Trying to Touch Heaven Week 1

Aw, November. It's finally time for an extra emphasis on remembering our many blessings. Of course we are thankful year round but I love the opportunity that Thanksgiving time gives us to really remember! 'Tis the season to be thankful!!  

This is our Thankful Tree this year. I love how it starts out all empty and is quickly filled with all of our blessings. This is one of my favorite traditions!

 










 

Here it is just one week later! We are very blessed!!
 













And now, for our many, many thankfuls: 

11/1: Ben-Cyndi (awwwww), Cyndi-Grandpa Jensen, Skylar-family, Nick-chickens, Kade-family, Alexis-water

I can't help but be thankful for my amazing Grandpa Jensen every year. He instilled in me a deep sense of gratitude for all I've been blessed with. Every year, instead of a Christmas card, he'd send a Thanksgiving message. Eight years ago this month, when he had reached the age of 102, those messages finally stopped coming. I miss him and the special attention he always gave me because I reminded him of my grandma so much but I'm so thankful for the many things he taught me and continues to do with the legacy he has left. I'm looking forward to this month to talk about and remember all of the many blessings we enjoy!

This is my amazing grandpa holding little Nickolas just a few months before he passed away. Aren't they both adorable?

 11/2 : Ben-My kids, Cyndi-the right to vote, Skylar-leche, Nick-air conditioning, Kade-friends, Alexis-presents

I really felt like I needed to vote early this year. I'm so thankful for that prompting since I was sick, sick, sick on election day! I took Little Lex with me and she was such a trooper in the long line. It was so good to let her help me with my voting and talk to her about how important it was to vote. It is blessing that not everyone gets and I feel very blessed to have this freedom!

11/3: Ben-friends, Cyndi-my girls, Skylar-friends, Nick-Dylan Tong, Kade-Dylan Day (a day when the boys get to play with Dylan, whom they obviously love, but doesn't live close so it takes some work. They have to earn this and it has been a great motivator!! Yay for Dylan Day!) Alexis-leche

I'm soooo thankful for my girls. I was able to see some of my favorite ladies today at different get togethers & I feel so blessed to have the amazing friends I do that make me laugh, share the good & the bad times, & make me feel loved. You know who you are & I love ya!!

Disclaimer: This is just some of my girls, Adrianne & Sara, and this picture is sooooo old because it's from our 2010 Disneyland Girls Trip. I missed this year's because I was happily pregnant. I think we need a do-over!!

11/4: B-Mom & Dad, C: Sundays, Skylar-Dad, Nick-grandmas & grandpas, Kade-Grandma Cammi & Aunt Jessi (who came for dinner since it was Cammi's birthday. I spent most of the time in bed, but Ben made an awesome dinner!), Alexis-music

I am thankful for Sundays. Although they are often my hardest days, I am so thankful for the reminder of the gift of my Savior, Jesus Christ, and what His Atonement and Resurrection mean to me personally and the chance to renew my covenants to follow Him. I didn't go to church this day because I was sick and I realized how much I missed the opportunity to go to church. Yes, me! Even though it's hard, I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, renewing my covenants, and getting closer to not only my Savior, but my boys waiting for me in heaven. Plus, I can do hard things!!! I am so thankful to know that no matter how dark my Friday may be that Sunday will come. 

P.S. I am super thankful for one of my very favorite Mormon Messages:

11/5: Ben-ice cream, Cyndi-comforts when sick, Skylar- Mom (awwwww), Nick-aunts & uncles, Kade-Christmas songs, Alexis-treats

 This day I was really sick. The achy awful sick where every single part of your body just throbs and you feel miserable, but I still had so much to be thankful for! I'm thankful for a warm, cozy bed in a warm, cozy house, a heating pad that makes me even warmer when I get chilled, an awesome husband that sent the big kids on their way to school so I could sleep, a slew of doTERRA essential oils to make me feel better, a stack of Disney DVDs (mostly about dogs-someone is obsessed-no, not me), and my baby girl to cuddle with. It's not awesome being sick, but what a blessing it is to have all of these comforts when I am!

11/6: Ben-to live in a free country, Cyndi-to be an American, Skylar-ice cream, Nick-popcorn, Kade-Mommy (awwwwww), Alexis-Baby Gabe & Baby Reese

Today was election day and although I wasn't super happy with the outcome of it, I'm thankful to be an American and for all of the freedoms we enjoy....the freedom to vote, the freedom of religion, the freedom to voice our own opinions, and so many more that we take for granted every day. I'm thankful for those that have served and do serve to ensure those freedoms for us. It is a very blessed thing to be an American and I don't take it for granted!

 

11/7: Ben-scriptures, Cyndi-the human body, Skylar-food, Nick-having the Holy Ghost, Kade-Dad, Alexis-friends

I am thankful for our amazing bodies. I'm thankful for all that they help us perform and create. I'm especially thankful that they heal. After being sick in bed with awful body aches for 4 days, I was so thankful to finally be feeling better. After being sick for 3 months with a super painful infection, I'm thankful that my body is finally starting to fight it off and the pain is going away. Nothing feels better than feeling better!

11/8: Ben-the sunset, Cyndi-Young Women (and a bonus of rainbow babies), Skylar-the gospel, Nick-Dad, Mom (awwwww), Skylar, Kade, Alexis, Gabe, & Reese; Kade-the Book of Mormon, Alexis-temples

I'm thankful for the Young Women program and the blessing it has been for me to serve in it. Last night I finally received my Young Women medallion as well as an Honor Bee. Even though I earned it as a youth, I never actually received it due to a technicality. It's been so great to learn so much and reach so many goals as I've strived to earn this. I have been truly blessed by doing it. I am also thankful for the awesome leaders I am blessed to serve with and the beyond amazing girls that are some of my greatest examples that I get to serve! I love you all!!

  

 I added a bonus thankful today because I got to meet a special friend for lunch and meet and cuddle on my her sweet, beautiful, little rainbow baby girl today. I'm so thankful for the happiness it brings mommas (and dads too) when they get their rainbows. I was almost there and I know how much joy it brought me. I hope we can have that joy again someday. I think I could cuddle rainbows all day long. I need a job doing just that.