Thanksgiving is soooo close! What are you thankful for?

I am so thankful for so many things, everyday I am even more humbled to the fact that I am truly blessed! I get to live a never ending love story over and over again! Every evening when I lay next to my husband to go to sleep and every morning when I wake up to a sweet kiss from the man I love most. I fall in love with Chris more and more everyday. I marvel at the greatness he holds strong to, he is my rock, he makes me strong and helps me to know of the things that are most important in our lives. I truly believe in staying close to the the ones who love you the most and treat you with kindness and undeviating support. Forgive & FORGET!

I am thankful for the plan of happiness and that I know no matter what, the Lord wants me to be happy and wants the best for me. He has his own way of taking care of things and I am glad that I have learned to trust him with all my heart!

I am EXTREMELY thankful for my little one on the way! It's funny how you have a path set out for you and though trials come a foot, you always find your way to the best things worth living for in the end! I know baby Jack is on his way right now for a reason and that he will bring sooooo much joy into Chris and my life!

I am thankful for repentance and that I am able to feel fulfilled at the end of each day when I pray to my father in heaven.

I am thankful for FOOD, though I can only keep down a few morsels a day lately, I sure enjoy every taste!

I am thankful for patience, I am learning it slowly, but I am mostly experiencing others practice their patience on me.

I am thankful for my mommy I love her sooo so sososoos soso much! She is one of the people in the world who knows me best, and she is probably THE most patient with me...I know every child is sent to earth to the one person who can raise them the very best. I was sent to her for her sweet spirit and love that could make all my troubles disappear. She truly is an amazing woman, mother, and wife. She knows what she stands for and won't hesitate to help someone in need. I love that she never changes and I love that I know she will always love me. No one could be a better mother to me than her.

I love my papa. He's a funny guy and he loves all his girls. He has the most tender heart and is proving to make the sweetest grandpa ever. I love hearing him talk about my little boy on the way and how excited he is for Chris and I. I love his support he shows me and Chris about us going to school, and I LOVE that he is proud of me. Me and him we are 'pretty much' identical.

I am thankful for my sisters, I am so happy we are so close and have so much in common. I trust them with everything and find the best advice coming from them.

I am thankful for my Grandma. She IS my best friend, I don't think she really understands how much I love and need her friendship. I love that we have worlds of things in common and have so much fun together. I want to always be there for her because she is ALWAYS there for me.

I am thankful for my life on earth and that I won't ever know whats going to happen tomorrow, or the next day, or the next! Life is a mystery I never want to solve, I want to live it to the fullest and forget all my sorrows, for how can there be any when I have so many blessings to be thankful for!

Love, Brittany Kenner



Okay, so honestly one moment you think you'll never grow up and be on your own and the next moment, you blink and you're married, own a home, and expecting a baby. Time just compounds into one quick blur. Enjoy all those little moments, life goes way too fast to not do so.

It seems like every year I feel like the holidays will never come, and then I'm wondering how in the world they came so fast. Around Thanksgiving, I always am able to review my life and those things that I am truly thankful for.

First of all, I'm thankful for my Heavenly Father and his love and his patience. I know He loves and cares for all His children and wants what's best for them. Unfortunately, what may always be best isn't what we, or I, WANT. Live and learn and understand. I'm also thankful for the gospel and the incredible opportunity I had to spread it to those in New York. There really is no greater time than the time devoted to the Lord. I'm thankful for my little brothers who are out there in the far reaches of the globe doing the same thing, and how I envy them sometimes, but that chapter of my life has completed, and I'm incredibly grateful for the chapter I am now in.

How can I describe how thankful I am for my sweet wife? Words fail to describe my feelings for her and how grateful I am for her. Though sometimes she can drive me crazy, she's the only grasp on sanity that I have most of the time. I couldn't ask for a greater friend, a more amazing love, or perfect partner and teammate in this life and in the life to come. I know she was tailor-made for me and put in my path at the time that I needed her the most. I'm grateful for our eternal marriage and that I will be able to keep my best friend by my side throughout eternity and far beyond that. She holds my heart and I know that I can trust her with it no matter what. She is so kind, gentle, loving, fun, hard-working, grown up, and the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I could go on and on about her for pages and pages, but they would never fully express the feelings of my heart for my sweetheart. I love you Brittany Michelle.

I'm grateful for family. First and foremost for my own, my wife and our little Jack-to-be. :D True happiness is in the home, with the family, and I can't wait to meet my little son, our little bundle of joy. (Let's not forget Maddie, Chloe, and Olive as they are just as much a part of the family.) Next, I'm thankful for my parents and siblings. Looking back, I don't think I was the greatest of sons or brothers, and I'm thankful that my family still loved me and stuck by me when I was a complete terror, (i.e. ages 0-present). I am thankful for my parents. Though I didn't see it at the time, I know they wanted the best for me, and many a grounding still didn't get that into my thick skull. :) I'm also grateful for my "second family." I think there are more horror stories and bad experiences shared and bad sterotypes about in-laws than anything else, and I'm so thankful that my in-laws don't measure up to any of them. I've always felt loved and welcome by them and that is something that I truly appreciate. I always felt and always do feel like just part of the family.

As much as I don't like them sometimes, I'm thankful for my job and for school. I am thankful for being able to provide for my little family and gain an education that will help me be an even better provider. I can also say that I am thankful for my job because it just helps me realize more and more how much I love my wife. After a long day of screaming angry dummies who have no idea what logic is but every knowledge of how to drive me insane, I come home and am greeted by my sweetheart and instantly I am better and can go on another day.

I'm thankful for prayer. My life seems to have centered around that a lot. Not just for the regular daily prayers that are really just taken advantage of, but also those long, "wrests with God," those deep conversations with him, "as one man speaketh to another," where your heart is poured out to Him and you can feel him kneel beside you and take you in his arms and say to you gently, "I'll take it from here." I'm thankful for the Atonement and the liberating power it has over sin and pain.

I'm thankful for my beautiful home. We were so blessed to find such a perfect place in a perfect little neighborhood at the most perfect time. It's still hard to believe that I have a house, I just feel so grown up. :)

I'm thankful to live in the country that we do. Sure, things are a little rough and times seem to just get more stressfull and hectic, but we truly live in a land prepared and set aside by Heavenly Father to be the land of the Restoration. The freedoms we enjoy far surpass anywhere else, as well as the opportunity. Ours is a truly blessed land, one that I am very thankful for.

I'm thankful for the Holidays. It's nice to be able to see at least once a year a greater spirit of brotherhood and kindness. Sadly, that spirit is being displaced by the selfishness of materialism, but that underlying tone of good tidings still holds true. I'm thankful for the true meaning of the holidays and the chance to reflect over what I am thankful for and who Christmas really celebrates.

Lastly, I'm thankful just for the little things: The feel of my soft bed, the sound of my wife's quiet breathing next to me at night, the purr of my Chloe as she sits on my chest. I'm thankful for all those little things that put life on pause, even for a split second and I can sit back and think, "Yeah, life is good." Life really is good and only gets better as you sit back and count all your blessings and what you are thankful for, no matter how big or how small they are.

Happy Holidays,
Christopher Kenner