Gratitude: Family

Despite being cold, November is an exciting month because of a) its proximity to Christmas and b) its tendency to promote feelings of gratitude in Americans.  And so, because I do not want to spend an entire month complaining about the cold that will only surely get worse, I have decided to focus on things that I'm thankful for.  Cliche, yes, but it really gets me in the mood, you know?

When I started to compile a mental list, of course at the top was Family.

Where do you start when you say you're thankful for your family?  

Matt and I are so blessed.  Our parents have laid a wonderful foundation for us to start build a life together through their examples of healthy marriages.  Our siblings all know and follow the Lord.  We have a rich heritage of generations of believers.  They have provided us with the most precious gift we could ever give our children - a family knit together by a commitment to the Lord.  

My parents and sister live in Oklahoma and my brother made a recent move to Houston.  I can not wait for them to come up for Thanksgiving in a couple weeks.  I treasure our years overseas together and when we sit around the dinner table, our conversations inevitably turn to "remember whens" that grow more fantastic every year.  Remember when . . . Dad thought the Native Americans were astronauts?  Elyse got pinned underneath her dresser?  Mom used to bring an air mattress while we were camping and make the rest of us sleep on the sand? Ryan wore his wrestling singlet around the house?  They are to blame for ALL of my quirks. 

I love how we all insist that Tucker be in family pictures.  

The rest of my family is spread from shore to shore, so it is rare that we are all together, although they made a great showing at our wedding!  I had to go pretty far back to get a picture of all four grandparents in the same place.

I am envious of how close Matt's family is - most of them live in one of two states.  When I first visited Kentucky with him before we got married, I had to be "approved by the aunts."  I am so thankful I met their approval!  Matt really loves his aunts and uncles and is always telling stories about picking dandelions for a penny each or how they all got Underoos for Christmas.  Just kidding, he doesn't tell that story, I saw it on a family video and I think it's hilarious.  

Of course since this picture was taken, we added another family member, baby Evan:

Matt really loves his nephews.  We don't get to see them enough.  This picture is already a year old and Connor is almost two!  

We hope to someday live close to them so the cousins can grow up together.  Evan and our baby will only be six months apart.  Matt would like nothing better than for his brothers to live next door, one on each side.  

So, this thanksgiving season I resolve to spend more time being grateful.