I am Thankful

I just want to start by saying, I LOVE this time of year!!! I've been listening to Christmas music since the beginning of November, and I have no shame! I think it's funny when people "confess" on facebook about that, because I think a lot of people do and like it, they just are silly. So anyway, I'm finding this time of year to be refreshing. There's just something about the weather changing that makes everything seem wonderful.

I really wanted to get on here though, because I've been thinking about how we need to be grateful always, and this time of year is here to remind us of that. So I just thought I would let out all of those feelings of gratitude I've been feeling lately.

I am grateful for my new, little, and still growing family. All of it. I don't think Jacob gets enough credit sometimes for how wonderful he is. Not only is he hardworking, loving, and funny, but he is sweet, determinded, and the best person I could ask to be with. I am so thankful to be able to have him by my side forever. I love having a partner, companion, and best friend. Words don't really express my love and gratitude for him. I also am so thankful for my sweet Kimball. I am so grateful for the gift of motherhood. There is nothing like watching your little man grow and change and learn. He is so funny, so smart, and so perfect. Of course it's challenging, but nothing in my life thus far has been as rewarding as being a wife and mother.

I am grateful to be pregnant. Maybe that's silly but I enjoy being pregnant. It's hard in the beginning, and unpleasant in the end, but it is such a sweet process. Knowing that I am growing another little member of my family inside me, and what comes at the end of it all, and getting to feel those sweet kicks and tumbles... it's just amazing.

I am thankful for the Sunbeams we teach on Sundays in church. We have about five of them most times, and they are not only sweet, but so funny! Every Sunday is a new learning experience for us, and we always leave church with a smile because of them.

I am thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the gospel. The scriptures truly teach of Christ. I know that life isn't meant to be perfect or easy, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to have faith and remember him always, and we will ALWAYS be okay. I believe that we need to experience hardships, because we truly become who we can be through them. And so, for all of our challenges and trials over the last few months, I am very grateful. It has taught us quite a bit.

I am thankful for my family. So many have helped us in so many ways. We have been so blessed to have family around us to support us where we are and where we are trying to go. I love my family. I am so grateful to have been raised by such wonderful parents, and for siblings who I love so much. I am also grateful for my new extended family. I'm thankful that I don't have to feel awkward or uncomfortable around them, and that they are people I love to spend time with.

I am thankful for so many things. For this holiday season, for a roof over our heads, that we have enough to take care of our needs, laughter, good friends, and all things that we have been so very blessed with. I love my life. It's interesting because I've been watching the news more now than I ever have in my life (mostly because Jacob likes it so much), but I've really become intrigued with how people value things. That we have to have so much money and that success is valued by how much stuff you can have. To me, I am rich. I have all of the things I need to have joy in my life, even if everything around me isn't perfect.