Thanksgiving

I LOVE THANKSGIVING! This may be because my favorite food is mashed potatoes and gravy. I would be perfectly happy with a plate full of mashed potatoes and gravy and nothing else.

Mainly though, I love spending the day with family. We were at Bryan's family's house this year and had a great time. It was fun, relaxing and yummy. We ate, visited, and watched movies. The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins. It was a great day!

I also like Thanksgiving because it forces me to think of all the things I am thankful for. I know that during day-to-day run of life, it becomes easy to want instead of just being thankful. I know I am guilty of this. So I like just being thankful. There is so much to be thankful for, but some of the things that come to mind are:

I am thankful for my knowledge of God. I know he exists. I know he loves me and wants me to succeed. I know he hears my prayers and answers them. I think he is anxious to answer our prayers, and sometimes I have been suprised at how specifically he answers them. I think this world would be a far scarier place without this knowledge of God.

I am thankful for my trials. In the 10 years that Bryan and I have been married, we have had our share of trials - some large and some small. Looking back, I have learned something from every one of them. I am grateful for the knowledge I have gained through these trials. I am grateful for how I have grown through these times.

I am thankful for my family. First, my husband and children. We have so much fun together. I love being with them. Bryan is the best husband I could ask for, and I never knew that being a mom to two boys would be so great. I am also grateful for my family and Bryan's family. We are both very close with our families, and I don't know what I would do without these relationships.

I am thankful for great friends. I have friends that I can talk to, have fun with, and count on whenever I need them. Great friends definitely make life easier and a lot more fun.

I am thankful for all the material things that make life easier - cars, televisions, cell phones, computers, etc... We live in an amazing era, and I take these things for granted most of the time.

There are so many things to be thankful for. These are just some of the things on the forefront of my mind. It is my goal for this coming year to recognize more readily the things in life to be thankful for.

I Am Thankful For...

1. I AM THANKFUL FOR MY HEATER. As I turned it on last night, I thought how lucky I am to be able to set a temperature, push a button and my house stays warm. I don't have to chop wood and build a fire. I don't have to sleep in the cold. I just push a button. And pay my gas bill.

2. I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL THE LEAVES ON THE GROUND IN MY BACKYARD. Cleaning them up is not all that fun (Bryan does most of that anyway), but Kevin and Trey get so excited whenever they see the leaves start to fall. Their simple joy found jumping in leaf piles is something I look forward to every year.

3. I AM THANKFUL FOR THE GUY WHO LET ME INTO HIS LANE ON THE FREEWAY SO I WOULDN'T MISS MY EXIT TO MY HAIR APPOINTMENT ON FRIDAY. I was running late and would have been really late if I missed that exit. Granted, I may have forced my way over into his lane. But nonetheless, at least he braked to avoid hitting me.

4. I AM THANKFUL FOR THE FULL MOON WE HAD THIS WEEK. We were driving home one night and noticed it. It was huge - twice the size it normally looks. It kept creeping behind the mountains as we were driving. The boys were in awe and took a few moments when we got home to go in the front yard and stare at it.

5. I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL THE STAIRS IN MY HOUSE. I usually complain about having to go up and down the stairs all the time. Looking at the positive side, my butt is extremely grateful because it would probably be a little bigger without the stairs.

6. I AM THANKFUL FOR TWO BOYS WHO ARE EXTREMELY GOOD FRIENDS. They are running around the house right now, making a lot of noise, and laughing hysterically at each other. I can tell when they are laughing at each other because their laughs are different when they are together. Kind of like a laugh only reserved for each other. I love that sound.

7. I AM THANKFUL THAT TREY DOESN'T CRY WHEN I WASH HIS HAIR ANYMORE. Seriously, this is a huge milestone for us. Better than when he started walking. Trey is extremely sensitive to anything that he looses any bit of control over. Up until 3 months ago, he screamed at the top of his lungs at every bath time. I would make sure all the windows in the house were shut because if neighbors heard him, they would probably report us for child abuse. He screamed like I was burning him with a hot curling iron. He would even warn me before his bath that he was going to cry. "Mom, I'm going to cry when you wash my hair." Who does that? Then all of a sudden, it was done. He realized that getting his hair washed wasn't the end of the world and there are far better things to save his lungs for. My blood pressure is now at normal levels during bath time.

I Am Thankful For...

I thought I would write seven things I am thankful for each week. One for every day.

1. I AM THANKFUL FOR MY BATHROOM SHOWER. To be honest, I despise my shower. I curse it every time I use it. But as I was showering today and thinking how I would love a shower that isn't twenty years old, I also thought of how lucky I am to have a shower at all. Water comes out of it how it is supposed to. The water is hot how I like it. The water is contained in my shower like it is supposed to be. It gets me clean. Really, what more do I need?

2. I AM THANKFUL FOR RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION. When we were first married, Bryan's car was this piece of @#$% that slowly inherited more and more problems. My favorite memories with this car are: towing it up and down the street in the wintertime at least three times a week to get it started in the morning (our neighbors loved us); and having both outside handles break (it was a two-door) so you had to climb in the hatchback to get in. Oh, there are many others - these are just the highlights. I am grateful for two reliable cars.

3. I AM THANKFUL FOR THE WEATHER TODAY. It snowed last week and today was really nice. We worked in the yard and the boys played outside for a long time. It was great.

4. I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE CHANCE OUR FAMILY HAD TO CLEAN THE CHURCH BUILDING TODAY. It gave us a chance to teach Kevin and Trey how to work hard and to teach them respect for the building we worship in every week.

5. I AM THANKFUL FOR SCREAMING BABIES. When Kevin had his surgery when he was a baby, he cried for most of the next night in the hospital. He shared a room with a baby that did not make one sound the entire night. I apologized profusely all night to the other mother for the noise Kevin was making. She said that she actually liked hearing the sound of his crying because her baby had never cried once. They were testing to try to find out what was wrong with her baby. I am grateful that my babies have been healthy enough to cry. Believe me, I've heard my fair share of screams. I am Trey's mom.

6. I AM THANKFUL FOR A HUSBAND WHO GIVES GREAT SHOULDER MASSAGES and who offers to give them on almost a daily basis.

7. I AM THANKFUL FOR FACEBOOK. It let me do something that I would have been too freaked out to do in person.