Thanksgiving

At this time of year I am all the more reminded of all of the things I have to be thankful for. My family, both immediate and extended; friends; school; the gospel of Jesus Christ; teachers; those fighting for our American freedom and rights; modern medicine; health; all of the advancements made that I get to enjoy and take advantage of.

We here at the Davis house had a nice Thanksgiving, and we hope you did as well. Mark and I ate turkey and all that goes with it. The kids enjoyed a cheese pizza and jello. We were able to sit together and enjoy a wonderful meal of all of our favorites!

I am also thankful to be a mother. I will admit that this has not been very easy for me, and I often feel like a failure. To have children to take care of is a challenge, to have some with "special needs" is a whole new challenge. All of my training and knowledge of tending to children has been questioned and challenged from the start. It is so hard to open up to others because as we all know we don't really know what it is like for someone else until we walk in their shoes.

Once this precious gift from God arrives in our lives we want the best for them, always and forever. I am thankful for modern science and those who spend their lives researching, studding, counseling and working out new ways to solve old problems. At least at this point in our lives we have had a wonderful week. It has been the first time I can say as a mom that we had a good, normal week. I have not had to worry about my child and their constant well being or my own well being. We have been able to perform daily tasks that are daily for most families, but have not been for ours. We all need a little extra help sometimes and thankfully we have found ours.

Obviously I am speaking about John in particular. What a joy he is to our family. I am elated that he has been receptive to trying something new and willing takes it. It is an overwhelming feeling that is hard to put into words when you see your child that has been struggling finally find some peace and "normalacy". I am opening up something very personal to me to a lot of you. I only do this because I have started to use this as my journal and I just had to get the words out.

Thanks to all of you who love and support our family. I am appreciative of all of the words of support, physical support, acts of kindness, prayers and friendship you give us. In short I am thankful for all of you. I am thankful for my savior Jesus Christ and for all that he has done for me. I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father that I know lives and loves me. I feel his presence and guidance every minute of every day. I am thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and for the peace the gospel brings to me. I am thankful to be alive and experience life, the good, the bad, the hard and the down right difficult! Thank you again for listening and loving me and my family.

Love,
Jennifer