Our Thanksgiving Turkey I made out of newspaper and paint.
The past two Thanksgiving's my dear sweetheart Bryan has had to work, retail is not kind at the holiday's. Vacations and days off or not allowed and the job is stressful with very little to no praise for a job well done. Not to mention (okay I'm totally mentioning it) the small paychecks. So this is us getting by, and Bryan being gone for most of the kid's Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. He works 2 jobs and is going to school. He's truly a man that is on the go, all day long. I am telling this to show how very, VERY thankful I am for the time we DO get to spend with him. The kids get plenty of "mommy time" but "daddy time" is missed terribly around here. When he finishes school next Fall, we are hoping for more family and daddy time. His schooling takes up most of his extra time.
We LOVE spending time together. Each outing, backyard play time, or just sitting and talking, is precious and we cherish it all. My family is my most precious "thing" the thing I spend the most time loving, prepping, teaching, cleaning and the list goes on. It brings me such joy that I feel full in life. Each of my children bring something different to the family and I don't know how the family would function with out them all. They think they need me, but I need them, they are my everything.
My extended family is here (AZ) and in California, I live close to my in-laws, but far from my own sweet family. So I think of them often because they were the ones who helped mold and shape me to the person I am now. My parents are the (honest and true) best kind of people, the kind that always are supportive and loving, as well as easy to talk to and fun. My siblings are outstanding and I love talking with them any chance I get. I miss them so very much. Having 3 sisters and 2 brothers, in a coastal home with a backyard and a pool we set up each summer, a garden full of tomato's, peppers, beans, squash, grapes and loganberries, cats, and more cats, apple and pear trees. I can't tell you how much I love my childhood, my mind is flooded with so many wonderful things, and even with the thousands of memories, my siblings remember things (that we experienced together) that I don't recall. Another reason I love to talk with them, they extract memories that I had long forgotten but have frag-mental pieces of. My baby sister (2 yrs younger) has always been my best friend. We went from 2nd grade to graduation from high school in the same grade, had a ton of the same friends and did almost everything together. We have so much fun together, and still enjoy many of the same things.
I guess what I'm saying is that I am thankful this season most for my family. I thank Heavenly Father for sending me here to a loving family to be raised in and brought up right. I am thankful for being brought up in the gospel of Jesus Christ and have that centered in my life and my families life. It anchor's us as a family and is the glue that holds us together. We are grateful for the knowledge of being a family forever. Our strength and resolution comes from our knowledge that the gospel brings to us.
I can't help but thank Heavenly Father in each prayer for the many things he's given us. I am forever grateful for his love and care for me as an individual but also for us as a family. At times this hits me so hard that I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love for Him and the life he's given me. I am one of the fortunate ones.
Give thanks to the one who gives you everything.
