On November 12th, I'm Grateful for:

Another reminder that we have remarkable grandchildren with diverse interests, each so fun to observe as they develop their talents. Morgan is on a robotics team at school that took 1st place in their presentation yesterday.  She is 9 years old and already learning how to make and program robots!  I think I'll list all of our grandkids'  interests that I can think of...and hope I don't leave any out.  These are in no particular order. Oh, how I love each one of these precious little people!

• Football
• Basketball
• Soccer
• Dancing
• Gymnastics
• Writing
• Acting and pretending
• Clogging
• Ballet
• Running
• Piano
• Scouting and Camping
• Academics
• Building things with imagination
• Percussion
• Fashion Design
• Sewing 
• Art 
• Wrestling
• Singing 
• Cooking
• Magic  
• Robotics 
• Skiing
• Snow Boarding
• Technology                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Thanksgiving at Home

                          

                    

  

        

         

                                 

           

  

      

    

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Due to the aforementioned storms, our plans to travel to Utah were abruptly changed on the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving! Roads so slick that a four-wheel drive made no difference! Never have we seen so much snow and cold in November since we moved to Blackfoot! We were "bummed" not to be able to be with Greg's extended family for the big day to say the least, but felt it just wasn't using wisdom to travel on roads labeled "treacherous" wherever you looked. My mom ended up not being able to travel on the shuttle to Salt Lake to be with Craig and family due to the weather and Cindy and DJ and family also decided not to brave the roads, so we all threw Thanksgiving dinner together at our home! I must say it was delightful...food and company!  "Many hands make light work" as they say and such was the case. I had made 6 pies in preparation for Utah so needless to say, we had PLENTY of dessert! And as evidenced by some of the above pictures, our little ones asked for pie and "ice ceme" SEVERAL times during the course of the afternoon! I'm surprised Porter wasn't sick the next day...but hey, Thanksgiving only comes once a year...right? Cindy brought jello, rolls, and potatoes, Mom brought vegetables, and Greg and I did the turkey (a never been frozen one from DelMonte meats in Pocatello, yum!), dressing, Chuckwagon carrots, and dessert. I was very much looking forward to helping Janet do the "loving hands" quilt at Promontory, so decided we would do one ourselves Thanksgiving afternoon. It turned out to be a fun little project and gave me lots of time with my Mom and my little Morgan who stuck with me every inch of the way until time to go home! All the kids contributed little hand prints with uplifting messages.  We will tie the quilt after Christmas and take it to the Crisis Center. Another thing I especially loved was the opportunity to sit around the table and while eating, share a list of things we are all grateful for. It was a wonderful intimate time. So though we missed extended family and our other kids and grandkids, we did have much for which to be grateful on this wonderful Thanksgiving Day! Life is rich and full and all of you make it so!

Today's Gratitude List

So many specific things for which to be thankful:
 

                                  View from our front window this morning

• Being able to be at home especially on days like today when it is snowing and blowing and cold!
• Greg who goes to work even on these nasty days and is happy I get to stay home!
• A big picture window where I can stand and stare at the beauties outside without getting even a tiny bit cold!
• My kids blogs where I can read all the cute things our grandkids say! They put and keep a smile on our faces! 
• The fact that I am in the GRANDMA phase of life. I love it so much!
• My Bosch mixer that I use almost every day of my life!
• My new sewing machine that I am enjoying so much.
• Energy again!
• A new MS drug to try.
• Our new (to us) 2007 Toyota Avalon provided by Greg's company for our driving convenience.
• The heated (and cooled) seats in said car. A definite "old fogey" feature I hope never to be without. Yes, I am spoiled!
• Skype and the opportunity to visit with our Florida kids and grandkids last night! It was as if I could reach out and touch little Eva, our newest! Love technology (when used for good)!
• A husband who still calls the two of us together for FHE on Monday nights. Love the Old Testament lessons we've been studying.
• Grapefruit! Love wintertime for good oranges and grapefruit!
• Looking for and finding the perfect Christmas gift for each of our 17 grandkids and all four of our children and their spouses.  There is something that is so much fun in this for both Greg and me! (And we do appreciate those little helps from our kids in our quest for those "just right" gifts!)
• Electricity! 
• My camera!
• Everything I need to make and keep me happy...family and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

My General and Long-Overdue Thankful List

In no particular order:

1. Peace in my life.
2. My husband who gives his all to caring for me and our family, and who seeks the spirit constantly to fulfill his calling. That spirit blesses our relationship.
3. The ability to get out of bed and walk every day.
4. Snow for the holidays. I have so enjoyed just standing at the window and watching the snow fall (and fall!)
5. Thanksgiving and the opportunity to be with our kids and grandkids and extended family.
6. My Mom whom I love and look up to more than words can express. I don't want a day to go by that I don't let her know how much she means to me. I want to be just like her when I grow up.
7. My Dad whom I miss more and appreciate more every day that goes by. He has been gone for nearly 6 years now and you'd think it would get easier but in actuality, it is just the opposite. However, the Plan of Salvation and knowledge that I will be able to hug and kiss my Dad again makes me so grateful! I'm so thankful my Mom also understands and gains her strength to go on from this same knowledge.
8.  Greg's Mom and Dad whom I love like my own and admire for reasons too numerous to mention. They are a constant source of inspiration.
9. Precious little grandchildren who light up our lives with the adorable things they say and do. They bring so much love into our lives.
10. My Sunday School class...great kids who want to learn and apply the gospel and do a great job of it (and also make me laugh).
11. The holidays and the heightened opportunity to think of and do for others.
12. My Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered for me and asks so little in return.
13. A wonderful friend named Mooney who provides me the opportunity to read and study the Book of Mormon with her each day...and for her realization that Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation is for EVERYONE...and for her being willing to try a new way of living...and for  her acknowledging the Source of the changes for good she is seeing in her own life and that of her family. I love her with all my heart.
14. Priesthood blessings.
15. My husband's steady employment and that of our son and sons-in-law in these unsettled times.
16. The safe arrival of our newest little grandchild and technology that allows us to be a part of her life until we can travel to see her.
17. The scriptures that teach me many things, but one over-arching truth: Because Heavenly Father and Christ's only purposes are to bring us safely home to them, there is eternal safety in obedience to ALL they ask us to do. Therefore, I will do my best to do just that.
18. A warm home on these blustery cold days. I hope and pray that no one in our sphere of influence is without shelter and enough to eat.
19. Two necessary surgeries behind me!
20. Great friends and peaceful, friendly neighborhood in which to live.