Gratitude Week Part 4

This will be the last post in my series of gratitude post. Samuel and I were both so grateful this past week for a visit from the family. It was such a fun Thanksgiving break as we had lots of quality time with the family. Today the apartment seemed so quiet without everyone here and we both commented on how the day after everyone leaves is so sad. It was a lot of fun for us to host everyone at our place even though it is pretty small. We were grateful that people were willing to hang out in our small apartment and cook dinner in our small kitchen. It was great to have Brad, Jet, and their boys Hyrum and Benson spend the nights in our apartment and get even more time with them! We kept busy during the week with hiking the Y, cooking lots of food, playing ultimate frisbee, shopping, playing games, Skyping with Greg and Kristen, and having lots of laughs and fun moments. We are sad it is over because we aren't sure yet when the next time we will see them will be, but we are grateful for all the memories we made. And also, for the leftovers they left in our fridge :).

Gratitude Week Part 3

I know that I have not been consistent in writing my gratitude blog posts, but I have been so busy this week having fun with my family that has been in town(which I am grateful for!). So I want to finish it out with a couple other posts today.

I am grateful for the kids in my family and all the joy that they bring. I have two awesome nephews from Brad and Jet...

... and another one on the way from Greg and Kristen(they are not finding out whether it is a boy or a girl ahead of time)

Kids bring such a unique dimension to the family and they are so fun to have around! Samuel and I both really enjoyed spending time with the Hyrum and Benson this week. It was neat to have them staying at our apartment with us and getting to spend even more time with them. We had fun with them while feeding the ducks, hiking "Y" mountain, playing cars, playing "My Raff" with Hyrum's stuffed giraffe and so much more. And we are very excited to meet Greg and Kristen's baby next year and to have a great addition to the family!

Gratitude Week Part 2

Another thing that I have been especially grateful for recently is my family-in-law. I first met Samuel's parents last Thanksgiving when I went home with him. Even before I met them, Samuel's parents immediatly welcomed me in to the family and made me feel cared about. And they have only continued to make me feel welcome and special since that first trip. It could have been easy to have blended in with the two other daughter-in-laws that joined their family within months before and after me, but I think that they are very good at making each individual person feel unique and special in their family. I am also very grateful to know all of Samuel's siblings. This past summer was a lot of fun with all of the many things we got to do with his siblings who lived in town. I really got to know them all personally and we had a lot of good times. Going back to Seattle and getting to spend time with the siblings in Washington has been great as well. They all have something unique and great that they add to a really wonderful family. With the holiday season approaching I am especially grateful for this since we will always be switching off which family we spend the holidays with. Even when I am not spending it with the family I grew up with, I still know that it will be great because being with them feels like being with family.

Gratitude Week Part 1

In this week leading up to Thanksgiving I want to take some time to write about some things that I am grateful for. There are SO many things I could talk about, but I will just be highlighting a few.

In the past few years, months, and especially this semester, I have been especially grateful for my parents. It seems that the more I learn about parenting and other people's experiences, the more I realize how good of a job my parents did at the world's hardest job. I feel bad for my immature times when I would notice their faults despite how few they had. I have been so grateful for these past months when my parents have been able to come visit us and spend time with us, including this week for Thanksgiving! I am also grateful for how openly they have accepted Samuel into our family and how they have made it such an easy transition. I have also realized that I am becoming more and more like my mom as I go through life's stages and if I become anywhere near as good a mom as her I will be happy!