Things Great and Small

On Monday’s blog, Jeff remarked that he dislikes doing those lists of things you’re thankful for, one reason being that when you put things like family and health on the same list as double-stuff mint Oreos, you sound a bit whacked. To which I say: it’s a good thing Jeff wasn’t at our Family Home Evening on Monday. Not that we were whacked or anything. We are SO NORMAL. We are so normal that if you look up normal in Wikipedia, it links to our family. Amazing, huh? We are icons of normality.

For our FHE activity, my six-year-old handed out pieces of paper and markers and wanted us to list what we’re thankful for. For her list, my six-year-old wrote kittens/cats, animals, our family members (listing them by name), house, food, church, and America. It was a very nice list. Trumpets, trumpet teachers, the army, Christmas, and water were a few thing that made my younger son’s list. Warm clothes, heating vents, shoes, and lemonade made my teenage son’s list. The new dishwasher (oh joy!) made a couple of lists, including mine. Man alive, I’m grateful for that dishwasher. It actually cleans the glasses instead of baking crud onto them. It’s a marvelous machine, and I am grateful for it. A few other things on my list: my family, my parents and parents-in-law on their missions, the Book of Mormon, the gospel, living in the USA, modern medicine, cars, computers, friends, central heating, and chocolate.

As you can see, we include both the huge things and the smaller things on our lists. Also, the, um, random things.

My husband’s list:

Mom
semi-sane kids
teeth
grandparents
scriptures
prophets
wheels
light
music
krill
cowpokes
sneezes
tree kangaroos
cryogenics

My sixteen-year-old decided to write her gratitude list including only things that begin with the letter F. Why? I don’t know. Her list:

food
federal government
Fed-Ex
family
friends
flushing toilets
faucets with hot and cold water
fridge
fudge
Finland
the funky chicken
Facebook
fava beans
Fellowship of the Ring
Fridays
Frida Kahlo
fiendish plots
fields
festivals
felt-tipped markers
fedoras
Frisbees
Fortitude South and Fortitude North.

Yes, I did have to Google two of the things on her list in order to identify them. Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist. And Fortitude South and Fortitude North were part of Operation Fortitude, a World War II Allied deception operation involved with the invasion of Normandy (Thank you, Wikipedia). I am definitely grateful for the soldiers who sacrificed so much for our freedom, and those who are still fighting for our freedom. My sister visited Normandy on a work trip with her husband and put together a photographic book about it, with photos she took of Normandy next to World War II photos. I couldn’t make it through the book without crying.

How about you? What are you grateful for, big or small? (and no, you don’t have to choose things beginning with only one letter, though you can if you want).

I am also grateful that Jeff didn’t blog about this topic, so I could. Bless you, Jeff, and I’m grateful for Jeff, all the Frog Bloggers, and everyone who takes the time to read our blogs. I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! (The plan for Friday morning: pie for breakfast).