Hand-me-downs!

So... I used to be a total hand-me-down SNOT! :) Really, I was a total snot about it!! Why, I am not sure...maybe because my parents depended on hand-me-down for my sister and I! I thought I would never be a mom "like that!" Oooohhhhhh, how things have changed!!! :):):) We could buy all new clothes each season, and we do buy a lot, BUT we are SO BLESSED by CUTE clothes passed down from good friends!!! It is amazing how gently used a lot of the clothes we are given, are!! Maddie wore the most beautiful outfit to church this past Sunday and she got SO many compliments on how cute she looked in it!!! My dear friend Mandy even commented on it...and it was a "hmd" from her daughter! :):) He he!!

I especially dislike buying "play" clothes! You know clothes that your kiddos are just going to paint in and play in the dirt in...clothes that are probably going to get ruined not because my kids are clumsy, just because they are KIDS and I want them to enjoy playing!! I do not like paying for clothes that I know are going to get ruined!! Thankfully, we get a lot of play clothes which is wonderful!!!! I can hardly believe how BLESSED we are by our dear friends sharing their sweet kiddos' clothes with us!!! So THANK YOU to you all who bless us with your sweet kids' last season clothes!! We are SO THANKFUL!!!!

THanksgiving!

We had the BEST Thanksgiving! :) I LOVE hanging out with my family!! My Aunt and Uncle and two cousins were also able to join us for the holiday this year and we had a blast!! It was just a great day of being together with family, celebrating God's goodness and being thankful for the life that God has blessed us with!! Wyatt got to take the whole week off prior to Thanksgiving and we had an AMAZING week together, just our little family!! We enjoyed some time together with some dear friends, but other than that, we just spent some much needed time just the 4 of us!! It was awesome!! :):) On our way home on Thursday night, Wyatt and I had an JOY-filled conversation about all of things we are thankful for!! Really, we are SO blessed!!! It is pretty amazing to sit down and write out all of the blessings (both BIG and small) that God has bestowed on us over this year!!! Since there was quite a long list, I wanted to share just 10 of them!!

** I am SO THANKFUL for my relationship with Christ!!! Without Him, I would absolutely be lost!! Our sweet little family has been stretched and challenged SO much this year, but because of Him, we are stronger than ever!! He soars with me when I am excited and living life to the fullest, and leads me through the valley's of life when it is hard!! He is my beginning and end...and I am SO thankful!!

**I am SO THANKFUL for my husband!! He is simply my perfect match!! HE is amazing, so loving and patient with me!! This has been our BEST year of marriage! I feel like I say that every year, but this really has been an awesome year!! Wyatt knows me and loves me completely, and unconditionally!! He is absolutely my very best friend and knows me better than I know myself!!

** I am SO THANKFUL for my children!! I have a beautiful daughter and an incredibly handsome son!!! They REFINE me and encourage me and bring me SO much JOY!! I am so thankful that they are each a part of my life!! I am SO excited to live life with them every single day!!! I know God has BIG plans in store for each of them, and I am so thankful that I get to be a part of it!!

** I am SO THANKFUL that I get to stay at home with our kiddos! :) What an incredible blessing!! I love waking up with them each morning and facing the day together, just the 3 of us!! :) I love making them breakfast and snuggling in our jammies until noon!!! I love putting them down for naps and getting just a few minutes with them individually, sharing with them how much I love them ,but even more how much Jesus loves them!! Wyatt works SO hard, and I am SO thankful that he would do anything for me to be able to stay at home with our babies!

** I am SO THANKFUL that I come from a legacy that Knows, Loves and Serves God!! WOW!! What an incredible blessing! My mom and dad and Grandparents love God fiercely and show it in ALL that they do! Anyone that comes into contact with each of them knows that there is something different about them...they can see the JOY and HOPE in their eyes and the LOVE that they have for others!!! That kind of love and compassion can only come from knowing God! :) I am SO THANKFUL!!!

**I am SO THANKFUL for our house and our cars that run!! We have a BEAUTIFUL house!! We bought it brand new and have worked really hard to make it our own!! I can tell you where every scrape, hole, dent, etc came from! We are a family that lives in our house!! We feel that God provided our house so we could be hospitable to others, and we hope we are honoring Him in that!! I hope we get to live here for a really long time, we bought our babies home here and we became a family here!! We love it!! We are also thankful for our car's! They aren't fancy to say the least, BUT we can afford them, and they start every morning! :):) They are safe for our kiddos to ride in, and they get us where we need to go!! We are SO THANKFUL for God's provision!!!

**We are VERY thankful for good friends!!! Over this past year, we have really gotten close to a few couples, and each time we hang with them, we are BLESSED by their company!!! They truly "get" us and have the same like-minded-ness which is awesome!!! It is hard to find good couple friends and we are so thankful for these couples and pray that God will continue to BLESS our friendship!!!

**We are SO THANKFUL for our church and they way that God is growing it! God is present there and the minister preaches God's Word each week!! We are SO THANKFUL and look forward to getting more and more involved!!!!

**I am SO THANKFUL for my ladies Bible Study!! It is AWESOME! I am learning SO much and being so challenged each week! I feel like I haven't been to a bible study like this in a loong time, and I LOVE it!!!

**We are SO THANKFUL for Wyatt's new job!! He gets to start on Wednesday and we are so looking forward to the JOY that his new job will bring to our family!! We prayed and prayed and God provided!! We are SO THANKFUL!!

For all of these things and so many more! We are SO very very thankful!!!!!!