So Grateful

I have no pictures for this post, but just needed to write out some of my feelings. Last night as I was getting ready for bed (at 11:30,) Lucy woke up, so I took her into our room to cuddle for a minute. Jason was already in bed asleep, so I tried to be quiet. I set Lucy on the bed so that I could change in to my jammies and was so filled with love as I watched her. She got so excited to see her daddy there in bed, that she went over to him and just cuddled up to him. Jason continued to sleep, but this didn't stop Lucy at all... she crawled up him a little further so that her head was at his shoulder, put her arms around him, and patted him on the back, and just laid there with him. I was hit with the most overwhelming feeling of gratitude to see this. Not everyone is as blessed as I am, and I can't help but notice it every day. Every day that I am able to wake up next to my best friend and sweetheart is a gift. Each day that I am able to walk in to my daughters room and see her smile and put her arms out to me is a miracle. The time that I am able to spend with my family brings such joy and fulfillment into my life. I am so lucky to have Jason and Lucy, but it goes so much further than that. I have been blessed to have an enormous and very loving extended family too. My parents have loved me beyond compare, have led me, guided me and taught me to be the person I am today. I am so glad to have them near and to have such a great relationship with them... to be able to call them my parents, and my friends! Jason's parents are also always there for us - when I get a call out of the blue from Jason's mom to tell me something exciting, or even just to tell me that she was thinking about me, lifts my spirits so much! I love that Lucy is able to spend as much time as she does with the grandparents, and to see her interact with them, to see the joy that they bring to each other's lives... it is amazing. Then there are the brothers and sisters - I was blessed to have a brother and 2 sisters - whom I love so much and am so grateful for - but then through marriage I have been blessed with so many more. How many people can say that they love all of their brothers and sisters (including in-laws) beyond compare? I can! I will never take for granted the fact that I have a ton of people that I am able to call on when I need help, a listening ear, or someone to laugh with. I have learned so much from each of my family members, and will be forever grateful for these relationships!

I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for putting me into these families, at this time, to learn and grow and love. I am grateful for His eternal plan, for the knowledge that I have that we can be together forever. I am excited to think about the possibilities that are in our futures. I am grateful for a husband that is patient, loving and kind, that was willing to wait for me, and take me to the Temple of our Lord. I am grateful to know the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to have a testimony that He lives, to know that He loves me, to know that we are part of His plan, and to know that there is a living prophet guiding and directing us on this earth today.