Season of Thanks

I have always loved Thanksgiving and Christmas.  They are probably my most favorite of all the holidays.  I love holidays that give you an excuse to eat more than you should but also allow for some much needed family time.  I guess that is why this Thanksgiving has been so hard for me.  We had planned to go to Idaho for my mom's side of the family Thanksgiving dinner, haven't been there in more years than I care to admit, but our finances had other plans.  We stayed home, just the six of us, well seven with my friend Alicia, and had a very quiet day.

Allbeit small and quiet we had a nice Thanksgiving.  I am so grateful for a wonderful husband who supports and provides for our family.  I know it is hard for him to get up at 4 each morning and go to work, but he does it, and he does it without ever complaining about how tired he is.  He has been blessed with a good job that offers a nice security in these current economic times.  He leads and guides our family, he is a great example to my boys of how a husband and father should be.  He blesses us with the Priesthood when we are sick or otherwise afflicted.  He is a great man and we are so very lucky to call him husband, father and friend!
We live in a beautiful home in a fantastic neighborhood, such a wonderful place to raise our little family.
My kids are so beautiful and so smart and so fun to be around.  They are healthy and growing and learning.  They are best friends and treat each other with so much respect and care it bewilders even me!  Yes, they have their moments, don't kid yourself.....ALL kids have their moments, but they are so sweet to each other and so thoughtful of each other it makes me wonder where they get it from.
I am grateful for great friends who love me in-spite of my insanities.  They let me cry to them and vent to them when I am having a not so great day.  They love me even with all my flaws and insecurities.  They are patient with me when I call at the last minute for childcare.  I am grateful for my health, I am able to care for my family and do the everyday things that we take for granted.
There is so much to be thankful for, everything to be grateful for.

This is the time of the year that we get to reflect on all the many blessings our Lord has blessed us with, because you know He has blessed us most richly.  And I have so many, countless many, things I am thankful for...but for some reason I can't stop thinking about what I wish we had.  What I wish I could do for my kids, if only I had the money.  I look around and see what the other kids have and I wish so badly I could provide those same things for my kids.  I don't know if it is worse this year because the kids are old enough now to take note and see what is out there and then they make their own lists of what they want, or if things really are that much tighter.  I can only hope I have taught my kids enough to be able to count themselves fortunate for what they have and to be able to know the difference between a want and a need.  I can honestly say this has been the hardest year, financially, for our family and it is getting hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I know we will get through it, don't know when, but I know we will.  It has to get better...cause I don't think it could get worse...lol!!  It will be the perfect opportunity for us to teach our kids about the real meaning of Christmas.  It is not about material things, it is not about getting a present under a tree, it is about celebrating our Savior and His life.  It would do us good to get out of the world, out of the hustle and bustle of Christmas and get back to the root of it.