Give Thanks

     And so we enter the holiday season.  And my mind starts thinking about things I should be thinking about all year round.   We had Thanksgiving dinner this year at my brother's house.  He deep fat fried the turkey (but before he did that he injected it with a Creole sauce which made it so juicy!  He's got my nomination to be in charge of the turkey every year now) and we all brought side dishes.  Lyle and I brought stuffing.  Downside: we bought a Costco box of it.  What the heck are we going to do with two more makings of stuffing before next Thanksgiving?

Brothers Paul and Mike, almost sister-in-law Wendy, Taylor, brother Kurt, Mom and Lyle.

     Almost every year before we'd done Thanksgiving in conjunction with other family.  We missed them this year but it was nice to start our own tradition.  Taylor called us up Thanksgiving morning and told us he wanted to spend more time with us and asked us to pick him up so we got to have him at dinner as well.  I love it when he does that!  My brother has 2 dogs: Rocky (aka Rockstar or Crackhead) and Wally (aka Walter or Wallace).  I love dogs.  Too bad I'm allergic.  But they were fun to play with and I can't resist their cute faces and sad eyes.  Lyle and Mike had a fun time devising the perfect plan to drain the turkey and I hit Kurt (almost in the face) with a slobbery dog toy.  I told him it was an accident...which it was.
     Things I'm thankful for: A wonderful husband who some days puts up with a lot, stepkids I love the guts out of, a fun family who I love doing things with (missing from the picture: my sister Alyson who currently lives in Boston), a nice house, a constant job, great in-laws, good health (ironic since I'm writing this with a cold), friends who love me, a fun calling (I work in Primary), my talents, and most of all a relationship with the Savior who's birthday we celebrate next month.
     I've also started to learn to be thankful for my infertility.  It's been a heartbreaking road; one I certainly would never have chosen.  But through it I've become stronger, met wonderful friends, learned more compassion and after almost 5 years I'm now starting to learn about patience too.  And those are lessons I wouldn't trade for anything.  But I will still look forward to the day when I'm able to be a mother to my own children.
     Hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine!

Laura