Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was the type of day that holidays are meant to be -- a day to just relax and spend time with the ones we love without drama, just reflecting on the wonderful blessings of our life.  So, with that in mind, here are a few of the things I have to be thankful for this day:

• My own personal Prince Charming, my sweet Herman, who loves me so much that he was willing to take me to see a movie that he really can't tolerate at all, just because he knows that I love the books so much.  He sat through Breaking Dawn, Part One with me this afternoon and managed to only groan a few times.  
• My super awesome sister-in-law, Laurenda, who drove with her family all the way from Kansas just to make Thanksgiving dinner for all of us so that I wouldn't have to cook and clean the big dinner so soon after returning home from China.
• My great mom-in-law, Nandy, who volunteered her home for the dinner so that dinner wouldn't mess up our house.  
• A great bro-in-law, Jason, who has a gift for discussing the finer philosophical points of The Twilight Saga -- and he's not even mocking me when he does it.
• Wonderful nieces who are great friends with my younger children and make it a party whenever they visit.
• My mom and dad and brother, Ryan, who have watched Brownie and Max for the past month while we have been traveling, and who have kept them a few extra days while we have gotten re-adjusted to Missouri life.
• My big, wonderful and happy family.  Hurray for a family without drama (most of the time)!
• My daughter, Laney, who cheerfully volunteered to watch all the cousins so that Mom, Dad, Laurenda, and Jason could have a sweet Thanksgiving date.
• My daughter, Savannah, who managed not to kill me as she drove us to Nandy's house for Thanksgiving dinner -- my first time driving with her since she got her license (and I only screamed at her a couple of times in the process).
• My son, Spencer, who can wax poetically about the smallest details of combat missions in his war on Russia as well as the current football games without missing a beat -- at the same time as he strongly argues that showers are an unnecessary habit for humans (until the future if he wants a girlfriend, I'm sure).
• My daughter, Katie, who gives me pause almost every day as she emerges from her room with a new fashion creation she has made.  Unfortunately she was born into a family with a fashion backward kind of mom.
• My son, Hyrum, who has such tender feelings toward everything around him and wrote the sweetest Thanksgiving play for us today about the Peanuts gang.  Unfortunately, due to scheduling difficulties we were unable to see it, but you can bet that the play will be filed in my memories collection of papers.
• My son, JoJo, who still runs to the door to give his mama a big hug and kiss as I am leaving for my sweet date.  He knows the best ways to sweeten me up.
• My newest daughter, Eliza (Miss Minsy), who has just jumped into the Blau family seamlessly.  She is willing to be a part of any crazy traditions that we might have.  She had her first Thanksgiving ever today, and she tried all the food a little bit.  She loved the green beans the most, but she was willing to finish her turkey, potatoes, and roll.  She smiles and giggles a lot and only pauses to cry once in a while.  What a joy to have her in our family.
• I am grateful that we are finally getting over our jet lag and getting into a routine again.
• I am grateful for two washers and two dryers that allow me to do a week's worth of laundry in only a few short hours, and I am super grateful that I don't have to drop the laundry off at an expensive laundry service any more.
• Today I can finally play my Christmas music without feeling guilty.  I've always thought that the Christmas season shouldn't begin until after Thanksgiving.  No one else in my family agrees though.  I'm the last holdout, but today I broke out my Straight No Chaser, Harry Connick, Jr. and Josh Groban Christmas albums.  They'll ring in my Christmas celebrating until I add my other Christmas music later this weekend.  I love Christmas music!
• I am also grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who gently guides us in our life to be where we need to be when we need to be there so that we can reach our full potential in this life.  I have seen His hand in our life so much in the past year, and I have to be thankful for all that He has done for our family to get us here today.

That's just my short list of things for today -- I could go on and on and on, I'm sure.  I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and has taken some time to remember the blessings in our lives.