On the sixth day of Christmas...

On this the sixth day of gratitude I am grateful for...

1. Grocery stores that stock nearly every kind of food one could possibly think of.
2. Money for which to go buy a large variety of food to feed our family of 7.
3. Fresh produce that I can not grow this time of year, but is available to me at said grocery store.
4. Christmas oranges. I could eat them All. Day. Long.
5. the convenience of a warm vehicle that makes going to the city a breeze(get it?) on a day like today. Today would have been a stay in the house by the fire kind of day if you had to travel in that wind by horse and buggy.
6. One stop shopping to finish off our Christmas shopping. And now we are done. 
7. My cousin who watched Ella for us so Daniel and I could go grocery shopping and finish the Christmas shopping.
8. Awesome hiding places to store Christmas gifts
9. A community coming together to help pull off our New Years Eve fundraising event for our new Playground. (if you don't have anything going on, you could come party things up in Milk River...just saying. Ask me for details)
10. Christmas baking with the kids.
11. Specifically shortbread covered cherries. Between those and the oranges I'd be set for the Christmas season.
12. the fact that it is now time to go to bed. 

On the fifth day of Christmas...

On this the fifth day of gratitude I am grateful for...

1) the chance to watch a young man give a talk in church,  the same young man that when I was the primary president,  I couldn't even get him to pray. He was terrified of everything.

2) the chance to listen to my daughter sing in church with the other young women.  What angelic voices.

3) the chance to go to church and worship my lord and Savior. 

4) a beautiful building to meet in. 

5) the freedom to choose to do so.

6) a wonderful ward family to worship with.

7) teachers who prepare lessons to share with the class and inspire us to be better.

8) the great gift of the Book of Mormon that testifies of Christ and provides insight as to how to maneuver through these difficult times in which we live. 

9)  the Sabbath day to gather together and sing praises to our Savior at this blessed time of year.

10) Christmas music that fills my soul with peace and makes my heart happy.

11) my talent for sewing that allows me to create unique Christmas gifts for my kids. 

12) the boxes and boxes of fabric that people have given to me over the years that allow me to make these unique gifts for basically the cost of my time. 

On the fourth day of Christmas

On this the fourth day of gratitude I am grateful for

1) Chatters hair salon for getting my three girls in for a haircut all at the same time.
2) Mcdonalds,  because my little kids think it's special when we have lunch there.
3) Happy meal toys ...it's a love hate relationship. The kids think they are the best thing ever and tote them around for the day, but those silly things can be really annoying.
4) An afternoon with the kids looking at all the beautiful nativities.
5)  Everyone who put in so much time to put together the phenomenal Festival of Nativities. 
6) Chance meetings with both my maid of honour and bridesmaid within a couple of hours.  Over the years we have lived far apart.  But time has brought us all back to southern Alberta,  and it's fun to meet up unexpectedly in random places. 
7) A productive day running errands and getting ready for Christmas.
8) Safeway,  for having the last ingredients for our Forsyth sized batch of nuts and bolts that neither Walmart or superstore had.
9) Those aforementioned ingredients being on sale!
10) An evening out with the love of my life.
11) Deep fried dill pickles.  Simple as that.
12) The furnace I call Daniel to help keep me warm at night.

On the Third day of Christmas...

On this the third day of gratitude I am grateful for...

1. A good friend to spend the evening with. She's awesome and she makes me want to be awesome too.
2. The chance to go view hundreds and hundreds of unique and beautiful nativities with this dear friend. The attention to detail was fantastic. The presentation was awe inspiring. We could have just hung out there all night.
3. The peaceful and calm feeling we were able to experience as we toured the nativity displays. This of course was possible because we elected to go with out our kids. 
4. Time spend chatting on the drive into and home from Lethbridge.  So much to catch up on now that the weather is cold and we don't go walking.
5. The many many walks we have gone on together and the many many things we talk about.
6. Delicious frozen yogurt and more good laughs.
7. A chance to get some shopping done without any tag alongs.
8. A nice warm van to sit in and chat some more when we got home from Lethbridge...because the hour in and the hour home just wasn't enough.
9. Wheat bags to warm up to help my feet warm up on a chilly night.
10. A microwave to warm up said wheat bag in just a few minutes.
11. Flannel sheets to cuddle up in for the night.
12. A promise of a new day

On the second day of Christmas...

On this second day of gratitude I am grateful for...

1) a vehicle to drive so that I don't have to walk the couple of blocks to the grocery store on a cold blustery day.
2) the chance to serve a neighbour who doesn't have the before mentioned luxury.
3) warm jacket,  mits,  touque,  and boots to ward off the cold when I do have to go outside
4) a house to provide protection from the cold and wind
5) a furnace to provide heat without me even having to think about it.  It just does its thing and keeps the house at a consistent  temperature.
6) Christmas lights on houses in the middle of nowhere,  they just make me smile as I drive down the hiway. 
7) my handy smart phone that allows me to type up this post while I sit on the couch at the church waiting for my girls to be done their activity. 
8) dedicated leaders that keep putting together activities for these young girls.
9) the sounds of laughter coming from these silly girls and the friendships being built.
10) good friends to help out and take a couple of my kids so I can bring these girls to there activity.
11) my comfy cozy flannel sheeted bed that I will, at some point tonight, get to enjoy.
12) fuzzy slippers to keep my feet warm.

On the first day of Christmas

I was reminded that way back in 2009 I took on a challenge to express gratitude for 12 things each day for the 12 Days of Christmas.  Well I think it's time to try that again,  so here I go

I am grateful for

1) a small school that allows all children the opportunity to compete in sports.
2) parents and teachers who volunteer their time to coach.
3) the excitement of a good game of basketball
4) medical advancements that allow my asthmatic daughter to play the game she loves.
5) the mountain of clean clothes on my couch.
6)a washing machine to clean those clothes
7) a drier to dry them
8)and soap to get them clean and make them smell good
9)a television to watch while folding the mountain of clothes
10) the game of survivor to entertain me for a couple of hours
11) a good cuddle with my three year old
12) pain killers to easy the discomfort in my back/neck today.

Remembering those we never knew

James has been asking a lot about war the past few days. I know they have been talking about it in school as Remembrance day is drawing near. Over dinner tonight, James asked if we had a 10 great grandpa that went to war. I told him that he had a two great grandpa that went to war. He gave me a surprised face. I asked him if he wanted to see a picture and he enthusiastically said yes. So I went and got out  my collection of family stuff about the war and showed him the picture of his Great Great Grandpa Neil Snow Forsyth, all dressed up in his uniform and another one of him standing with his war horse. I told him that he had served in WWI.

"In Canada?" he asked.
"Not right here in Canada, but he was fighting in the war to keep Canada safe" I told him.
Under those pictures was another picture, James asked if that was Neil too, I told him that it was Neil's son Rex. I told him how Rex was a navigator on a fighter plane in WWII. And that his plane was shot down.
"So he didn't make it home alive?" He asked.
"No, buddy, he didn't." I responded.
And with that he burst in to honest to goodness sad tears. My poor boy was heart broken over somebody he has only seen in a black and white photo. He made me cry too. And when I had gained some composure, I tried to explain to him that yes indeed it is sad, but that it is happy too, because Rex cared so much about other people, people he had never met before, and people who weren't even born yet, like James, that he went to war to keep us safe, and he was willing to give his life so that James would never have to know what war really was. Yes, it's sad, I told him, but that is why it is so important to go to remembrance day ceremonies, to sing songs, and to wear poppies. So that we can remember them and thank all those who went to war so that we could live in this beautiful country were we are safe and free.

My heart overflows with gratitude for these great men, and so many more who have given so much so that my kids have the pleasure of now living in this wonderful land.