So much to be thankful for

I was home for Christmas this year!!

Among the sweetest gifts I received was accompanying Michael and Sadie as they said their individual personal prayers.  

On one particular night, Sadie (who is 3.2 yrs.) offered her prayer with such sweet sincerity. She gave thanks for her princess sleeping bag, her family, and her pony (that she had lost and then said "and bless me to find it soon, before I go to bed". ) 

When she finished I said, "Sadie, thank you for your prayer."  

With a big smile on her face, she responded, "I had so much to be thankful for," and then bounded off to the play room for family scripture study.  

She left me in awe.  

What a tender example of what it means to be truly grateful. 

And so...here's a sampling of the things for which I'm grateful (in the order that they appear when pasted from the blogspot picture uploader...thing!  It would be impossible to rank them on a scale of 1 to 40...)

This seems a fitting way to kick off the first post of 2013.  

Thank you Sadie for being the inspiration for the theme of this post!

 Christmas Eve service at First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas.  An annual tradition.  Love you G'ma!  Happy 85th birthday today!!  :)

 

True love!  Congrats JA and Adam.  I'm grateful to see you both so completely happy.

Michael found Aunt Lisa's boots...and thought they'd be fun to try on.

Dinner with friends on 12.12.12.

People watching over bubble tea in Helsinki. 

(And being people-watched as I was people watching...!)

Katie was super nice this year...so Santa was good to her at the church Christmas party in JKL.

Meeting Sister Grass from Oren Utah.  She was sitting behind me on my Heathrow to Dallas flight.  She was returning home after completing an 18 month mission to Norway.  It turns out that her cousin was my elementary school crush and Sis. Grass and I attended the same elementary school.  Yeah.  Small world.

Flying home to Texas for Christmas on 12.18.12.  My 10 year anniversary entering the Missionary Training Center.  (And I was on the same flight as Sis. Grass and about 10 other missionaries who were returning home after serving 1.5-2 year missions all across Europe...2 of whom served in my mom's mission!!)  How sweet to see my flight info in Spanish.  It toggled between Spanish and English the whole flight. I'm convinced the Spanish made it on there just for me. :)  (seeing how I was flying from Heathrow to Dallas)

Christmas lights at G'ma's house!!

Cooking date night at G'ma's house.  Finnish delicacies (well, the recipes, that is.  Not sure how delicious they were as I was the head chef in the kitchen that night... :) )

Really?!  Yes.  Three of my favorite languages.  At the church Christmas party.  Yet another reminder that I'm in the right place.  :)

Temples.  I love temples.  Families can be together forever because of the promises that are made within their walls: http://www.lds.org/church/temples/why-we-build-temples?lang=eng

What better way to spend 12.12.12 than to be in the Helsinki temple.

Life sized manger scene at the base of the hill of the temple.

Langnet seminar in Helsinki. Took the pic at 8:20am.  Check out the hues in the sky.

Pikkujoulu.  Church Christmas party.  We performed a country line dance.  Boots don't fail me now.  Can I hear a 'heck yeah!' from my fellow country dancing friends?!  

Helsinki at Christmas time.

Front row seat for Katie's Christmas performance.  

It was the perfect way to ring in the Christmas spirit.

Good morning sunshine!!  Oh...wait...

 A warm place to live that keeps out the elements.  Brrrrrr!!

Alisha Ririe.  Owner of the Musketeer Mansion.  One of my heroes (and not just because she is Hero...the mascot of USAA, that is).  She's also the future CEO of USAA.  And she's got mad cookie baking skills.  Oh yes PLEASE!!

Two happy takers.  Tina is the first and longest standing resident of the Musketeer Mansion!!  She's also the future right hand woman of USAA's future CEO.  She's the person who does everything in the background and won't take the credit for any of it.  Can't wait to see her here in Finland!!

Texas sunsets...from the skies.

Walks on frozen lakes back home in JKL.  It was my first time to walk on a frozen lake (or frozen anything, for that matter).  Really, really eery.  It was similar to the feeling I had when I drove in Ireland.  "This just isn't right."

Sunny days in JKL.  Walking in the city center park.  This church and park stole my heart when I first visited.  Not sure why...but I just love this spot in JKL.

Winter tires.  Metal studs in winter tires. 

Grateful all of my limbs are still safely attached thanks to them.

Following after Michael and Sadie as they climbed all over a 3 story tree house.

Rolling down the hill races.  Oh what fun!!  :)  We made a new friend.  Daniel was a hoot!

If only their parents would let me take them home with me.  Adelaide's saying "Please!"  :) 

(I'm seriously grateful that the United airlines agent let me check my bags 30 mins. before my flight was leaving.  Yeah.  He couldn't believe he was letting me get on the flight either.  It was just one of a series of miracles. And answers to many a prayer!)

Gingerale and a close substitute for saltine crackers.  Food poisoning that hits 45 mins. before you board your first of 3 flights is, well, not a pleasant experience.  

Found the kids hanging out together in their play room.

Sadie and Michael called us all into the living room for a tea party.  This is what we found.  And grateful to reconnect with the Koivistos (friends of mine from JKL who just moved to Houston).  Missing Katie and the boys who were in Ohio for a few days.  But super awesome seeing Jyri!

While mom and dad were away, we roasted hot dogs over the fire.  :)

Lisa and I were staying in Sadie's room.  When we came in after Sadie had gone to bed our first night there, we found these two 'friends' waiting for us.  They hadn't been there a few hours before when we unpacked our things.  I asked her in the morning if she had shared her stuffed animals with us.  "Uh huh.  They're my friends!"  Wow.  All I can say is wow.  One night she grabbed one of the bears and said, "This one is for Michael cuz he's a boy."  And then she ran into Michael's room and tucked it into his bed.  Such a sweet, sweet girl this little one is!!

The Lion project is officially a wrap!!  3 years later...the DVD is complete.  My G'ma read the entire the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis and I video recorded her over the course of 1.5 years.   She would read this book to us when visiting us in Utah when I was a child.  It's one of my favorite memories.  She was so gracious to let me record her reading each of the chapters so that her grandchildren's children will also be able to enjoy a similar experience. 

Sadie loving to do whatever her big brother is doing...so she hammed it up with Aunt Lisa's boots.  She actually managed to walk quite well in them.

Our neighbor's Christmas lights.  There have been at least 3 families who have lived in this house since we've lived in our house (now going on 20 years).  It must be a requirement for the new house owners to know how to decorate their yard because this house always has the most elegant lights...even with 3 different owners.

The Texas moon.  One of the things I miss the most about Texas.  I can't get enough time outside star gazing and admiring the moon.

Christmas lights everywhere.  Even in parks outside shopping malls.

Boxes are so much fun to play in.  Sadie added a girly touch by using sparkly tissue paper to function as a door.

Watching the kids open Christmas gifts.  Adelaide loved her ball.

Family.  I'm eternally grateful for my family.

There are countless friends and other family members I was blessed to spend time with that I didn't get to snap pictures with.  Thank you, thank you to all who carved out time so we could catch up!!

I deeply cherish your love and friendships!!  They are among the top things for which I am thankful!!