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It’s never a bad time to count your blessings, but today is a great day to do it. Things may change tomorrow, but even if they do, I’ll be glad for all I’ve been blessed with today.

And I do mean blessed. I know some people think it’s just luck or genius that determines our place in the world. My experience tells me that’s not quite right. While our own effort matters, we rely on the Creator of this world to provide for us. So that’s who I’m thanking primarily, along with my friends and family (and even some of my enemies!) who helped bring me where I am today.

I’m grateful to be in Seattle. I’ve always kind of wanted to live here, and now I’ve got my money where my mouth was. I’m glad to be so close to my family. I love that it’s cool and gray, and that when it’s not, it’s beautiful. I love taking the bus into that gloomy fog-shrouded city on winter mornings. I love spending time with my grandma and all number of aunts, uncles, and cousins. I’m grateful for our new ward here, and for the fine young men I work with in the Priest Quorum.

I’m glad I had the chance to live in Tennessee. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t miss it at least a little. I made more friends in the short time we lived there than in any other time except my mission. My neighbors in the Knoxville 1st Ward are so close to my thoughts and my heart. I am glad I had the chance to be there.

I’m thankful for my job. I am painfully aware how many people who are brighter than me and harder workers than me and more deserving than me are out of work. I am thankful for the string of events that led me into my career and that gives us the means to keep the children home with their mom.

I’m thankful for the church. Every day I see buses and billboards saying “I’m a Mormon”. It puts right in my face the things that set us apart along with the similarities we share with everyone else. I know that all men are my brothers and all women are my sisters. I know that the hard things in this world can be turned to our benefit through the grace of Jesus Christ. There’s more hope than any despair or discouragement can swallow.

I’m thankful for my family. I’m glad to have a new brother-in-law this year, and I’m so grateful he takes such good care of my sister. I’m thankful for the technology that lets me talk with my sisters and parents every day, so it’s almost like they’re here with me. I’m thankful for my mom and dad, who take care of so many things for me still and who helped us make the move last year. I know they pray for my little family, and I’m glad for it.

I’m especially thankful for my wife and children. I remember the birth of each child distinctly, and the flood of love that came over me when I held each one for the first time. I love their crazy play and their goofy ideas. There’s nothing better than to take time and play with them or read to them. And Kathleen, who does so much each day to hold things together. The long-standing joke is that her love for me is expressed through laundry. Well, it takes a lot of love to manage the laundry for this house. But she also keeps the family united together and makes us all happy. It’s not home without Kathleen.

There’s lots more I could write, but I’ve got to watch football, play with the kids, eat turkey and pie, and talk to my grandma. So happy Thanksgiving, everyone!