My Thankful Post (yeah I know, it's late)

I've been working like crazy so this is a few day in coming.

We moved here to Massachusetts a year ago this month. Caelan was still a tiny little 6 month old, Ainsley was 3, and we were blissfully unaware of what was waiting for us.

The horrible drivers, the wet, cold winters, the tiny apartment, the lack of friends, the new friends, the family drama, the roller coaster that is life.

This year I've become unbelievably grateful for Jim. Moreso than I ever have been in all of our married life. This was a hard move for our family and he has born it well through all the ups and downs.

I'm thankful for my beautiful daughters. I'm thankful for Ainsley and her amazing smile that rarely leaves her face. I'm thankful that she looks JUST like me because when I look at her I have fun remembering what I might have been like as a child.

I'm thankful for Caelan and her intensity. I'm thankful for her high pitched scream that she lets out whenever the vacuum comes on which is usually accompanied by a jig-like dance and I'm thankful for her desire to snuggle like her bigger sister never did.

I'm thankful for Jorden and what a great big sister she is. I'm thankful that because she IS older, we can be friends as well as step-mom/step-daughter and I'm thankful for how much she loves us.

I'm thankful for my sister and for the best friend she has been to me for the the last 25 years. As the independent individual that she is, I'm not sure she can ever understand what she has meant to her co-dependent sister.

I'm thankful for the tiny cramped apartment we live in and the beautiful view out our window where we can admire the amazing foliage in the fall and the new life in the spring (I will definitely miss it when we leave here)

I'm SO incredibly thankful for my ward family. It's such an amazing feeling to know I have instant friends no matter where I might go.

And last but not least, I'm thankful for the holidays. Even without my family nearby, I feel a closeness to my family during this time of year that I don't always feel during other times.