Thanksgiving

I absolutely love Thanksgiving!  We had a couple of friends that went to Disneyland over Thanksgiving. And I know they had a fabulous time.  I'm glad they did something they loved...but that is not what I would want for my Thanksgiving.  I love traditions and Thanksgiving is all about traditions for me.  I love gathering with family.  I love the food.  (Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruit salad,  pecan pie...my mouth waters just typing those words!!)  I LOVE the food.  I love spending the month giving thanks for my blessings.  There are so many.  And counting blessings, naming them one by one, brings peace and joy and happiness and contentment.  It's a perfect way to kickoff the holiday season.

I love quotes.  I love inspiration.  Here are a few of my favorite quotes about gratitude that help explain, better than I can, why I love giving thanks so much:

"We do not give thanks because we are happy.  We are happy because we give thanks."  --Douglas Wood

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others." --Cicero

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.  ...It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."  --Melodie Beattie

"To live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven."  --President Monson

"Gratitude is a description of a successful mode of living.  The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us."  --James E. Faust

"When was the last time you thanked the Lord for a trial or tribulation?  Adversity compels us to go to our knees; does gratitude for adversity do that as well?"  --Bonnie Parkin

"Showing gratitude to the Lord helps us better see our worth in His sight."  --Sister Sharon G. Samuelson

"Those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace and understanding."  --President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

This year I feel especially blessed on Thanksgiving. My parents are here visiting for the weekend. It's wonderful to spend the holiday with them.  I love my job  and one of the most darling classes I've ever taught.  My children are healthy and happy and good children. I have food to eat and a warm home to live in.  I have friends and so many people that touch and bless my lives.  My children have great teachers.  I love the school I work at.  I have access to a public library and can read and learn and find relaxation in books.  I live in a time when we have so many modern conveniences (tvs, phones, dishwashers, running water, toilets and toilet paper, washing machines, ovens and stoves, showers/tubs, cars, and countless other conveniences).  I have the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I have a small but beautiful home and a husband that works hard and loves us.  I can study and ponder the scriptures.  I am blessed to work with the young women at church.  We have temples dotting the land, so many near us.  And on and on and on.  I can see and hear and taste and speak.  I am healthy and can walk and run.

Ignore Alfredo and Michelle's faces...they just didn't want me interrupting their eating...but they really were happy.

It was  such a beautiful and delicious Thanksgiving meal and I loved being surrounded by many of the people that mean the most to me!


I also loved seeing Gabby's writing she did at school about Thanksgiving.