Remaining Thankful

Sunday morning while we were away celebrating Christmas with Tim's family, Alexis called to report that we would be coming home to no power, a power line down in our driveway and a limb through the back windshield of Tim's car. What a way to start Christmas, uh? We resolved not to worry about it until we were home. We ended up having a wonderful time that day. We arrived back home around 9:30pm and were unable to get into our house, so we headed to my parents' to have a sleep over with Alexis and Ruthie. 

6 days later, like thousands of others, we are still don't have power and are down to one car.

I'm a complainer at heart, but doing the 30 days of thankfulness back in November has really helped me to change my mind set. While I've had my moments, overall I've remained thankful for what we do have. Which is a lot more than some.

So, in the spirit of continued thankfulness here are 26 things I'm thankful for as we're nearing the end of December.

1. My women's small group.
2. A happy, healthy and content baby girl.
3. Lemi-Shine (Silly, but true. This stuff works miracles on dishes with hard water stains).
4. Spending a weekend with Tim's family.
5. Having the means to make the two hour drive to visit his family.
6. The birth of Jesus Christ.
7. My parents' generator.
8. Parents who let us stay with them.
9. Landlords who hooked up a small generator to run the furance.
10. We were able to go to our house Christmas morning to open at least open gifts.
11. Visiting and spending time with all of our extended famlies.
12. A husband who provides for our family.
13. Being able to stay home with our girlies.
14. Our girls have gotten to meet 8 of their great grandparents.
15. A dad who still looks out for me.
16. Getting the news I could take the girls home. Even if it's to a house with no working stove or hot water heater - we're home!
17. Generous relatives who spoiled all of us.
18. The power company employees who took time away from their own families and traveled across the country to restore power to others.
19. Tim's Christmas bonus
20. Christmas music
21. We will only have to replace a window and not the car.
22. Our silly jumping bean, Stella.
23. A day of shopping earlier in the month with my mom and sisters.
24. I get to sleep in my own bed tonight.
25. The reminder to not take things for granted
26. Discovering the no 'poo lifestyle