Fill in the blanks

My Mom taught my brother Scott and I to say "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you" at a very young age.  These statements had to be made sincerely and followed with a hug.  Later my Dad taught us how to deal with stress and pain by forgiving others.  He told us to follow this formula:  say "I forgive  [name of person] for [whatever happened],"  Sometimes this was a process that started with "I forgive Joe for being a total jerk and stupid idiot" and progressed to "I forgive Joe for hurting my feelings when he teased me about my new haircut."  Even better was when you could finally add, "I'm grateful to Joe for being my friend."  (For the record, no one named Joe ever teased me about my hair.)

So the pattern is:  I am grateful to _______________  for _______________.
Today I want to fill in the blanks by sharing a few of the people I am thankful for and why.

I am grateful to:

Brooks for making the most comfortable shoe on earth (even if it is ugly).
My mom for being steadfast and immovable in her testimony of Jesus Christ..
Bryn for her great faith.
John for holding my hand and walking beside me for almost 25 years.
My body for allowing my worst pregnancy complications to be only heartburn and aches and pains.
Evan for his enthusiasm and energy in playing the piano.
Heather for her endurance and sense of humor.
Muff (and her family) for caring for grandma as she approaches 90.
Molly for starting the family tradition of walking lots of miles while pregnant.
Aaron for giving up solitude and the great outdoors in order to serve the Lord.
Carolyn for lifting my Dad from the pit of loneliness.
Amazon for making the Kindle so I can carry my library with me at all times.
Marianne for getting up for seminary day after day even when she hasn't slept well.
Cows for making milk that becomes cottage cheese.  (I'm still craving it!)
Mormon for abridging and organizing the Book of Mormon.
Moroni for not making Ether the last book in the Book of Mormon.
Ryan for being my guinea pig and letting me practice my momskills on him.
Brianne for looking like her daddy, but improving on it with her curly hair.
My Dad for always believing in me.
Costco for selling beautiful flower bouquets at a great price.
Sheree for being my example and showing me what is possible.
The calendar for telling me that Christmas is almost here!
Leighton Anne for sharing her sweet smiles with me.
Jenny for walking thousands of miles with me over the past 15 years.
Everyone who actually reads my blog!
My Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ for all of the above and for many more blessings I didn't mention.

Happy Thanksgiving!