Black Friday...

Thanksgiving was a good day. We ate too much, watched movies and were just together. I love my boys, I really loved being with them. Best of all nobody has to work and we have all weekend long. Just us.

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The teenager wanted to get up early and go Black Friday shopping, but since we had decided not to do much shopping this year, there really wasn't anything we needed to get out and brave the crowds for. I love that he is so ambitious though... he will make a future wife really happy one day when he offers to get up beyond early hours with her and drive her in the freezing cold from sale to sale braving the crowds with all the patience in the world.... he and I did it a couple of times together and had good luck both times, so he is hooked.

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I still ended up waking up early and had not even gotten out of my pj's on Thanksgiving Day (hence no pictures), so I jumped in the shower and cleaned up the kitchen and got laundry started. Then about 11am we decided to go out and do a little window shopping. Just to see what had been hit that morning.

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We started at Costco, it was so crazy there, everyone this side of the Mississippi was in Costco shopping! I grabbed a jug of laundry soap and went through the quick checkout and we got a hot dog and a drink and were on our way.

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We had been shopping for a new mattress for a while now, but we couldn't come to an agreement or decide that we REALLY needed it. We have a super nice bed that Jim's parents gave us and I just had a hard time believing a different one would be better on his back than that one. And I didn't want to spend the money it would take to get a decent one.

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But while we were out window shopping.... we went looking again... this time he tried some on!

We got on a roll then and the teenager was being really good and not complaining, and we were just enjoying being together... so we shopped at every bed store in the valley to see what kind of deal we might find on this big sale day.

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I saw this snowman serving tray and fell in love with him!

SO CUTE!!!!! But I left him there. If I had all the money in the world, he and his twin brother would have come home with me. My friend Amber would have had to have this, it reminded me of her and would have gone perfectly in her house!

LOOOOONNNNGGGG story short, we did find a bed and bought it and got it home.

Not necessarily a day off I would have planned out, but it was sooooo wonderful to be together! And laugh with my boys. And try on beds... I can't believe how exhausting that is...laying down on beds to see if they fit or not? Crazy tiring, I couldn't wait to get in it!

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I really wouldn't change a thing, except to help my boys remember and play the "grateful jar" with me.

Someone anonymously dropped off a gratitude jar the week before Thanksgiving with cards and a cute ribbon... and we were all supposed to write things over the week that we were thankful for and then we would read them together on Thanksgiving Day.

I loved that it kept me thinking all week of all the many many blessings in my life and all that I am grateful for. And I wrote and wrote and tried to get as many slips in the jar as possible. I tried to remind the boys everyday to remember to write down theirs and put them in the jar, telling them "it isn't going to be very fun to sit down on Thanksgiving and just read only what Mom is thankful for". Guilt trips never work around here. I secretly think they were just going to ad lib on Thanksgiving Day and just tell me what they are thankful for.

They never wrote theirs down, at some point when I would mention it, I was getting looks like I was being a nag about it (that's what it felt like anyway) so I quit prompting them. Thanksgiving came and went and I didn't bring up the gratitude jar, and nobody else did either. I don't know if that was wrong or right, it's just how I decided to deal with it.

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I sat quietly that night before I went to bed and read slips, I ended up writing a few more down. And that is really all I needed. It's good to hear what your loved ones are thankful for, and I was sad that everyone was not "on my stage" and performing the way I wanted them to... but it really ended up being enough to fill my own heart with gratitude and try my best to show in my actions to my family through my love and patience. At some point during the bed searching episode, my strong silent mysterious man looked at me and told me "thank you for being so patient and calm today"! After almost taking that comment the wrong way... ?? "what... calm, I am always calm?? what is he talking about??" ... that was my initial thought until I looked into his eyes. Then I knew what he meant. What a gift for that expression to come from him!

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I am so grateful for my family.

I am grateful for good friends, and for good health.

I am very grateful for all of the blessings I enjoy in my life.

I am grateful for a good nights rest, finally, it's been a long time.

I am grateful for our animals, who love us so unconditionally.

I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the peace I feel.

I am grateful for my testimony of the Gospel and the protection that it gives me.

I am very grateful for my faith in God and His grace in my life.

I am grateful for my boys and their big hearts and willingness to serve others.

I am grateful for missionaries who are willing to serve and give of all their time and talents to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. I really would not be who I am without their unselfish service.

I am very grateful that my teenager is living his life to be worthy to serve as a missionary soon.