Thankful for family...

I'm pretty sure that I have the best two families that a girl could ever ask for!!! I love my family and Trent's family so much! They really are the greatest and I feel so blessed to be a part of both.

First, a word or two about my family...

I'm pretty glad that my parents birthed (well, my mom really was the only one doing the birthing) created five of my best friends in the world! I really love my siblings. I don't know what I would do without them. Our second Christmas in Hawaii my mom send me a tape of them singing Christmas carols. They made the tape to send to my brother who was serving a mission for our church in Chile, and decided to send me one too. I sat in the car and just bawled listening to it. I missed them so much! So Trent bought me a plane ticket and sent me home for Christmas so that I could see my family. That was a huge sacrifice on Trent's part, he was alone for Christmas (I think that he even went to a movie alone Christmas Day, how sad is that???) But I really appreciated that he recognized how much I was missing my family and the gift that he gave to all of us.

I think that the only people that I can truly be myself around is my family. They know me better than anyone. They know the goofy Meg, the serious Meg, the rude and annoying Meg, and they love me anyway! The thing that I hate the most in the world is to see my family members hurting... There are few things that break my heart as much as that. I try to make them all laugh whenever I'm around, that's my job in the family... don't we all have jobs in the family like that?

My parents did a good job raising us. They sacrificed so much so that we could grow up to be well rounded, balanced individuals. I think that I am just starting to fully realize how much they really did sacrifice now that I'm an adult and a parent myself. I find that I am a lot like my mom... (am I really saying this??) I think that most of my craftiness comes from her. She is really good at celebrating the holidays, she still sends me little packages of cookies in the mail for holidays and birthdays. I need to follow that example better. My dad is the goof ball/playful one. Last night I was giving Tru his first "horsie ride" (Trent was the spotter) and I remembered countless times of riding through the house on my dad's back. I'm so thankful for all of them.

Now onto Trent's family. It was a joke for a while that I fell in love with Trent's family before I fell in love with him... okay, it wasn't really a joke, it's the truth! What girl wouldn't be completely in love with seven AMAZING sister in laws? They are some of the greatest girls ever! I have a lot of fun with them. Some of the fun things that I've done with them that I have never done before in my life are make eclairs, sushi, homemade Twinkies, dyed Ukrainian Easter Eggs, learned how to cross stitch (yes, this is the root of the grandma habit I acquired). I have a lot of fun with his sisters, they have ALWAYS made me feel like I was one of them, and not the only sister in law. I'm excited to add Sarah to this crazy group, and to have another sister in law so that I'm not the only one. I don't think that she realizes yet just how lucky she is.

Trent's family is the type that would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it, whether they needed it or not. They are so giving and kind. When our car died a year ago (our only car...) Trent's dad didn't even hesitate to let us borrow his truck. I know that he had to sacrifice so that we could have a car to drive for the four months that our car was in the shop (it needed a new engine). I'm very grateful for him, and the kind example that he is to me of a loving father.

I could go on for days about my two families, but I think that I'll stop here. I'm soooo completely THANKFUL!!!!! for these people. They make my life so full and make me feel important and loved. Thank you family!