Thankful 1,2,3.......

I know I am a little behind of writing down what I am thankful for, but I thought that a week late, was better than never. There are so many things concerning the gospel that I am grateful for so I will not mention most of those things. I love this time of year to celebrate thanksgiving and spend time with family and friends. To take some time to just step back and reflect upon all that we have been blessed with.
#1- Temples
November 5th marked the anniversary of our sealing to Reese. Truly one of the happiest and emotional days of my life. I remember walking into the temple carrying my little baby and was the proudest mom in the world. As my little family all dressed in white walked thru the temple, everyone knew that we were about to be sealed and even though they didn't know us, they were excited for us. The sealing was beautiful and I have never cried so much in my life. I will forever be grateful for temples and the sealing power that I can live with my family forever.

#2- Adoption
Adoption has truly changed my life in so many ways. I am grateful not only for the opportunity to adopt our beautiful daughter, but the whole process. I have never been so humbled in all my life, but I am grateful for the testimony that I have gained through it all. I have learned to trust in my Heavenly Father in so many ways.
I am grateful for the selfless sacrifice of Reese's birth parents. They gave us such a priceless gift and I hope to one day be able to adequately express my love and gratitude to them. And then their is Reese..... she is my world and I love everything about her. We have a family now and Ron and I love being parents and are grateful for the opportunity it is to be a parent. Adoption gave us this and we hope to be able to adopt again and love another baby just as much.

#3- Laughter

Life would be so dull without laughing. I remember a time in my life when I was in college and so focused on school and working that I would forget to laugh. I know I wasn't laughing because I remember laughing until I cried at my sister's bridal shower and thinking, "I have not done that in a long time." Now, I laugh everyday! Reese is a little comedian and she thinks I am pretty funny too. Her laugh is so contagious and she thinks she is hilarious. Just last night I was sitting on the ground and eating some pumpkin dessert. Reese came over and sat down in front of me and just started saying, "Mmmmmmmm." Then she would look at my dessert and do it again, "Mmmmmmm." The funny thing about this is that Reese will just usually come up and start eating our food so I'm not sure why she was hinting so much that she wanted some dessert. Today, we were at Hobby Lobby with my mom and Reese was just trying to run away from my mom down the isle hysterically laughing. I could hear her laughing an isle over and couldn't help, but start to laugh. Running in a store is probably really inappropriate, but anyone that knows Reese, will soon realize she doesn't walk anywhere, she runs.