Things i'm grateful for....

(9:40 am)
my parents
my siblings
my aunt and uncle and cousins for letting me have a place to live
the gospel
the scriptures
sportscenter
the internet
pintrest
a furnace
music - all genres
my car
having two jobs that i love
moving while growing up
road trips with my dad
my puppy, Buddy
big screen tvs
all the traveling i've be able to do
friends - all over the country
the companionship of the Holy Ghost
my bed
blankets
phones
a piano
fingernail polish
jewelry
my little brothers
the seasons
the beach on a hot and humid day
sand between my toes - but not stuck all over me haha
my heritage
college football
my nieces
amazing food
airplanes
the world, that is so various and gives us all sorts of things to go see
piano
socks!
my quilts
the talents i've been given and the opportunities i've had to increase them

and the list goes on!

(8:30 pm)
i am unbelievably grateful for today! i took pictures for the Hendricks this afternoon. we all helped with dinner. Eric and Ash came. Lynn, Janson and the girls came!! ahhhhh!! i was sooo happy!! we even got Tony to come after dinner he kinda spent time with all of us. we talked. we hung out with the girls. it was awesome. lynn and i sang a bunch of hymns while she played. that was incredible. ash made AMAZING pies. it was so fun to see lynn and janson. mari acted like a dog most of the night.

i want to post these so mom and dad can see all of us together!

(10:30 pm)
oh. my. goodness.
have you ever been so inexplicably happy words can't even begin to describe your joy? because that is seriously how i'm feeling right now. i just got out of a shower where i cried my eyes out. i am feeling so blessed the only reaction i had left to express my joy was tears. The only way to explain these blessings are from my Father in Heaven. Don't worry, He'll be getting one huge thank you... prayer... from me. But its more than that. my testimony has definitely been strengthened, in the last hour. The blessings of faithfully paying tithing. the blessings of eternal families.

as i type this i keep looking at the pictures i posted. and i just start crying. i dont know if you can see it, but that bottom picture... to be there is nothing but joy radiating from it. i am so happy Tony was able to come tonight. He loves us, as much as he shows he doesn't. i am so SO thankful mom was inspired to do foster care, so eventally we'd be able to have these boys join our family.

dad posted a ton of pictures on the branch facebook page of the turkey bowl. One picture i saw even had eli smiling in it. i saw it while i was on the phone with my mom and i feel like i almost screamed. i LOVE it when that kid smiles. i wish he could've been here today.

okay i've been thinking through my day. and there are just a few moments i want to describe. more for my memory than for your sake. there are a few different times today that i want to remember and cherish. i'm trying to take a mental photograph, and writing it down helps.

running with the girls: right after Lynn, Janson and the girls got here, i took the girls out side to run around (i figured after sitting for the whole drive here they'd need to release some energy) so we went playing outside. they were my little shadows. but my favorite was picking apples. Mari just started chowing down. and they are so GOOD! i wanted to keep eating mine, but i DEFINITELY didn't want to ruin my Thanksgiving dinner appetite. but it was so fun to watch them so excited about being able to pick apples off a tree.

Breaking Dawn talk: Lynn, Me, Ashlyn, Liz, Alyssa, and Heidi (and Valentine) sat around the sitting room talking about Breaking Dawn. this was the exact reason i went to see the movie yesterday. i knew this would happen. and it was great. being able to discuss things like that help bring everyone closer together.

Thankful dinner: so Sid had everyone go around the table and say one thing they are most thankful for this year. but since Janson and i were sitting at the counter with the girls we weren't included right away. But i went and sat at the table and added my two cents. of course i cried. but my one big thing this year is: having family who loves me enough to give me a place to live.

Piano: Lynn sat down and started jamming out to hymns and Grace and I joined her. I loved singing with Lynn. When we were growing up, I'd go sit in the piano room and close my eyes and just listen to her play and sing. She really does have an amazing voice. after watching all the times lynn and eric would sing together, it almost felt like it was an honor to sing with Lynn. i LOVED it. and then when we were singing For the Beauty of the Earth, she stopped playing for the third verse and we just sang it acapella. obviously i'm not the greatest. but it really was still beautiful.

sitting in the kitchen: okay, that's what we did basically all night. But what i loved was sitting there with Lynn, Grace, Alyssa, and Tony. talking. asking questions, talking about all sorts of things. It helped me see that tony does like us enough to converse with us.

alright, scripture time!
i hope you have had your own version of a wonderful Thanksgiving.