Things I've Been Thankful For

The last few days have been busy. My cousin, Crystal, came over on Thursday and we walked a few miles together. I'm thankful to have someone to talk to while working out! I get so bored by myself... She also offered to drop off some chicken soup I made to my brother, Austin, who has been sick lately. I'm thankful she waited around while I struggled through the gluten-free recipe (I pressure cooked his carrots and rice in regular broth and had to start over, including cleaning the pot, knife, cutting board, etc.). I always seem to forget some small detail... I'm thankful for Austin being so willing to accept my soup--it's nice to be able to do nice things for other people! I'm thankful that our Ward Mission Leader came by on Thursday evening to extend an invitation to pray to find a family Heavenly Father wants us to reach out to. That evening, Jake helped me make and can apple pie filling--I'm always thankful for his help, which he is always so willing to give! And I'm also thankful that he didn't complain too much about me including some Splenda in place of sugar. :) I'm thankful that Jake's parents found and brought us the free apples that weren't good for eating, but were still good for canning. Who can pass up free?! I was also feeling very thankful for the insightful Christmas gift of a canning bath and canning utensils that Britton and Amber gave us last year. What a great idea!!

My sis-in-law, Kori, came over on Friday to use up some of the extra apples, and I was thankful I didn't have to throw them out. We made two more batches of pie filling (one of them was for Jake's sister, Emilie, who is on partial bed rest--I'm thankful she let us do it for her!). I was thankful to have someone to talk to, because canning alone can be really monotonous. After peeling around 170 apples in eighteen hours, I was extremely thankful for the peeler my in-laws gave us. Well, peeler/corer/slicer. It made for light work!! A few hours later, Bruce and Nyla brought us the peaches we ordered, and even though they'd spent several hours doing their own peaches that day, I'm so thankful they stayed to help us can ours! It would have taken me all day, but with four of us we got everything in the water baths within an hour. Yay! I'm also thankful that my mom taught me to scald the peaches before peeling them. It is faster and much more fun than peeling with a knife (and mom, Nyla thanks you, too!). Oh, and I can't forget to thank Grant for putting up with sitting in his high chair so much!

Thank you to everyone!!!