So Much to Be Thankful For

I am so richly blessed in my life. I hope that I cannot be guilty of being ungrateful. This month, we have been working on counting our blessings in our home, be they big things or small. To help us with this, we collected beautiful leaves all around town on our walks to parks, to the library, and up the canyons. Then, after drying and laminating them, we have been putting them on our "thankful tree," one each day, as a kind of advent for Thanksgiving. Take a look:

Things included are:
our car
our home
nursery
puzzles
Mommy & Daddy
Emma
James
grandmas and grandpas
NPR
cereal
play-doh
prayer
service
music
sleep
opportunities
library
letters (of the alphabet)
good health
New Testament
dishwasher
friends
good health care
Jesus
education
bread
prophets & apostles
heat
the park

These are so very few of the many, many blessings we have been given. I am grateful for this holiday week where we have the opportunity to count our many blessings and see what God has done.

Also, here's a beautiful song on the Josh Groban album "NOEL." I always pull the CD out for Christmas, but this song is truly a Thanksgiving song. Finally this year, I remembered to listen to it for Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

How about you? What are you most thankful for?

Six Weeks

Has it really been that long? Well, life as certainly been happening these past six weeks, and we're enjoying the ride:

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Recently, Emma has been saying the cutest things so much so, that I've decided it's time to starting writing them down (or typing them up, for that matter). Take a look:

ME: "Emma, do you want cereal or oatmeal for breakfast?"

EMMA: "Cereal."

ME: "Come on James, Emma and I are going to have some cereal."

EMMA: "But not you, buddy!"

While wrapping Emma in her towel and holding her after a bath,

ME: "Whoa, you're getting so big."

EMMA: "Yeah, I'm going to grow right out of this towel!"

This morning, I was thumbing through a pamphlet that came in the mail (essentially junk mail that was destined for the recycle bin after I was done with it). I had folded it along the stapled biding:

EMMA: "Don't bend it, Mommy. If you bend it again, I'll TAKE IT AWAY from you!"