Grateful

Some of my favorite Thanksgivings in past years took place at our house, where I spent days slaving over the kitchen, preparing a giant meal. This year, we joined Aaron's parents at their house for the holiday...and boy!, it was really nice not to do the cooking! We just showed up, a delicious dinner was all ready to go, and we ATE! I feel a little guilty for not making more of a contribution--thank you Grovers for the wonderful feast:)

 I guess it was poor timing on my part, but would you believe that just as the meal was being put on the table, my baby insists that he was hungry too? Feeling impatient, I tried at first to just eat my dinner really fast, but it was clear that Ben wasn't going to let me enjoy my meal before he got his. So, I excused myself and, as everyone was partaking of those first few bites of the Thanksgiving meal--the pinacle of the Thanksgiving holiday--I was sharing a quiet moment, snuggling my baby--a very fitting reminder of what I am most thankful for this special season.

After dinner, while the men snoozed on the couch watching a sporting event, we ladies carried our post-Thanksgiving tradition on and made this cute little craft:

When we were living at the hospital during our ordeal with Ben, my mom would ask me every afternoon before she joined us for her shift in the evening if there was anything we'd like her to bring us...a snack? a pair of slippers? a magazine? I found it so strange that in the five years that we have owned our home and worked every day to fill it with the nice comforts of life, that I couldn't for the life of me think of a single thing that I needed. With an entire houseful of things, there was not one single thing in that house that mattered. Thats not to say that I'm not grateful for the many nice things that we have, but I learned a very valuable lesson at that time about the things that really do matter. The things that matter aren't things. I won't even try to begin a "What I am Thankful For" list, because I wouldn't have enough paper or ink, but here are the things that I couldn't survive without:

- I have never found as much strength, hope, and comfort as I have found in the past few months in the gospel through prayer, scripture study, and personal revelation. I am so grateful for my Savior, His gift of the Atonement, and the chance that I am given everyday to do a little better. I am so thankful for my relationship with my Heavenly Father. He knows me, He loves me, He hears me, and He answers me. God is good. Miracles happen.

- I am thankful for Aaron, my partner. It is an invaluable blessing to be able to walk this journey with my best friend.

- I can't describe how grateful I am to have been given the three most precious boys in the world. I honestly can't figure out why Heavenly Father has entrusted these special boys to me. Me! They are my most prized possessions and I love them dearly.

- At 28, I feel like I lean on my parents (and in-laws) more than ever. I am oh so thankful to have a mom that I can call (and call her I do!) when I am feeling low and receive words of encouragement, friendship, and support. I truly believe that many of the tender mercies of the Lord have come to me in conversations with my mom. I am ever so thankful to have such involved parents-in-law who take such good care of us: babysitting the boys so that I can take Ben to therapy, giving Aaron and I much-needed date nights, taking the boys on dates and making them feel special, and just being a part of our family.

What a lucky girl I am!