"People who work and love and laugh..."

I'm thankful for my family :)
This could potentially be an extremely long post. Extremely long. But don't worry, I kept things on the short(er) side. After all, it's family. There's so much to be said!

Well, here's the gang! Though this picture is from, like, 2 years ago...

I'm so white...

I absolutely love my family. I am so incredibly blessed to have been born into the family that I have. My parents are both wonderful; they have done a great job raising my siblings and I. Now that I am older and am no longer living at home, I realize just how good of a job they did. And even though my parents and I had our disagreements, I still respect them a lot. I never ever ever lied to them about where I was going when I went out at night, I always kept to my curfew, I never rebelled when they didn't let me do something that I really want to. (That's not to say that I didn't complain. I wasn't an emotion-less teen, after all). Even once I went home for the summer after having been away at college for a year, I still held to their rules out of respect. Even though it killed the independent side of me.

My parents are so different in their personalities. I take after my dad - he is a people-person, not afraid of being in front of crowds, loves to tease... and my brother Ryan and sister Jenna are also outgoing like him. Meanwhile, my mom is more reserved, as are my siblings Johnathon and Carissa. And yet... they get along well. I love them both very much though... and despite my tendency to be more outgoing, I've still inherited my mother's tendency to get embarrassed easily, depending on the circumstances. I'm rather sensitive haha... but my mother has a great drive. When she wants to get something done, she'll fight to get it done. It's been helpful when things go wrong with classes or activities etc. at high school because if I felt like I couldn't fix it, then she would. And she would be persistent about it. Yet, she is very loving. She loves little children, she loves the gospel, she loves supporting her children in our endeavors. As for my dad, he is very hard working. He grew up on a farm and learned the value of work at a young age. He's got a great sense of humor, and he is very intelligent and philosophically-minded. He takes great pride in being able to figure out the plot of an in-depth, confusing movie before he's even halfway done watching it, which I think is hilarious.

My parents are both good examples to me.

I love my siblings!!!! My brothers are both hilarious in their own ways. I love teasing Johnathon because of his reactions... he's got quite a bit of wit that I didn't even realize he had until recent years. Ryan is a little stud-in-the-making, and when I talk to him on the phone he doesn't even really have to say anything and I'll start cracking up. Funny kid. Carissa is like my living, walking, talking, breathing journal. I tell her EVERYTHING. Which could be dangerous if she were malicious, but she is the sweetest little thing ever! So quiet, so cute... well, not as quiet when she's around me. I bring out her "crazy" side, and I pride myself in that. As for Jenna, she is the most energetic child I have ever met in my life, and she is soooo smart and talented. She's a lot like me when I was her age, only she's way more energetic and crazy. I have a feeling that she will have a bit of a flair for the dramatic, like I do. I just hope there's a new theatre teacher at Bullard by the time she gets to high school... for her benefit. Oh, Mr. Hoff...

Johnathon sent me this picture a while ago. Funny!

This is one of the reasons why I didn't mind being home for 4 months between semesters: my family is great! I could talk to them forever on the phone if that were an option, I really could. Especially because there are so many things to tell them, particularly Carissa or Mom. So, it's preferable to talk to them on Sundays when I can afford to just sit in my room and talk for over an hour and do nothing else. Oh, family...

I'm so grateful that my family and I can be together forever. I could not imagine the eternities without any one of my family members. And not only my immediate family, but extended family too. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... they're all great. My uncles are crack-ups, and I just happen to be the type of niece that they all love to pick on. I think it's because I take their comments, flip them around, and send them right back. And they love it.

In any case, I'm thankful that my parents and siblings all love me and get along well enough and are all active in the church. I'm thankful for what my parents sacrifice for me. I'm thankful for how my siblings are able to put up with me. I'm thankful that my mom takes the time to make our house a home. I want to do as good of a job with my future family as my mom has done with hers... because she's doing things right.

Making a house a home, Tip #23: Use nature, scriptural quotes, and pictures of Christ. Badabing, Badaboom. I did this arrangement in our living room...

"Sisters... never were there such devoted sisters..."

Let me reiterate... I love my family.
Thank the Lord that we can be together forever.
I don't know what I'd do if we couldn't be.