So Much to be Grateful for:

This year I didn't really write much on what we are grateful for this holiday season.  Thanksgiving came so fast I didn't know what hit us and Christmas is only 20 days away already.  It's just crazy.
But I did want to mention some of the things we are grateful for.   And I don't want to seem like I am bragging in this post, but they are things that we are truly grateful for--and I want it documented in our family's journal which is the reason I even keep a blog.

1.  In this tough economy that Luke was able to get a good solid job. It may have seemed like it took forever (6 months of search) but we were lucky he had a job in Logan clear till he started at Sunstone.  http://www.sunstonespotwelders.com
On that note, we are extremely grateful for his education and the opportunities it will afford us and already has.

2.  That it's a job he loves.  His boss (and wide who is co-owner) are simply amazing people.  We went to the Christmas party the other night and I was just blown away at their generosity and their kindness. We knew from the start that they were unique people when they had their "second interview" with Luke and it was actually dinner with them and Luke AND his wife.
They are very family oriented and care about all their employees families welfare. They are also very passionate about self reliance (food storage, home security etc) and have been extremely generous in helping their employees become that way.  They have already given us a year supply of food storage basics for 2 people, a homemade trauma kit, a wall tent and a wood stove for it, and cots and MORE.  It will be a HUGE blessings and we are so very grateful to them and to God for leading us to this job.

3.  That the company he works for is successful.  It is doing really well, even in a tough economy.

4.  Our homes.  We were very blessed with our house in Logan and although selling it and waiting and waiting for all that to come to pass seemed to take forever as well, we were actually able to sell it. Not everyone is so lucky! We didn't make a ton of money from it, but we still came out ahead. Even if it's just a little. Right now, we should be very grateful.  Plus, we were so blessed to have my brother as our Realtor.  He helped in ways I can't even begin to describe.

5.  That we could buy our house in Santaquin.  It's a great home and we really do love it. Also I am grateful that we had to wait for it.  It means so much more to us because of our longing for a new home and I honestly feel like we were suppose to wait for it.  And one good thing about the bad housing market is its the only way we could afford this home.  Just a few years ago, it would have been way out of our league.

6. Our neighbors and ward. Already we have made friends and feel very welcome. We are also getting to be involved in church activities already. Tianna is in a preschool with other mom's and preschoolers in the neighborhood which is exactly what we hoped to find.

7.  Our Families.  They should be higher on the list, but it's not in chronological order.  We appreciate all our families do for us! And we love love love our own little family.  We are still hopelessly in love with each other and find complete joy just being together snuggling on the couch at the end of a busy day.  We also find our greatest joy in being parents.  It's hard. REALLY hard. But we wouldn't trade our children or the experiences we share with them for anything in the world.

8.  Health:  and Health Insurance.  Even Tianna's arthritis is doing really well right now.  She did physical therapy in September and it has helped her gain back some lost mobility.  I need to be better about doing her exercises with her each day, but we try.  Her knees haven't given her pain for months so we count that as doing really well.  You can tell the right knee is still not 100% but compared to what it was a year ago, we'll take it!

DEC 2011- when it first began

 Nov 2011

She just looks whiter and skinnier.  The whiteness is the lighting, but the skinniness... well, that is one thing we are still concerned about.  She hasn't gained any weight in a whole year. She just gets taller and taller. And honestly, she has a great appetite (often picky, but she eats well!)  So we don't know why.  But look how much less swollen her knee is! It truly is a miracle worth being grateful for!

9-  Freedom.  Thanks be to God and thanks be to our forefathers and thanks be to our servicemen for this gift.  We have the freedom to complain about our government.  We have the freedom to choose our own careers, how and where we'll live and so many wonderful blessings of living in this Great Nations.  God Bless America!

10- Our religion.  It is the very essence of our lives.  We have knowledge of the true and living God. We know we have a Savior who has lived and died for us. He has paid for our sins, has been resurrected and He still lives and He loves us in only the way a supreme being can.  We have a prophet to lead us. We have been able to make sacred covenants with God through Baptism, we have received the Holy Ghost and we have made promises in the Temple and are sealed together for Eternity. We have the scriptures that are truly words straight from Heavenly Father for us.
Yes, my friends, we are very very blessed and we have so much to be grateful for.