Thankfulness, day 15

Today I finished replacing some family photos in a collage frame (a project I started only 6 weeks ago, and left until today). So I am thankful for finished projects, but even more thankful for all these wonderful people in my family. For my sister and her husband and 2 delightful children. I am thankful for the way they play so well with my kids when we are together. I am thankful for all the ways my sister has always been there for me. I am thankful for my mom. She worked so hard at raising us and providing for us, and still continues to be an irreplaceable part of my life! I am thankful for my dad and all the hard work he did for our family, I am thankful for the 11 years I got to spend with him...how he taught me to play chess, take us on surprise outings, and how he built a television. I am thankful for my step dad and how he cares for my mom and us, how he makes us laugh, cooks great food and says "cheeseburger" every time we take a picture of him. I am thankful for my aunt and uncle and how when we lived closer to them we were able to see them occasionaly...I am thankful that Ethan's first time at the beach was with my aunt and how I have this fab picture of her holding his hand as the waves go over their feet. I am thankful for my aunt and uncle and their two boys who are growing into young men. I am thankful for the life my uncle lived and how he cared so much for his sons. I am thankful that his smiling picture will always remind me of holidays past when he would come and visit. (miss him) I am thankful for my grandparents...for christmas time when we would play games together, for writing letters back and forth to my grandma, for ice cream and red brick houses to build. I am thankful for my husband's family (my family too!)--his mom is a wonderful person who always wants to know how we are doing, I am thankful for his dad...who calls long international distance almost weekly to check on his son. I am thankful for his brothers, I never had brothers! I am thankful for his brother's kids...each a ball of spirit and wit and cuteness. I am thankful for his uncles and cousins. Thankful for his step dad, the way he fought cancer with a heart transplant. He faced death courageously, I am thankful for every day he had. So thankful for all these men and women and children who make up my family, I love them so much!