Final Gratitude Posts - plus my kids' thankful lists

I posted here or on Instagram every day from November 1 through Thanksgiving. Have to give myself a pat on the back for following through. I have to say November was one of the best months I've had a in a long long time. I was looking for the good stuff every day in a very deliberate and determined way. And when you sincerely look for the good, you can always find something, even on the toughest days.

I challenged my kids to join me in recording what they were grateful for each day - and offered the chance to go on a special dinner and movie outing to all who consistently recorded what they were grateful for every day from Nov 1st through Thanksgiving. I reminded them a bit here and there but tried to just be a good example of doing it myself and left it mostly up to them. On Thanksgiving morning, after a little family hike and a great family "Turkey Bowl" football game in the freezing cold, I asked everyone to share their Thankful list in the car on the way to Thanksgiving dinner. Wow. They all actually did it - every day! I've shared all their lists at the end of this post - as a great snapshot of what each of my kids is doing and what they're thinking about right now in their lives. (We went to see "The Martian" - everyone loved it - and coincidentally it made us all extra grateful for a lot of things!)

I'm not posting daily about gratitude now. But I'm still in the habit of looking for the good. And finding it.

Here are my last posts as I wrap up my gratitude posts:

Here are the kids' thankful lists 

(These are totally unedited - just cut and pasted from where they wrote their stuff on Google Drive)

Eliza:

(she did the rest of the days on paper while we were out of town but can't find her paper now...)

Oliver:

Things I am Thankful For

1. November 1st 2015

I am thankful for food and water because without them I would not be alive and they are really really good. I am thankful for them today because I fasted today because it was fast sunday. The also are the stuff that I need to have a healthy life.

2. November 2nd 2015

I am thankful for the trampoline because it is the most frequently used fun thing that is in our neighborhood. It also helps me calm down. It also lets me have more fun and jump really high.

3. November 3rd 2015

I am thankful for school because without it we would probably be pretty dumb. The teachers are also so kind and try to help you to do your best in school. The school also serves as a learning place to learn and have fun.

4. November 4th 2015

I am thankful for the dogs in this world because they are so cute and are so fun to play with. They almost always are nice and they also cheer you up with lots of licks/kisses. There are also a lot of dog.

5. November 5th 2015

I am thankful for the transportation because without them our feet would be sore from walking everywhere. Also I think that I wouldn’t be very happy without the constant entertainment. Lastly I am happy that I can relax and lay back.

6. November 6th 2015

I am thankful for the friends that I get to play with. I love that all my friends have a creative imagination and love to play anything that I want to play. Friends also give me a fun time and to do something else than play with silas and me.

7. November 7th 2015

I am thankful for the entertainment because when a movie night comes, everyone is happy. Also I like entertainment when you get to play with your friends. Lastly I like entertainment because you can listen to music while you do stuff or you can listen to it when you are calming yourself down.

8. November 8th 2015

I am thankful for baptisms because I when you go through the process of being baptised, you lose all of your sins. Another great thing about baptism is that you can always have the holy host by you. lastly, you can even baptize people from the dead if they haven’t been baptised already and make them have no sins.

9. November 9th 2015

I am thankful for rain because it cheers some people up and it lets you put away your feelings for a while. Also you can splash in the puddles and splash other people. The rain also shares your emotions, especially when you are sad.

10. November 10th 2015

I am thankful for winter because you can go skiing and snowboarding. I also love winter because you get to go sledding, and you get to do jumps. Lastly you get to have snowball fights, which I believe are super fun.

11. November 11th 2015

I am thankful for the trash because we can put things in there and you don’t have to store everything in one place. Also with the trash there is sometimes (rarely) some stuff cool stuff that you might want. Lastly you can go dumpster diving (not that I do it).

12. November 12th 2015

I am thankful for friends because friends can be just what you need if you are feeling left out ar sad. They also have other things to do than just your everyday stuff. Lastly they also have imagination different than yours (not that your imagination is nat as good) and I think that that is good.

13. November 13th 2015

I am thankful for the trees because they are so fun to climb in. Also another reason is that you can do tricks of of them, like jumping off of them. Lastly, you can hide in them.

14. November 14th 2015

I am thankful for the sun because it warms you up. Another reason is that it lightens your day and makes you feel generally happy. Lastly it makes shadows for a good place to hide in.

15. November 15th 2015

I am thankful for church because you can learn about the gospel there. Also, at the church, you can feel calm and listen to the faithful people that share their stories with you and everyone else. Lastly, you can feel safer there because Jesus and Heavenly father protect you. Jesus has felt every sad or bad thing that we do and the stuff that you feel, like pain, sadness, sin, misery, and bad things that we feel bad about.

16. November 16th 2015

I am thankful for the piano because you can always feel calm when you practise piano. Also when you play you can always feel happy. Lastly you can show your expressions by playing hard and low if you are sad and playing light and high when you’re happy.

17. November 17th 2015

I am thankful for math because you can solve fun problems. Also you can always doodle with math, to. Lastly you can figure out fun numbers!

18. November 18th 2015

I am thankful for chess because you can think of strategies. Also I like chess because you can play against your friends. Lastly you can play different game modes like speed chess.

19. November 19th 2015

I am thankful for the tablets because you can play on them. Also,  I am thankful for tablets because you can text your friends with them. Lastly you can call on them and they will listen to your voice.

20. November 20th 2015

I am thankful for the nerf guns that nerf produces because you can play with them. Also, why I am grateful for nerf guns is because of the speed and length that that they can travel. Lastly they can have different bullets in them.

21. November 21th 2015

I am thankful for night games because it gives you lots of practice at fun things like aiming nerf guns and hiding. Also I am thankful for night games because you almost always have fun with your friends in playing together. Lastly you can get free of your fears and start to get good at lots of things that they do at night games with your friends helping you.

22. November 22nd 2015

I am thankful for my mother because she always there to help me do the stuff that I think is important to me even if she doesn’t necessarily like it. Also she helps me get prepared for what is ahead and she is always really really nice to me and she lets me do lots and lots of very fun stuff. Lastly she does fun stuff with me like eating hot chocolate and giving me food and giving me credit for the things that I do, and she always loves me.

23. November 23rd 2015

I am thankful for the sunrise because it brings light into your part of the world. Also it makes beautiful colors and they are fun to watch them fading away. Lastly the sunrise marks the beginning of a new day and you can’t be sad during a new day, can’t you?

24. November 24th 2015

I am thankful for the Leonardo because there is really cool exhibits that are made for the fun for kids. It lets you learn stuff in a very fun way like building stuff in Leonardo's workshop and testing them in a wind tunnel. Lastly it uses electric conductors to spike up your hair.

25. November 25th 2015

I am thankful for City Creek Center mall because you can have a variety of stores to choose from like Nordstrom, Microsoft, and Apple. Also you can meet new people, and in my case, dogs. Lastly in City Creek there is also very good food.

26. November 26 2015

I am thankful for rocks because they are very fun to climb on. Also, on rocks, you can be the king of the world. Lastly you can get footholds and climb all the way up the mountains to the top. You can also jump over higher stuff with bigger rocks.

Silas:

Isaac: (He didn't quite catch the assignment to write why you were thankful for things and just pick one special thing each day - he listed a few things every day instead...fun glimpse into his mind still!)
Beds.
Clothes.
Chairs to sit in.
  Metal that is used to build things. Wood.
  Phones.
  Note apps. 
  Blankets. 
  Doors.
   Prophets. 
   Parents. 
   Teachers
   Paper. 
   Board and card games.
  Sports.
   Utensils. 
   Glass. 
   Grass. 
   Relatives. 
   Pillows. 
   Socks. 
   Buildings. 
   Temples. 
   Brothers. 
   Sisters. 
   Journals. 
   Oxygen. 
   Smartphone. 
   Desks.
   Pens. 
   Pencils. 
   Trees. 
   School. 
   Paintings. 
   Scrabble. 
   Printers. 
   Books. 
   Plastic. 
   Outdoors. 
   Good examples. 
   Food. 
   Oceans. 
   Rivers. 
   Plants. 
   Hair gel. 
   Brushes and combs. 
   Swim meats. 
   Friends. 
   Backpacks. 
   Shoes. 
   Stores. 
   Cool rocks like geodes and crystals.
    Mountains. 
    Eyes to see color in the world. 
Soft carpet. 
Jobs. 
Money. 
America. 
This buttock world that we get to live in.
Power. 
Creation of Light bulbs. 
Tomas Edison. 
Great scientists that have made a huge impact on the world we live in.
Astronauts. 
Space. 
Stars/constellations. 
Snow and rain. 
Skiing. 
Snow basin. 
Elevators. 
Escalators. 
Cars (our minivan). 
Yummy snacks to eat. 
Animals on the ground, in the air, and the animals in the water. 
Restraints. 
Being tall. 
Trains. 
Tracks. 
Public transportation. 
The smell of good food. 
Collages. 
Bikes. 
Plates. 
Candy. 
Holidays. 
Bathrooms when you need them. 
Pants without wholes in them. 
My stuffed animal dog.