The Blairs: Thankful!

Almost every fall/autumn I get kind of down in the dumps, and overwhelmed by the impending onslaught of holidays, they used to always really stress me out. There was a time when I would become consumed by this "down in the dumps" feeling, and think that it would never go away, and then I started to recognize that it only came about this time of year, every year. So I got used to it, and was always so relieved for Christmas and the new year, when these feelings each year seemed to subside and my outlook became much more bright.

I don't know what different about this year, but for the first time in many years that down in the dumps feeling never got hold of me. I'm not sure if it was the cause of the effect, but I was overcome with gratitude each and every day. I was/am so humbled as I realize how much I have blessed and how much my Heavenly Father knows and loves me.

We do "thankful leaves" every year, and this year was so wonderful. Abi was able to tell me of her own ideas that she was thankful, (lots of food items, but there were some days that she really surprised me) and I wrote one thing for Emily, which may seem silly, but I tried really hard to think of the things that really make up her life, and her list is probably my favorite one, it is so simple and yet the richest and most profound.

Here are our lists, we tried to do one each day:

Nichole:

Kindness, fruits/veggies, Family, BYU, Icy Hot muscle rub (I sprained my neck, and it was miserable for a couple of weeks), the colors of the rainbow, days off for Jeff, Jeff's job, Our car ( I put this twice), Jesus' Example, A poop cleaning, middle of the night waking husband (there is a story about this one), Running, Nature, My Mom and Dad, Education, Sisters, Hugs from Abi, Seasons, Piano, Family Home Evening, The spirit that helps me feel peace and happiness, Prayer, Abi, A fresh start every dady, My 5 senses, Laminate Flooring, A warm bed, Emily,

Jeff

Indoor Plumbing (he put this one twice), Servcie, Abi, Marshmallow Popcorn, My testimony, cereal, clean water, Jesus Christ, Eternal Marriage, Beautiful Art, Modern Medicine, The Microwave, The Plan of Salvation, Health, Emily, Sports, Happy Dreams, Mo, My Mom and Dad, My beautiful wife, Beautiful Music, Nichole and all her amazingness.

Abi:

Coloring books, Treats, Almond Milk, Brownie Treats (any kind of chocolate), Mosey, Grandma/Grandpa, climbing (she said she was grateful for climbing everyday, and then proceeded to climb on top of something), potties, Juice, Joseph (her uncle), the park, stars and leaves, granola bars, A good story ( she really said that), Jenny (Boster), Mommy, Vitamins, our leaves, Seth (Haskin), kitty cats (we have some neighborhood out door cats, and she LOVES going outside to find them and pet and watch them) cereal, Dinner, Apples, George/Sharon (our wonderful neighbors), Milk, Papi (what she calls Jeff now), people giving candy (I think she meant Halloween), Mom ( I made the list twice!) Summer (her best friend), fish (totally random, I think she saw a picture of a fish on a box) and the last one and best one of all, Um Jesus. She thought about it and said, Um.... Jesus. A proud and funny moment, because she says Um all the time now.

Emily:

White noise (helps her to sleep), diapers, milk, fingers (loves to chew on hers and her Papa's fingers), sleep, Papa holding her, her mouth, carseat, pacifier, rolling, lullabyes, snuggles, warm clothes, hooded sweatshirts (she looks so cute in hoodies), Teeth (she has 4 now), laughing, crib, her feet, blankets, smiling, her eyes, a warm bed.

As far as the actual Thanksgiving Holiday, it was probably the best Thanksgiving I've ever had. I ran a 10k (like I just went out by myself and ran 6.2 miles with a friend), we all went out to a field at the Dental School and watch Jeff play football for 2 hours, then came home and the girls slept while we cleaned and finished up some food for Thanksgiving Dinner. Then we went to our friends the Bosters, and it was the most delicious and nicely arranged dinner ever. Then we played games and watched Elf, and ate too much pie. And Jenny's family had a tradition of if you could write 200 things, you got to choose a candy bar, so of course we had to do that, and got some pretty fun and wonderful lists of things we are grateful for. It was amazing, at some points it was hard to think of more things to write, but then towards the end I could have kept going.

Here we are at the Bosters, pre-stuffing ourselves

Friday, we put up our tree and decorations. I am so glad we don't have too many decorations, it keeps it simple, but any Christmas decorations make it just seem so magical.

On Saturday we went to the Alamodome to see UTSA Roadrunners play Louisiana Tech in football. We got there right before the marching band, which was by far my favorite part. It was fun, and Abi had a blast.