A Season of Thanks

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the first time in a long time. Our first year we were married we hosted it but it was just my mom and my Pop & Nana. This year, I didn't spend it with any of my family, which is odd. Felt weird not seeing them or even my mother at all. But, despite the change in venue and company, it was a really nice time. We hosted for hubby's family, although I don't feel like I did much. My mother-in-law did most of the cooking at her place. I just made the mac-n-cheese (which apparently wasn't cheesy enough for my crazy picky brother in law-ha!), baked the homemade sourdough bread, and hubby made a melt-in-your-mouth delicious pumpkin cheesecake.

We had a ton of food and quite a few laughs. Then my b-i-l and s-i-l willingly took our boy with them to see her side of the family which gave hubby and I a chance to try our hand at Black Friday  Thursday shopping. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous standing in the 18 mile long line outside of Toys-R-Us. I swore a few years ago that I would NEVER do Black Friday shopping again. And then....I had a kid. Oh, the things we do for our children.

We had a very specific door-buster item we were getting and thankfully I snagged a ticket for it before even entering the doors so all I had to do was maneuver the throngs of people to find the other items I was searching for. Thank God for bonus checks! This is the first Christmas that our boy understands what it's all about pretty much and it's also the first Christmas that we've actually been able to afford stuff. I am so super stoked. I'm excited to start new traditions this year and I so cannot wait to see his precious little face on Christmas morning when he sees what he has under the tree! That's part of the magic...the littles!

This whole season, while it can become stressful and busy and filled with way too many things than one can truly accomplish, is exciting to me. My husband and I love this time of year - everything about it. 

It's the season of shopping and spending.
It's the season of giving and receiving.
It's the season of sleigh bells and twinkling lights.
But most importantly for me, it's the season of thanks.

Oh, my....I have so much for which to be thankful. 

I am most thankful for the fact that I have a Savior Who willingly came down from Heaven and was born as a little baby to be my King and one day die for me. I mean, WOW! Talk about humbled!

I have so many blessings in my life and if I tried to name them all, you would be reading forever. 

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the small, minute, honestly insignificant details that go along with this season but I encourage you to keep in mind the real reason. Thanksgiving is not just a meal. It's not just the day before big shopping (or I suppose now the day OF). It's not just one day out of the year. It encompasses the beauty of what this season and our entire lives should be about: being thankful for what we have and who we get to share it with.

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