Happy Thanksgiving!

The big things I'm thankful for: family, friends, health, faith, & life.

Here are a few of the little things I'm thankful for:

The smell of dogs' paws

A strikingly beautiful sunset

The smell of a chlorinated swimming suit

An old couple holding hands

Getting a letter through snail mail

My dad’s laugh

My mom speaking Spanish

Chelsea’s laugh

Snuggling

Cold pillows

Wrinkly mummy sleeping bags

Fresh laundry, warm and straight out of the dryer

Water popsicles

Dancing like no one’s watching

Diving into a swimming pool

Skiing down a mountain

Really good acoustical guitar

The smell of fresh cut grass

Hugs from Cass: “give me a hug!”

Griffin’s handwriting

Griffin calling me “Polar Bear”

People praying

Scrubs

Children’s laughter, especially when one of them tells a funny joke or story

Fine-tipped black pens

Ink on fresh paper

Boys in hoodies

Feeling the sun give me more freckles

Traveling in general, especially particularly foreign places you’ve only seen pictures—pictures that will never do justice to the real thing

Journals

Paint chips

Anne Gracie romance novels

A color-coded closet

A perfectly fitting pair of jeans, like they were made for me

A piping cup of tea, especially with pyramidal tea bags

Iced coffee

Bed-head

“Peace be with you” at Mass

Red, orange and yellow leaves falling in an autumn breeze

Bicycles, old ones

Anne of Green Gables

Natalie’s laugh, when she puts her hand on her stomach and lets her whole body laugh along

Gilbert Blythe

Wellington’s (rain boots)

Mom’s story telling (Dad & the Ketchup)

Family memories & videos

Spring flowers, especially tulips

The Kite scene in Finding Neverland

Mom’s mysteries of the Rosary

Forcing Cass to give me a hug when she’s mad

Filip’s laugh

Hunter Gregory’s Buddha belly

Vermilion the color

A long, challenging run

Hunter sticking his head out the sun roof

Nature, just after it’s rained

Mom saying “these people!”

Hunter’s howl

Groggy Griffin

Chelsea’s teaching stories: “Aww Mom! I went to bed last night!”

Grandma Hesse & all her quirky sayings “these pants attract all but men & money!”

Office supply stores

Little tiny notebooks

Thimbles

New shoes

Books

Falling asleep in the sun

Dad’s robes

Iced vanilla/almond lattes

Couples holding hands with mittens on

Sister Lucy saying Thessalonians

Christmas lights

The way Hunter is really cuddly in the morning

How Natalie is the human equivalent of a Snuggie

Baking

The song G & I made up: “Clementine”

The feistiness of Grandma Hesse

Honey nut loaf without nuts

Have a blessed feast & holiday!

PS- The giveaway is still going on here!