and it really could have been. I wasn't content with the working motor that I had. I wanted something better than what I already had and as usual that's when things fall apart. When we were unwrapping the wire, I honestly felt like I was unraveling too. I was so worried that I had totally ruined my project and wasn't going to get any points on it. Thankfully, the last fix worked. I learned from this simple project that I should be grateful for what I have. I have such a wonderful life and shouldn't be unhappy because of things beyond my control. Though, the best part of this experience is that even if I try to force things in a way that they don't need to be, I can turn to our Heavenly Father and He will help things work out. I'm so grateful that I learned this lesson in a way that was relatively painless, but I hope that it will stick with me.

That's part of my motor!

I am so grateful for this!

This is going to sound really weird, but I am incredibly grateful for our boring life. Jonathan and I have nothing exciting or worrisome in our life. We are healthy, we have dirty dishes, we have each other. The only thing we complain about is not being able to spend all our time with each other. We are truly blessed for all that we have.

Am I Really Grateful for That?!

I hope I have your attention with the title. This really is a peculiar thing to be grateful for. Tonight Jonathan and I were finally catching up on all of our dirty dishes. That reminded me of something that opened my eyes. I found a poem a few weeks ago and realized that I had the wrong attitude about them. Dirty dishes are usually just seen as a chore and a bother, but what do they really show? They show that the people in the home are well fed and very blessed. There are so many people that don't have as nearly as much as we do and we should be greatful for all that we've been given. That includes dirty dishes!

This is the poem that inspired me.

I am grateful for today!

I am grateful that today is the Sabbath. I get to go to church for 3 hours and then spend the rest of the day with my sweet Jonathan. At church, I get to teach the 12 and 13 year olds about the amazing men who have led our church. It has been so helpful to me as I face challenges to know that others have been standing up for the same things that I currently am. Today, the lesson is based on a famous quote by Spencer W. Kimball given in 1974. "I wonder if we're doing all we can. Are we prepared to lengthen our stride?" 


I've been thinking about this quote on and off all this week. I know that I have been falling short of doing what I can a lot lately. I allow my self to get distracted by little things rather than focus in on the important. This week of writing down the things I'm grateful for has been so helpful to me. It's helping me realize just how blessed I am at this time in my life. I want to keep this attitude of gratitude all year long. That is a major goal of mine. Hopefully I'll be able to see things to be grateful for without having to blog about it.

Trying Something New (and so fun!)

So, I like spending hours and hours and hours on Pinterest. I get lots of good ideas and like most people don't do anything about it. I especially like seeing cute ways to use quotes as art. Luckily, I found a tutorial from a blog (check it out here) on how to make them myself. So, I kind of am addicted to making them. Here are some of the things I've made, but I'm not going to post my favorite because it's going to be a baby shower gift for my newest nieces!

My very first one.

Jonathan and I made this for Adam's birthday. 

My birthday present for Jonathan.

A helpful reminder.

I am grateful for a book.

I am grateful for the Book of Mormon. It is a book of scripture and works with the Bible to teach us about Jesus Christ's mission. It is a book that the spirit flows out of the words. You can learn so much about the purpose of our lives here on the earth. It gives me direction and strength to do what I know is right in spite of all the opposition around me. It's helping bring me closer to Jonathan as we read it. We each share our different insights about what we have read. I love this book and the people that sacrificed so much so that I can read it. We live in a marvelous time. When the Book of Mormon was first printed, there were only 5,000 copies in one language, English. Now the book is available in 107 languages and over 3 million copies are printed each year. I also now have the scriptures on my phone. I am never without them and that is such a wonderful blessing. I added a video about one man's experience with the Book of Mormon and how it has changed his life.

Today I am grateful for...

I am grateful for toasty warm beds. I love being all snuggled in my bed and now especially that I married Jonathan. He truly is a professional snuggler. It's one of his favorite things to do and I've gotten hooked on it too!

Our cozy, grown up bed!

My third day of gratitude

Today I am so grateful for Institute. (If you want to know more click here.) It is such a wonderful place that I can learn more about the gospel and have my own insights on what I need to be doing. It also has some wonderful memories with friends. It's also where Jonathan proposed. (Was that really a year ago?)

Todays class was in the Old Testament. (I LOVE the Old Testament!) We were talking about how sometimes we, like the children of Israel, take the long route. It didn't need to take them 40 years to get to the promised land, but it did because of the choices they made. It got me thinking about my life and when I've taken an extra long route. There is one that comes to mind for me especially. I am grateful for that experience. It has made me aware of all the blessings I put on hold for myself. It is also helping me to trust in the Lord's timing. There are things that I want right now, but I know that things will work out better if I relax and have faith.

I am so grateful for the blessings that come from attending Institute!

I'm grateful for...

This shouldn't be too surprising, but I am so incredibly grateful for Jonathan. He has made my life complete. It honestly feels like he's always been part of my life. He is an incredible man and I still don't know how I got him.

A Grateful Heart

Trials are an interesting part of life. Everyone has them, but they vary: some are physical, some are emotional, some are obvious, some are unseen to the people around us. One of my favorite blogs is the nienie dialogues. This woman and her husband were in a terrible plane crash which left them both burned. She had much more severe burns and doctors didn't think she would survive. I started reading her blog before she was able to come home from the hospital. I remember how badly she wanted to be home with her children and when she finally made it home all the struggles she had doing everyday tasks. This woman has been an inspiration to me. She has overcome so many challenges and still faces more, but she knows that our Heavenly Father is mindful of her and has a plan for her. I know that our Heavenly Father knows us and loves us. He only wants the best for His children and He will help us through the hard times in our lives as long as we turn to Him. I am so grateful for this knowledge and I look forward to finding out what He wants me to learn from my current set of challenges.

So as I was trying to come up with a title for this post, I decided since it's November I should do a daily post for something I am grateful for, plus posts about what fun things have been going on in our lives. I'll try to be good and actually do it. See you tomorrow!