Giving thanks...

I hope you walk with gratitude in your hearts, really.

Grateful people are respectful people.

Grateful people are courteous people.

Grateful people are kindly people.

Be grateful.

--Gordon B. Hinckley

After getting home late last night from our trip to Las Vegas (for Chris' step-sister's wedding), we were tired today. But that didn't stop us from a full-on, busy day. We went to church in our own ward. It was the primary program. The kids did wonderfully. They sang the songs so well. I like having singers in my family. Ammon gave a beautiful, heartfelt talk on the Atonement. Sarah sang with a small "sign language choir." Nathan read a statement about the power of scripture. And Beth. Beth was a little stubborn. She refused to go up for most of the meeting. Finally Chris convinced her to do what she had prepared to do. So she sang her little heart out. Then she stood up to deliver her memorized line about having faith in Christ. She knew she had the little paper somewhere in her scriptures, so she began to search for it. She stood there at the podium turning the pages of the Book of Mormon one by one--very slowly and deliberately. She is a child who cannot be rushed. Anyway, eventually she said what she already had memorized and all was well.

I think I'm falling off subject a bit. From our sacrament meeting, we went straight over to my aunt and uncle's house. They recently returned from a mission to Tonga. We missed hearing them speak in church (because of said primary program) but we got to visit with family. We spent an enjoyable hour or two visiting with cousins--some who were in town from North Carolina and Arizona. I had a great time and when we left, Chris talked about how much he likes my cousins. (And aunt and uncle.) By the way, this is my dad's side of the family.

From there, we came home for lunch. So did three of my sisters. They came to Mom and Dad's where we ate and let the kids play. My kids have 27 cousins on this side of the family and they love each other.

And then we went to hear my cousin speak in his sacrament meeting. He just returned from a mission in Guatemala. He talked about the joy found in following Jesus Christ. It was nice. From there, we went to my aunt's house. By the other way, this is my mom's side of the family. All of my aunt's children were there. One of my cousins was in from Georgia. I haven't seen him for years. I saw other cousins I haven't seen for a long time, probably since Mitch left on his mission. We visited and laughed and ended up staying a very long time. Time flies when you're with your cousins.

Yesterday, we were in Las Vegas. (Now I'm going backwards.) We went to my sister-in-law's house just for the purpose of letting our kids play together. They got to play with 8 of their 11 cousins on the Woods side. They all get along great. Nathan could barely remember one of his cousins, Justin, because we haven't seen him for several years. But he told me, "We're already great friends, even though we barely remember each other." Isn't that the way it is with cousins?

So, this was my long, round-about, slightly boring way of saying that I am grateful for cousins. I love my cousins. I love that we still have friendships and I like to be with them. I'm also grateful for my kids' cousins. Cousins! I love them.