I'll have the Gratitude....

...slathered in gratitude, with an extra helping of gratitude on the side.
I've been feeling like I'm filled clear to the brim lately.

I'm grateful for the energy and opportunity to keep my house cleaned up for a whole week before we destroyed it while remodeling the bathroom. Everything is now in shambles but hey - a week is a week! Sweet memories. And at least my bedroom is staying clean, which is somewhat of a miracle around here. A girl's gotta have some sort of haven in this ridiculousness.

I'm grateful for kids who enjoy being together. Nothing is as cool as having an almost 14-year-old come home from school and ask a 4-year-old if he wants to go to the park. Bella loves having a picnic in the front yard with Carter and even keeps him out of the road (most of the time). The three oldest have fun making up games together (even if half of them involve punching each other when they see a Volkswagon Beetle or double numbers on a license plate).

I had a friend tell me recently that marriage is a crap-shoot. I guess in many ways that's true. I have friends who got married to people that they really didn't know at all. I'm glad I won the crap-shoot. Heck, I won the marriage jackpot. I married my best friend. He's my favorite person on earth to hang out with. He makes me laugh every day.

I'm grateful for this cozy little home we live in. Even though the kitchen is straight out of the 70s and I'm half done with a dozen remodeling and decorating projects. Even though the backyard isn't as big as I'd like and it doesn't have enough storage so it gets cluttered easily. I could live here for the rest of my life and be happy.

That paragraph brings me to another point: you can't grow neighbors. They're a crap-shoot too, and I have some of the greatest. Most of my best friends live close by. Thanks for being so wonderful!

I'm grateful for parents who taught me to be responsible, helpful and a hard worker. I'm thankful for the strong people that they are and the strong person they turned me into. I'm constantly thankful for their love, help and support. I'm also thankful for my parents-in-law who are amazing. All four of these people are prime examples of what parents ought to be.

I'm thankful for my awesome siblings and their spouses who are even more awesome. I'm glad my Mom was right... "Someday your brothers and sister will be your best friends!" usually followed by "GET ALONG!" I'm thankful for Shane's brother and sisters and their spouses who are my other best friends.

I have the most awesome nieces and nephews. What hillarious, fun, adorable kids. 

I'm thankful for my Sunbeams. They are so bright, happy and thoughtful.

I'm thankful for the gospel and my Savior. I'm thankful for the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I'm grateful for Priesthood power. I'm thankful for the living prophet and apostles. There's no other way to be truly happy. I don't know how it's possible to raise children without the gospel.

I'm thankful for modern conveniences. Heavenly Father knew I couldn't live as a pioneer, and I'm grateful for that too. I don't know if I could live without a washing machine and a dryer, a dishwasher, running water and a grocery store. I don't think I could handle life without disposable diapers, caffeine, modern medicine and Dove chocolate. I just couldn't hack it.

I'm thankful for sweet escapes. Games, movies, books, music, my favorite T.V. shows and all those little things. I'm grateful for Lake Powell, our cabin at Strawberry, our camp trailer, Shane's parents' boat and the other 'big' things that make it easy for me to make memories with my family.

I'm thankful that souls don't age. I'm glad that even though my body is thirty-something, my soul still feels 18.

I'm very thankful for this life.