*~* THANK (to the) FUL *~*

so thanksgiving is only days away. this makes me happy.

i'm up way too late - caffeine to blame, i do believe.

aaaand - i apologize to anyone who is disturbed by the all-lower-case typing that i usually do when i'm feeling lazy.

this thanksgiving will be a "first," in two ways actually; the first time i'm not at harkers island on thanksgiving day... AND the first time i'll be preparing a thanksgiving dinner as the "hostess with the mostest." that's right - ma & pa & at least a couple others (hopefully) will be coming up to rolesville on wednesday, and dine with the steelman family on thanksgiving day! i'm jealous of me right now. honestly. 

so, aside from the excitement that comes along with such a not-*really*-that-big-a-deal-but-still-rather-monumentous occasion, i wanted to give a little thanks...

i'm thankful for my loving husband & my 3 absolutely-positively perfect children...

i'm thankful for my near-perfect parents, my wonderful siblings, my darling nieces, & my future-missionary nephews...

i'm thankful for my kind and loving grandparents, and the role that they played in the earlier years of my life...

i'm thankful for my siblings' dear husbands and wives...

i'm thankful for my my aunts, my uncles, & my cousins...

i'm thankful for good friends and neighbors, who treat me like family...

i'm thankful for my good health, and a body that does what i need it to do; arms that can pick up my boys to cuddle, hands that can prepare yummy dinners and apply bandages to skint up knees, eyes that can see, and more importantly- appreciate the beauties of the earth, legs that can get me where i need to be, whether it be in the other room, or on the other side of town...

i'm thankful for my imperfections, and the knowledge that we are given weaknesses, as a means for us to become humble, and rely on Jesus Christ... Ether, Chapter 12, Verse 27, From The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

 i'm thankful for my daily bread, and for having never known hunger, not even for a minute...

i'm thankful for my home, which keeps my family safe from the ills of the world...

i'm thankful for the world wide web, and i'm not even kidding...

i'm thankful for music, which excites me right down to the core in ways that i could only wish it would do for everyone on the face of the earth...

i'm thankful for God's beatiful creation - from the sweet{a}pricot tree all the way to the friendly {z}ebra, and everything in between...

i'm thankful to be born and raised a mormon, and the peace that it brings into my life, especially the knowledge that families can be together forever...

i'm thankful to be an american, and for those who, past and present, have fought for and preserved my freedom...

i'm thankful for laughter, and how my children, especially, work it out of me each and every day...

i'm thankful for for a steady income, and the blessing that is ours for rodney to have a job that he loves, and for me to have the part time work i do as a piano teacher, that i also enjoy...

i'm thankful for a heart that i can be proud of... if i ever grow cold and cynical, somebody just shoot me...

i'm thankful for the nice little getaway that rodney & i just experienced in cancun, mexico for 8 days, and how we were able to share some really special days together, especially at isla mujeres and at xcaret - memories that will last the rest of our lives...

i'm thankful for so many other blessings that are too many to add to this list...
lastly, i'm thankful for this video...