I think gratitude is such a powerful part of our lives. I always think about in Alma where it says that, "if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever." The thing I find interesting, is that just before that, it describes Moroni's characteristics and says he was, "a man who heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people."
I really believe it is important to be someone whose heart swells with gratitude. I know that I have so many huge and tiny things in my life for which I am grateful. So for 2014 here are just a few of the things for which I am grateful.
-I'm grateful that Shantel is such a wonderful mom. She is patient and kind. She loves our children and takes care of them. She gives them the freedom to explore and try new things. She teaches them and helps them develop.
-I'm grateful that Shantel prepares such wonderful meals. Shantel knows exactly the things that I really like and the things that are not my favorite. When I really need a great meal she knows I wanted Mashed Potato Heaven, not Tuna Casserole. She also helps prepare meals that stretch my taste buds to make sure I get good healthy food and learn to like more things. For example, Zucchini, my mom would be shocked to know that I eat Zucchini. It is because Shantel includes it in our meals to help me eat better. She also uses our food budget wisely. She works very hard to keep us on budget, but still have good meals and a few treats. She makes so many delicious meals, and I am grateful that I can come home to a nice dinner.
-I'm grateful that Shantel majored in Family and Consumer Science. That major helped her develop even further many skills that really help our family. This includes being a great cook, mentioned above. She is able to sew and fix many my clothes which saves us a ton of many. Or this year, she was able to take some old curtains that we were just going to throw away and turn them into our halloween costumes. She taught financial literacy and because of that she has an excellent understanding of how to keep us financially sound and works hard to keep us on budget. She learned interior design and does a great job making our house look awesome. However, she is very patient and does so without spending a ton of money and waits to buy what she really wants until we have budgeted for it.
-I'm grateful that Shantel knows exactly how to make me smile and makes my life so happy. I'm grateful that we have the same sense of humor and that we can talk about anything.
-I'm grateful that Lydia likes to throw balls with me. One of my favorite things is coming home and throwing the ball with her. She stands in the kitchen by the fridge and then throws the ball to me sitting just on the floor in the family room (I sit there because when we first started throwing the ball I did not want to sit on the kitchen floor because it is harder than the carpet, so I sat on the carpet and then Lydia just started putting me there because that is where Daddy sits).
-I'm grateful for the times when Lydia shows me how much she loves me. I love when she wants to wait outside for me to come home because she is so excited. Or when I go to pick her up from Nursery and she is so excited and comes running to me.
-I'm grateful for our Thanksgiving Point Membership. It has been so wonderful this year to go with Lydia to the Museum of Natural Curiosity ("waterfall museum"), the Farm, the Museum of Ancient History (Dinosaur museum) and play with Lydia. I love seeing her so happy and having such a great place to go with her and spend time together. I'm especially grateful for the rope bridges which have been so much fun to do with Lydia. It is also wonderful to see how fearless she is. When kids twice her size are stuck and scared, she fly's by them and climbs up to the next section.
-I'm grateful that Austin was born healthy and safe. We barely made it to the hospital in time for his arrival, but I know that Heavenly Father blessed us to make it in time. We did not need to be there 2 hours early so Shantel could get an epidural, we didn't need to make it 10 minutes early, 5 minutes was enough.
-I'm grateful that he is learning to take a pacifier.
-I'm grateful that he is the most patient and good when Lydia needs our help. It seems like the times that Austin is most willing to sit in his swing or take a nap are the times when Shantel and I really need to be able to give Lydia attention.
-I'm grateful to have good friends at work. I honestly get along with all of my co-workers, but it is really nice to have people to just chat with. I am grateful for Brian Butler, Angela Reale, Andy Birrenkott, Ben Faux, Jacqueline Lineberry, Oxana Thorne and many of my other co-workers who make work really enjoyable.
-I'm grateful to have a new office. Just last month we moved from the 7th floor (where we had half the floor) to the 6th floor (where we have the entire floor) because we needed more space. Everything is new, including our super comfortable chairs and our sweet cubicles (Yes- it is okay to be excited about a cubicle). We have an awesome new lunch room that comes with free soda (Yes, I'll have to exercise more to keep up with my increasing soda consumption, I'm going to try and limit it and just do Soda friday). Oh and I have a sweet view.
-I'm grateful for new phones. It is nice to get a new phone (our old ones lasted three years) that is fully capable of twitter
-I'm grateful to be so close to the frontrunner. It is nice to be able to ride that when I don't want to drive or traffic is really bad.
-I'm grateful for Shark Tank and Studio C. Shantel and I love to talk business and Shark Tank is the perfect show to talk about what we think. Studio C is a great show to watch and relax and laugh with Shantel. They are so funny.
-I'm grateful to teach primary. I love to see how much faith they display and I love being a part of helping them build a testimony. I teach the CTR 6/7. They are all reaching the age of baptism or just before baptism. I think a lot about how critical the age of 12-14 is in them deciding who they will be and if they will choose to follow Christ. When they get to that age, they need guidance to make the right choices, but when they get to that age, they need to have a sound understanding of the gospel. They need to have already learned to feel and hear the spirit. Teaching them when they are 6, 7 and 8 years old is helping prepare them to make the big choices in front of them. I think it is such a pivotal role and I am grateful to be a part of it.
-I am grateful for tic tac toe. There is no better way to recap a primary lesson than to play tic tac toe. The kids love it and it is the perfect review.
-I'm grateful for a wonderful year. I have a perfect wife. The most beautiful and fun daughter and a cute little son who is growing every day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
