Update + Gratitude

It has been so long since I have blogged so I am going to just recap some of our past few weeks. I know this much, each week that has passed I have thought about what I was grateful for even if I didn't blog about it. Two weeks ago I was thankful for the wonderful summer that we have had. It was great to have the summer to ourselves. We started out with Scout camp and Dance camps and Golf camp, but then we settled into life with just family life the rest of the summer. I love being able to decide what we do and when and not having to run our lives on other people's schedules. We spent most of our summer at Busch Gardens for our fun times. What a way to spend the summer.
Last week I was so very thankful for a good first week of school. We are very happy with our new teachers and classes and friends. I think that it is going to be a great year. Sarah has the teacher we had hoped for and a couple of good friends in her class. Spencer has his best friend from 2 grade and his different best friend from 3 grade in his class this year. It feels like he has won the lottery. Alex has a couple of great male teachers in middle school and that makes him very happy. He relates to male teachers better and enjoys their classes more. He also has a couple of classes with good friends. Nathan started preschool. Day 1 was awful, but it was the day the parents stay. Day 2 was really good. Day 3 was perfect and Day 4 was above average. He is a totally different child since starting school and it is in a good way that he is different. He really needed to have someone not treat him like a baby. I apparently can't give him that because he is my baby and I keep failing to let him grow up.
This week I will say that I am thankful for prayer. I know that Nathan's success in going to school comes from the number of prayers on his behalf we have made. I know that the big children have been blessed in their classes and with their friends thanks to prayer. I believe that Jay is coping much better in his very difficult trials while on the ship thanks to the abundant prayers on his behalf. And I can really tell of so many instances of personal revelation for my family that I have had thanks to my prayers.
There is so very much to be thankful for and I am. One of Jay's friends wrote to him, "Things may get worse, but they just might get better." I hope to continue to find things of optimism and hope every day and I hope to share those things with others to help brighten their worlds as well.