A Wonderful Thanksgiving!

It's 8:00 AM on Friday morning, and I still feel like I am in a Turkey-induced Coma!!!! My darling niece and nephew are here today; they had a sleepover last night with Jaxon. So we are all up much too early. The only reason I would have wanted to be up any earlier is to do Black Friday shopping. But Chris had to work today, so we are going to do our shopping tomorrow! Hope there is still some good deals and stuff out there to purchase! I'm guessing there will be due to all that is going on in the economy, but still hoping I haven't missed out!

Back to Thanksgiving...it was absolutely PERFECT!!! My morning of cooking was stress-free and everything went flawlessly I'm getting all this Thanksgiving Meal cooking down to a science! Jaxon and I were all alone because Chris went to work to make his homemade rolls, yams, and his Virginian Corn Pudding! All the other kiddios were with their other parents this year, so it was pretty quiet around here. But Jaxon and I made great use of our time and he was such a big helper! We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and then Wall-E!!! Well, it was more Jaxon watching while I was cooking!!!! Nonetheless everything went as planned and before Chris returned home I had everything completely done, and all the tables set-up and decorated!

My entire family arrived around 2:00 and the festivities began. Again, with all our kids missing, it was pretty quiet. Even with Jaxon and his cousins here, it was still relatively quiet! Dinner was fantastic and everyone was very content!

Since the little one's finished quickly and ran away, the adults decided to share with one another the things that they were Thankful for. It was a wonderful way to end our dinner. There were several mentions of family of course, the blessings of living in a country where we are free to worship as we choose, being members of the church and the blessings of the Gospel in our lives, as well as living in a free country altogether. There were some very touching moments, and we all shared in each other's love and tears. It was really a special moment!

I thought I would share the things that I am most thankful for this year, as this has been one incredible year for me personally. First and foremost, I am thankful to be here today. Having gone through the possibility of cancer, and having to have a hysterectomy at the first of the year, I am just happy to be alive. That experience was one of the most difficult and most painful processes I have gone through, and at the time, I truly believed that it was my time to go. I know that I wouldn't have made it through without all the love and support of my family and all my wonderful friends. I have never felt so much love as I did during that four month period. I know that the Lord was blessing me, and that it clearly was not my time...I still had too much to accomplish in this life!

I am so thankful for my children. I'm especially thankful for all the doctors and specialists that have helped our Chasers. It's been a year now that he has been on his medicine for ADHD and he is a completely different child. Chase has always had such a huge heart, but he has struggled for so long emotionally. And we have finally been able to get him the help he needs. He has improved so much in school, and he is doing so much better. I love him so much! I miss him every day that he is not here.

I am thankful for the wonderful schools that Cydnee and Jaxon are attending this year. Their new schools and the incredible learning environment that they are have been such wonderful blessings to us. Jaxon is so in love with his school and his teacher. He never complains at all about going to his school. I am so thankful that he is no longer in daycare and is a loving and educational environment. I am thankful for my opportunity and freedom to have time to be a part of the kid's activities. I've never really been able to be this involved and I am so happy that I can be now.

I am so grateful for this incredible new opportunity that starting this new company is bringing to my life. It has been a complete joy for me to work and meet so many wonderful and talented people. I am thrilled to be utilizing my skills and talents in a new industry, and of course learning about a new industry altogether. This experience has been one of the greatest in my life. And the best thing is that it is all just beginning. I know that there is going to be so many more wonderful opportunities coming our way!

I am thankful for my friends. Again, this has been one of the most stressful and trying years of my life, and I just don't know if I would have made it through without their love and support. I am so blessed with so many wonderful friends who I love and love me in return. Whether they are here in Utah, or far away in Oregon, Virginia, and Atlanta, it matters not, I feel close to all of them every day!

I could not have a list of things that I was thankful for and not have my ward and the Gospel a part of it. The members of our ward have shown so much charity and love to me and my family this year. I am so thankful for our Bishop and Relief Society President. These two wonderful individuals have been there so much this past year and most of the time without having asked. They just show up, and always when I needed it most. For nearly three months while I was down from my surgery there were people I have never even met coming to my home to help clean, bring in meals, and help with Jaxon. I never had to worry about a thing. Every minute of every day was taken care of for me. I've never experienced such compassion before. I will be forever grateful for all that they have done for me and my family.

I am so thankful to have Melanie and her beautiful kids living with us. I am grateful for the opportunity to help someone in need, but I am receiving so many more blessings because of it. I love this family with all my heart and I love seeing them happy!

And last but not least, I am so thankful for my husband. We have struggled together more this year than any other year of our very short marriage. It has felt so many times like we just weren't going to make it. But I am so thankful that I know that there is enough love there to get us through. And I do love him. He is a wonderful father and I love how he loves the kids. We have learned what we must focus on in order to make it through this dark and dreary world, and it's when we lose that focus that we are struggling the most. If we can remember to always put one another first, and keep the Lord close to both of us, we can make it through anything.

It has been a wonderful holiday and just the kind of break that I needed. I am so excited for the rest of the weekend. Today I am breaking out the Christmas Decorations and tonight when Chris gets home we are going on the train to downtown and watch the lights at Temple Square come on. Then all day tomorrow Chris and I will be doing our annual Christmas shopping marathon. It's our favorite thing to do together and I can't wait. We actually will NOT be bringing Jaxon this time. He is much to aware of everything now, so this will be the first year that Chris and I get to do our shopping ALL ALONE! Woo Hoo!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving also! My love and thanks to all of you!!! Happy Holidays!