I love this time of year!  I love that the holidays start with Thanksgiving.  It automatically leads into the holiday that celebrates Him for whom we should be most grateful - our Savior, Jesus Christ.  So this holiday season I start by being grateful for Him, his sacrifice and all the many blessings that He has given me.

I'm grateful for my family, both those who brought me up and grew up with me and those who my Larry and I have been blessed to be able to bring up.  Five of the best young men ever! I never thought that I would be a mother of only boys, and always wished for a daughter.  As the boys got older and I realized how much I was enjoying each of them, and began to see that even though I was not particularly sports savvy or minded, I could cheer with the best of parents! As I watched them make decisions that would affect their lives I thought that maybe I could raise them so that they would pick the kind of young women for wives that I would love as daughters and they would be able to provide me with grandchildren, hopefully a couple of girls in there.  So I watch my boys grow with their strengths and their struggles and am grateful that the Lord entrusted us with their upbringing.

I'm grateful for the wonderful husband that I have.  He loves me in spite of me, and has helped me to grow as I have grown up this last 28 years. He has always provided for us, always above what we have needed.  Although at times we've struggled a little financially, he has always worked so hard to make sure that we have had what we needed.  I'm grateful for his example to me.  He is the best example of someone who loves the Lord and is always trying to follow Him.  No, he is not perfect, but yes, he is always trying.  I appreciate the commitment that he has shown to our marriage, never even considering that there was another option than working things out.  His love and humility have been such a blessing in my life!

I'm grateful for my friends.  I've been blessed with friends and family through the years who have been patient with me and forgive my lack of keeping in touch.  I have not forgotten them, and when I do get in touch again we pick up where we left off and catch up on things, then they allow me to drop off again and then pick up again years later.  Although I'm awful at keeping in touch, I never stop thinking about those who have touched my life from when I was a child to now.  One of my biggest regrets is that the friends and loved ones from my mission have not been easy to pick up with again because of the language barrier. Another is that I've not been a friend to them perhaps at a time when they may have needed me.  Even so,  I've never forgotten them, and the good that they brought into my life.  Thanks to my dear friends who love me still!

Back to the Savior, all of the above blessings are in my life because of Him.  I do not apologize for my love for and belief in Him.  I do not apologize that I consider Him the greatest blessing in my life. I have such joy because of the Atonement and Sacrifice that He made for me!  I have such joy because of the restoration of the Gospel to this earth, so that we can receive the blessings that we need in order to partake of Eternal Glory with Him!  I have such joy knowing that I can be with my family for eternity, that we will still be a family unit!  I have such joy knowing that I will be able to meet with and know my and my husbands ancestors and feel that family connection!  I have such joy to know that we are all brothers and sisters, prepared from the foundation of the world and that one day we will all be able to see one another and know who we are and the relationship that we have!

I will end by saying a thanks to God for all the above and how I look forward to that great family reunion that we will one day have in the eternities! I feel to sing praise to Him and worship Him forever!