Giving Thanks

I am long overdue for a gratitude post; my last "Thankful Thursday" post was on June 9! Here are just a few of the many things I could give thanks for over the past 7+ weeks.

1. I am very thankful for my mom. I miss her very much, and I keep praying in particular for my dad because I know the grieving process has to be the hardest for him. I am very, very thankful she is free from suffering and that I have confidence I will see her again some day.

2. I am thankful for all the love and support many family and friends have showed our family during these hard weeks. People in my parents' church have really gone above and beyond in terms of cleaning the house, sending flowers, providing childcare for grandkids, and TONS of food. They provided such a lovely dinner for out of town relatives on July 15 and an outstanding luncheon following the funeral on the 16th. I also have been blessed by flowers from my friend, Jo, and cards from a variety of people. My dad's Sunday School class took an offering and gave Wendy, Yvonne, and I some money toward travel expenses, which was very unexpected, thoughtful, and generous.

3. The kids and I have really been enjoying our pool membership. Last week we swam every day M-F. We planned to swim yesterday but after we finished the art activities there was a thunderstorm. I am so pleased with all the progress that Ian has made with swimming and jumping off the diving board. He is becoming braver and braver! Oliver is also making progress with swimming as he rarely wears his inner tube these days (although he still needs to get more comfortable submerging his head under water).

4. The kids enjoyed the art activities yesterday, the big band concert last night (along with some ballroom dancing), and the Peter Pan musical this afternoon. It was VERY well done. I hope Nadia is able to be in one of those productions when she is older. Oliver enjoyed his time at home with Daddy while we were at the 2 1/2 hour musical. He has now learned 18 of the upper case letters and is making great progress with riding a bike.

5. It was so nice having five people seated around the kitchen table at all three meals today. We only had three days together as a family of five this month - July 4, 24, and 31 so having even one meal together is a rare treat. We are enjoying reading books about the Olympics during our meal times as we get ready for the Summer Olympics. I am really enjoying our new (to us) kitchen table and chairs. In light of our plans to go to Ohio and also to Maryland next month (to help my sister go through my mom's clothing and such), I have asked Paul to take August 6 and 13 off of work because we will be gone most of the time from August 8-17. The kids are really looking forward to having 11 days with their cousins in the near future!

6. I am thankful that Nadia's friends (Grace, Claire, and Sophie) have been over to our house a few times over the past couple of months, and she is excited about attending Claire's 9th birthday party in about 3 weeks.

7. The kids and I have enjoyed a wide variety of activities this summer including seeing a movie at the theater, seeing a play (Robin Hood), a musical (Peter Pan), going roller skating, tennis lessons, horseback riding camp, Good News Day Camp, History Camp, baseball/softball clinic, Little Mermaid Jr., fireworks, parades, VBS, County Fair, Home Depot workshop, Children's Museum, State Park, Six Flags, Smithsonian, going to a Minor League baseball game, Camp Susque, painting and drawing camp, swimming lessons, etc. Ironically some plans changed (again) right after I analyzed our summer "bucket list" yesterday and it looks like we won't be going to Corning this summer after all, but it just means we have something to look forward to next year.

8. I appreciated how many relatives came for my mom's service - many I hadn't seen in more than a decade. Two of my aunts have called me since to see how I was doing, which again was greatly appreciated.

9. Paul fixed the doors in front of the washer and dryer (replaced the track). That has been a problem for years so I am grateful to have doors that work properly!

10. Between trips to Maryland and weeks I have been helping in one of the kids' Sunday School classes this summer, I hadn't attended my Sunday School class in quite awhile. I did today, and I was again reminded how much I enjoy this class. We are working through the synoptic Gospels right now.

11. As always, I am thankful for the library - we have quite an assortment of books from the library right now on various sports and the Olympics and Ancient Greece plus a couple of books on CD to listen to in the minivan. I also downloaded a book to my Kindle for free via the library last week to read while Oliver was at the Oppenheimer playground.

12. I have been missing one of my coats for more than 2 years. I thought I left it in Maryland, but when I couldn't find it there I thought I'd never see it again. I got it back today as it was discovered at a relatives house on Paul's side of the family. I really liked the coat so I am very thankful to have it back!

13. Al and Millie made a wonderful Minion cake for Nadia's birthday last month, and we are thankful they're making an Elmo one for Oliver for next Sunday.