Thoughts - "Home" for the Holidays

We were able to go to my "Home" town in Colorado for Thanks- giving this year which was wonderful! We are now "Home" for the remainder of the holidays and happy to be home. As we were driving home from Colorado I had some time to just think. How was this possible you ask? Well, Dave had his headphones on listening to music on his Zune which he likes to do while he makes that long drive to block out the road noise. Brandon and Eric were each playing their Leapsters and Kyle, who was having a tough time sleeping those last couple hours was still content so long as he was holding mommy's hand :) Anyway, I got to thinking about a lot of things which seemed to make more sense at the time but seem sort of jumbled now as I sit down to write them. I will start out by saying that those of you who know me know that I have always been really good about keeping a journal. I have kept a journal since I was seven years old and every day since I was eleven. But the last couple years I haven't been quite as good about it because to be honest, most of my days are pretty much the same and I don't always have a page worth of things to write about. Because of that I have started to write weekly instead of daily. Well, I haven't been really great about that either and find myself playing catch up a lot of the time so I am thinking that the best way to continue my good journal habits is to put this blog to good use by adding my thoughts and experiences that I feel like sharing. They may or may not be interesting to anyone else but I will put them here for posterity anyway. So back to my thoughts as we were driving back to Colorado, as jumbled as they were. I guess the main gist of them was that I was thinking about what I was thankful for, aside from the obvious things. At that moment, I was grateful for portable DVD players, Leapsters, and a mini-van with adjustable seating arrangements. I don't know how our parents did these long road trips without all these luxuries that we now have at our finger tips. I was grateful for a husband who is willing to make the 8 hour drive with 3 young kids (boys no less) so that we can see my family, even though he isn't the sort that loves to drive. I was grateful that he had his Zune to make the drive a little easier for him. I was grateful that for some reason, I have been blessed with the three easiest babies in the world who sleep well, eat well and are just for the most part really happy. I am grateful that I got to spend 4 days with my family. I am grateful for a wonderful father who loves to have the choas of a house full of his kids and grandkids and prefers that over quiet. I am grateful for an incredible mother who was too perfect for this world who I know that I will see again. I am grateful for a six year old son who reminds me of that often by saying things like "I am sorry that your mom died but don't be sad, you will see her again after you die." I am grateful for sisters who are fantastic examples to me of great mothers who help me see what I can do to improve just by watching them. And I am grateful for this wonderful holiday season. I couldn't help but think about the story I saw on the news earlier that day about the man who was trampled to death by a huge crowd of people trying to get into Walmart to shop that morning in New York and it made my heart sick. His poor family, to have their loved one die for such a ridiculous reason. It makes me sad to see what Christmas has become and I just hope that we can all take a step back and realize what really matters this time of year. Those were the things that I was thinking about during those last couple hours, on the way back from Colorado. I am grateful for that time that I had to just think.