Thankful

So, on my family blog I published a post about how thankful I am for all the great things in my life. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, because I truly believe in being thankful. We can always find something to complain about, and that's often easier than flipping it and finding something to be thankful for. My top five things I am thankful for (that I put on my other blog) are my family, my temporal blessings (food, clothing, shelter, transportation), the Gospel, my piano, and my sewing machine. Those last two might seem somewhat trivial, but I get great joy out of both of them. And I think Heavenly Father is pleased when we use our talents. He gave them to us for a reason.

So on an even more trivial note, on Monday the mail carrier brought me two packages. One was the Christmas present from my husband's grandparents. His grandpa makes toys every year and sends them to all 40 of his grandchildren -- yes, 40. That's a lot of wooden trains, let me tell you. The second package was from my sister-in-law, Jill. Apparently she had brutalized her stash recently, and the carnage was sent to me. I am definitely thankful for that.

One of the yellow pieces has already gone into the back of one of my quilts to make it a wee bit wider. There's a blue, red, and khaki stripe that is going to bind my star quilt. The two red/blue plaid pieces are going into my Smoky Mountains Stars quilt for my sixth child's bed. A couple of the greens are going in a green and brown quilt that I have been planning and now can execute. I also plan to make a Happy Hour quilt with all of those great boy prints.

So, I am thankful for Jill's generosity. I think I might have cried just a little when I opened the box and saw all that great fabric. I think my husband might have cried a little too, but perhaps not for the same reason.