Grateful.

Ask anyone that knew me from 2000-2010 I have always been somewhat of a holiday scrooge. I think it started when I was old enough to realize that if I helped put up all the decorations I had to help take them down. I hated cleaning up. I still do. So if I didn't make the mess I would excuse myself from cleaning it. Also, I've always kind of had a bad taste in my mouth for how commercialized Christmas and Thanksgiving have become. The world tends to forget what these holidays are truly about, Christ, family, service, gratitude, and love; not Santa and presents, or stuffing our faces with turkey. But Caiden has found the inner elf in this scrooge and this holiday season something inside me has transformed! I started listening to A Very She & Him Christmas and the Michael Buble Christmas album just days after Halloween ended. I started making Caiden's Christmas wish list and looking for Black Friday deals on the few little toys we want to buy him. I'm anxiously awaiting the day we can bundle him up and build a snowman together and go cut down our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We've already started reading him the story of Christ's birth at night when we read scriptures, formulating ideas for Christmas traditions, and dancing in the kitchen with Caiden to Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" because truly I feel so grateful to have my sweet baby boy this holiday season, all I want for Christmas is Miles and Caiden. 
So, I say to my inner scrooge: bring on the holiday season! And since today is Thanksgiving, present this picture list of the things I am most grateful for.

First and foremost I am thankful for these two boys. They are the loves of my life and my greatest blessings. 

I'm so grateful for my puppy dog. He's a great companion and a best buddy.

I'm so incredibly grateful for my big family. My parents and sisters have blessed me life incredibly, and I feel so grateful for my extended family. I was blessed to marry a man with the greatest parents and siblings. I'm a lucky girl!

I'm grateful for beautiful New England autumns and the beauty on the earth that Heavenly Father has blessed us with. He is the ultimate artist.

I'm grateful for nap time. I love playing with Caiden, but I'm grateful for a few hours out of the day where I can rest and regroup for more playtime! And good naps keep him happy, healthy, and growing!

I'm grateful for Coco Bean cupcakes. They are one of the only thing I'll miss when we leave Rexburg. Nothing better than a Coco Bean date.

At each new phase of my life, I'm more and more grateful for my mom. Especially now as I've become a mom I rely on her and call her with questions daily. 

I'm thankful for pregnant sisters, because that means 2 new nieces will be joining our family. Nikki is due in December and Jen in May. 

I'm grateful for 22 more days until Miles graduates from BYU-Idaho. This picture was taken at 47 days to graduation, so cut that chain in half! We're almost there!