Weekend gratefuls

* I'm grateful for Cooper. Last month during fast and testimony meeting he leaned over to me and said, "it's my turn, mom." Lucky for me, it was nearing the end of the meeting and I was able to postpone the conversation about why we visit the pulpit. It provided a great plan for our family home evenings this last month as we tried to explain what a testimony was and some of the things that are appropriate for him to share. The two things we focused on were what he knows to be true about the gospel and what he is grateful for. The things he came up with were:

- he knows his Heavenly Father loves him
- he knows Jesus loves him
- he knows he has angels that watch over him
- he is grateful for his mom, dad, seneca and his brother
- he is grateful for a prophet, President Hinckley
- he likes to read his scriptures
- he is excited to be in primary and to be a Sunbeam

It's a completely simple testimony, but I'm so grateful that he is aware of these truths. We talked often over the last month about these things and he practiced saying them himself. He was so excited to go to church yesterday and bear his testimony. He waited reverently and patiently for the sacrament to pass and then again while our Bishop took his turn sharing his testimony. He informed me he needed a stool and was so brave. I know there's nothing to be scared of, but I didn't know how would react when he actually got up there. He needed a little prompting, but spoke loud and clear and I was so proud of him. There was also no hesitation about graduating from nursery to the "big boy" Sunbeam class. He went in and joined his class with ease and was completely exhuberant when I picked him up. The fact that church now falls squarely in the middle of naptime was a mild concern, but did not manifest itself as such until about 5:30 p.m. when the meltdown began... but we're focusing on the positive here...

* I'm grateful for Seneca. This little girl is something completely special in our world. She reminds us of true sweetness and pure joy. She is gaining independence and is not as content to sit still, especially in church, but Denten and I both just had to smile as we watched her squirm around during Sacrament meeting, trying to get her hands on something, or smile hugely at someone- he looked at me and said, "what do we do when we have two of these?" Again, we both laughed quietly knew that we were so grateful for the chaos that is about to ensue.

* I'm grateful for Denten. Specifically for the open communication and the friendship that we have shared lately. The downside to holidays for me is the end of them... mostly because it means dad has to go back to work, but I've tried to be positive about the fact that we are so blessed for him to have "work" to go back to. He's been busy, but has made a special effort to be with us whenever he can. We have shared great conversations and moments with our kids, and I am blessed beyond belief to have him as my partner as we continue to figure out this journey we're on together.

* I'm grateful for good health, both mine and my family's. As we have watched from a distance a sweet brother in our ward near the end of this life and his little family, I have been reminded of the incredible blessing it is to have my physical body function the way it should in order to serve me through my day. Tony's updates can be found here

* In regard to this same situation, I am grateful for the faith and financial means to serve without questioning. I am grateful to be in a position that when asked to serve or when we see a need, we don't need to wonder if it is something we can afford. We know that we are here for Heavenly Father to work through and if we are doing his work, those concerns are not necessary.

* Just so you don't think I've gone completely sappy in this new year, I will also mention that while I'm not grateful Denten and Brett had an "unsuccessful" javelina hunt Saturday, I am grateful I do not have the dilemma of facing what to do with an ugly wild boar. I wish they would have seen something, perhaps even gotten an arrow off, but I'm ok that a taxidermied hog is not being added to our home at this time.