Gratitude

I have been meaning to write a post about gratitude for a long time. Since Thanksgiving is around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to finally share some thoughts on the subject. First, I'd like to acknowledge the fact that my family has received many blessings this year. Some of them are things we have been looking forward to for a long time. There are three particular events that have been a huge deal for us.

1) After a longer than usual wait, we had another baby this year. I know many people look at us like we are crazy or irresponsible for having 10 kids, but it is something we feel strongly about. It would be more affordable, convenient, clean, and quiet, if we had fewer kids, but my family is the best part of my life and each one of them makes the world a better place. Besides, I am not going to get my own reality TV show unless I can surpass the Duggars. Our newest addition is such a bright spot for our family and I can't imagine what it would be like without her.

2) After 14 years of living in a home with absolutely filthy carpet (click here for proof), we were finally able to re-carpet our house. I'm really not into material things, but it is amazing how after being surrounded by nasty carpet, when you get clean flooring, it can boost your spirits and make you feel so much better.

3) We finally went to Disneyland! Our family has not been on a real vacation for over 11 years. We have been to family reunions and over the weekend events, but not a full blown family vacation. I had been telling my kids we were going to go to Disneyland for over 10 years, but each year the money just wasn't there and we ended up putting it off for another year. As a result, I have become the boy who cried wolf to my kids and they would just say "whatever" when I told them we were going to go this year again.

This year as the date was approaching, things were still not panning out. I know Dave Ramsey would rip me a new one if he knew I was taking my family on a vacation under our current financial situation. Somehow, a string of miracles occurred over the last few months that allowed us to pull it off by the skin of our teeth.

I love Disneyland, especially the magic of seeing kids reactions to it for the first time. I'm not sure how my 5 year old was able to maintain such a calm reaction going over the falls while her older brothers thought they were going to die.

I have so many things to be grateful for, but I am particularly thankful for these three events that we have patiently looked forward to for a long time.