Goodbye Thanksgiving, Hello Christmas

"Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love."

~Thomas S. Monson (full talk here)

We've done a few things to encourage the kids to feel and express gratitude for the things we normally take for granted. We made a gratitude tree, and the kids filled in some of the things they appreciate.

Here are some of the things they wrote, in random order (I left their spelling):

Holladays * Books * Leafs * Friends * Soil * Candy * Parents * Clothes * Love * Jesus Crist * My dog * Presents * The Book of Mormon * Grandparents * Santa * Cars * Cousins * Computers * Food * Mom * Video Games * Trees * Christmas * My family * The air * Shoes * Piano * Dad * TV * Heavenly Father * School * My bed * Mommy & Daddy * DS * Home * Trips * My dog * Water * Pets * Music * Earth * Education * Turkey

Grandma Judy brought each of the kids a gratitude journal, and we encouraged them to make a list there too. Here's Ellie's:

I was pretty impressed that she knew who Ester was, until I got to #47 and realized she meant Easter.

And Ainsley's list:

She has prayer, music, scripture, lesson, treat and activity listed, because she was writing at my desk, right where she could copy the family home evening chart. :)

Rob told the kids whoever made it to 100 first could play Yahtzee on his iPad, which is a new family favorite. The boys didn't even start their lists, but here they are anyway at the end of the day, discovering the "battle" version of Yahtzee. So fun—you can download the app here.


Okay, and finally, November 26th seems WAY too early to start the Christmas season, but since I'm hosting a dinner group for our RS Christmas party next Tuesday, I figured I'd better get the decorating out of the way. Couldn't bring myself the play Christmas music like we usually do—we had everything from Bob Marley to U2 for this year's tree trimming.

I forgot my camera tonight when we went out to dinner with friends, but I am grateful for them. They, I'm sure, are grateful that I didn't embarrass them by taking a photo at the restaurant.