Gratitude

Woe, is me. The craziness of the season has taken over my ability to keep up in my cyber life. But, I hate to be putting up Christmas decorations and preparing my Christmas cards without spending a little time thinking about some of the things I am most grateful for...I've always been grateful that Thanksgiving gives us a chance to really ponder those things before we kick off into Christmas. So here you are...a list (with many pictures) of some of the things that have make my life blissful! (And these come more in the order that I took and posted the pictures, no priority order here at all!)

1. I am grateful for cousins and the chance to create many meaningful and lifelong memories on family trips, etc. This is a picture of Ella and Kayla with cousin Callin over our Thanksgiving break.

2. I am grateful for missionaries who give up so much of their time (2 years!) and talents to share our beliefs with others. I love that my brother CJ is currently serving a mission in Ghana and I can tell from his letters that he is a better person and the people he interacts with are blessed by his service too. This is a picture of my brother CJ's best friend Elder Thien, who happens to be serving near my brother's home so that we could have him over for Thanksgiving dinner.

3. I am so grateful for family. And it was a special blessing to have Doug and Annie close enough to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at their home. I was especially grateful that the turkey was not my responsibility!! (Annie, you did a fabulous job, by the way.) And by the way, a shout-out should be had for all of the great food I got to enjoy.

4. I am grateful for my carpet cleaner (no picture attached). We had an incident involving Ella and an upset tummy while staying at Doug and Annie's home that made the carpet cleaner one of my greatest blessings.


5. I am grateful for good friends. We have been living here for over a year now and when you are no where near family, you have to rely on your friends. These people are the best and brightest. Since we are a one-car family, I can tell you that many of these people pictured here shoulder the burden of getting me to and from important appointments (I will be forever grateful, by the way and happy to return the favor someday!) This is a picture of many members of my book club group and others who joined in for a showing of Twilight. PS- I am also grateful for good books and movies that provide a wonderful escape from reality.



6. I am grateful for Ella's preschool groups. Here we are pictured at our zoo field trip. Since starting preschool, Ella seems more eager to learn and her social behavior has positively increased ten-fold.


7. I am very grateful for the three people shown below (I love this moment I captured!) They provide me with my greatest challenges so that I can grow, but they also provide me with my greatest feelings of joy and love.


8. I really, really love my computer. This may seem strong, but my Mac has opened up so many more possibilities to create...I love to create. (No picture, sorry). PS- Don't you just love the Apple commercials :)

9. I love that my girls are musically inclined. They both respond to the sound of good music. I live in a singing/playing/dancing world--it's hard not to be happier because of it.


10. I am so grateful for a thriving piano business and students that I love. This is a picture of the Halloween recital that my friend and I hosted at a nursing home for Halloween. It was such a great combination of performance and service.


Finally, I'm so glad for blogging friends who make the cyber world a fun place to visit and revisit. I promise I will start commenting soon...just let me get my Christmas cards out first! And if you would like to be on my list, send me an email with your address!!