I have seen a joy in my son, a change in him that has made me so proud. I am grateful to the scouting program for all that it has done for my son and I hope that he will continue striving to make and keep these goals through out the rest of cub scouts...boy scouts...and his life.
Today I am thankful for Scouting.
*photos from this website
Usually I hate snow. While it's really pretty looking as it falls from the sky and clothes the world in a blanket of white...it's cold & wet.
Snow and I aren't friends.
But today as I was trying to think of all the many things I'm grateful for, I kept coming back to those smiling faces jumping around my bed this morning.
So Mr. Snow if you have the ability to make my children so incredibly happy then I guess you're alright by me.
Today....I'm grateful for the first snow of the season and the joy it brings my children. :)
...and I'm even more thankful that within several hours it alllllll melted. hee, hee
I am grateful for faithful examples.
I am so very grateful for the wonderful, strong women in my life. Yesterday I mentioned how grateful I am to have had such a wonderful mother who gave me a wonderful example of what motherhood is all about. Today (and everyday truly) I am grateful for my wonderful Grandma Lucy, my mommy's mother. She has always been there for me. She is an incredibly strong woman of faith. She is amazingly independent, even in her older years, and she has taught me so much about what it means to be a woman of God. When I was younger I would spend summers with her and I often could find her on her knees knelt in prayer...much like my mother. I hope that as they grow my children will also know of my love for my Heavenly Father, the way my grandmother & mother exemplified their love for Him, to me.
*My Grandma Lucy & I, after my mother's funeral*
Next, I am grateful for my Grandma Julia, mi abuela, my father's mother, for whom my Julianna is named. 
She had 11 children and growing up I always aspired to have as many as she did...probably not now that I have 5 and I can't imagine having 6 more...maybe 3 more....but that's another topic for another day. :)
There are great things that I remember about her like the way she always gave me soda crackers and hot chocolate for breakfast. How she alwas smelled so clean. How beautiful her skin was. How she always had a Bible on her night stand. When I was 14 mi abuela passed away. She was 93 years old. I was in 9th grade at the time, it was just after Thanksgiving Day. I returned to early morning seminary that Monday morning and as I sat in class and we sang the Christmas Hymn "Away in a Manger," I began to cry.
