In everything give thanks for this is the will of Christ Jesus in you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

How do I start a blog about thankfulness.  No, not because I’m not thankful but because we have so much to be thankful for.  This year, even in the extremely rough and stressful times, we were able to give thanks.  So many things.  So many people.  So much of God.  This year has been full and overflowing.

The obvious givens are our home, neighbors, friends and family.  They have cried with us, prayed with us, and dropped everything to be with us through all of our struggles.  They have written references, watched children, made meals, and cleaned our house.  The Lord knew we would need these people in our lives from the get go.  We are so blessed that He has given them to us when needed.

Our children have made us laugh, cry, and want to pull our hair out too.  Their laughter and hug tackles remind us that it is all worth it in the end.  I could not imagine doing life with out these amazing strong children.

And our Super Ems.  All of the kids do not argue with me when I say that she is the current family favorite.  Yep.  They all love her and would do anything to protect and care for her.

I am so grateful for her laughter.  Honesty, genuine laughter and giggles.  They have been slow to come.  As a baby, she squealed with glee and smiled a lot.  But never really laughed.  Never giggled.  Until this month.  I had forgotten how much those sweet toddler/baby giggles melt my heart.

Her fierce independence and strength has been quite evident this past month as we were away and she had to rely on others to help her and guide her.  Oh, she still wants mama and daddy close but she is now more apt to wander in to the playroom without us by her side.  Her strength.  Oh, her strength is a great inspiration to us all.

And this little man, our Y the Brave who bravely told a room full of adults that he wanted to be with his family.  Us.  He enthusiastically showed us off to his classmates and ran to us with arms wide open screaming, “Mama! Papa!” at the top of his lungs.  My heart yearns to have him home safe and with his brothers and sisters and we anxiously await the phone call that all is well and our court date is coming up.

I am thankful for the ten days Mark and I had to spend together.  There was a lot of time of “just us” time.  And even more so when we were the only ones who could speak English.  We laughed and talked and just enjoyed being together.  Mark said it was like a second honeymoon and I totally agreed.

Side note-we are really, really bad at selfies but we both refuse to purchase a selfie stick. If you give us one for Christmas, it will not be used. We refuse ya’ll.

I can not wait to share more about our trip in the next couple of posts, so stay tuned.  For now, I’m going to snuggle up to Mark and get a nap so I can enjoy a Black Friday tradition of going out with friends to brave the cold and crowds.