Thankful.

Even though, as my sister reminded me, we shouldn't need a holiday to make us express our gratitude, Thanksgiving is still one of my favorite holidays. I love that it is still a holiday that focuses on important values without being super commercialized...unless of course you count all of the Thanksgiving/Black Friday sales :).

Anyway, I wanted to take a minute to write about all of the gratitude I feel in my heart. I feel like I have so much to be grateful for..my heart is bursting. We have been so richly blessed this past year, and I don't want to ever take those blessings for granted.

I am so thankful for my family. I am so fortunate to have Mike as my husband - he is such an amazing man, husband, and dad. He is considerate of my needs, keeps me on my toes, and does a great job caring for our family. He is so sweet to work all day, then come home and help me care for the kids...including getting up with them at night! Jaxson and Aynsley have brought so much joy to my life! I can't imagine them not being here. It took a lot of heartache and pain for them to come, but it was definitely worth the wait and I would experience it all over again just to have them. I absolutely love being their mom. They make me smile and laugh every day, and I am amazed at the things I learn from them. I also have an amazing network of extended family members who are fabulous - I was raised by amazing parents, am part of a great family, and have been fortunate enough to have that family grow when Mike and I married. I am thankful for my sweet sister, who watches my kids and loves them almost as much as I do.

I am thankful to good friends - so many of you have been with me during good and bad times. We have shared laughs and tears. I love knowing that I have friends that I can call on and will be there for me. We have had so many good memories, and I look forward to many more!

I am so grateful for the "material" things that I have in my life, meaning my home, cars, warm clothing, etc. I know that there are many people who have to go without, and sometimes I wonder what I did to be born into a life/situation where these things are so accessible to me. I don't mean to sound stuck-up; I just realize that these are things that I probably take for granted more often than I should, and there are many people who don't have that luxury.

I am thankful for my health and a healthy family. All things considered, I have a body that serves me well. I have a husband whose health allows him to work, be active, and spend time with our family. I have healthy children. We are blessed.

The last thing I want to express my gratitude for (but certainly not the last thing I am thankful for) is my Heavenly Father and church membership. There have been so many times when I have needed help, and He has always been there for me, patiently waiting. I love having the Church in my life and the help it gives me - where else can you find such a great network of unconditionally supportive people? I love the knowledge that I have that I have a forever family...just one of the many blessings I am so thankful for.

Going forward, I want to make more of an effort to acknowledge the blessings that I have and verbalize my gratitude for them. Thank you to my friends and family who have had such a great impact on my life. You are amazing!