Counting my Blessings cont.

Last year I posted a list of things I am thankful for.  You can find the list HERE.  Just wanted to add some to the list.  Since I am still thankful for the first 32 things on my list, I'll just pick up where I left off.  :)

33.  My husband and I decided, through a lot of prayer and tears, that he would take his early retirement from the paper mill after 34 years and three transfers and come home.  Of course, early retirement is not as much as full, so he had to get another job.  Fortunately, when we bought this house it came with amazing, Christian neighbors and one of them offered him a job at his company two weeks before he returned home.  So Larry came home on a Saturday and started his job on Monday.  God is good!

34.  I LOVE my school I teach at and am so very thankful I get to stay.  I couldn't ask for a more Christian environment to work in~ and it is a public school.  It also has insurance benefits that helped make Larry giving up his job a lot easier and possible.  :)

35.  My mom had hernia surgery this year and did amazing~ she hardly even took pain medicine after.  My stepdaughter, Stephanie, had major surgery this year and God brought her through that as well.  :)

36.  My "baby" graduated high school in May with honors.  She received three scholarships to a Christian college only an hour and a half from home.  She comes home almost every weekend, so our "empty nest" hasn't been totally emptied yet.  Also, her going to college after struggling with Selective Mutism for years, still amazes me.  I am stilled awed by the miracles God performed in her life.

37.  I am thankful that I get to spend holidays with our daughters and grandchildren.  Three will be here for Thanksgiving and four Christmas Day.  The other two will be in after Christmas.  This year we might have a day with all six girls and all six grands at one time.  That will be the first time to have all six girls together since Christmas two years ago when Sarah was seven months pregnant with Leon.  I also can't remember when I had all six grandchildren here together.  Yay!

38.  My niece, Lindsey, had her first child (my brother's first grandchild) this January.  She, Marley, is absolutely beautiful.  I wish my brother were alive to see her, but am so thankful he lives on in a new generation.

39.  Being a teacher, I get every holiday off.  I am VERY thankful for that.  :)

40.  I have the best friend and friend-in-law in the world!  While Larry was working and living in Texas, my ten year old van gave up the ghost and we could not afford to purchase a vehicle while supporting two households.  Cristi and Todd not only loaned me their extra vehicle, they signed it over to us!  I never expected them to be so generous!  When Larry came home, I found a used car at a really great price.  We were able to let Larry's mom have his work car so she'd have a way to take her 96 year old mom back and forth to doctor visits.  Then, Larry got a great deal on a truck he bought from his uncle.  We loaned Sarah the van from our friends after her transmission went out in her vehicle, so she could continue her college classes.  A LOT of blessings were shared because of our friends' generosity.  As soon as Sarah can afford another vehicle, we will pass the van to another in need.  Thanks again, Todd and Cristi.  We love you two!

Guess that's it for today.  As soon as I can get my pictures transferred from my cantankerous laptop, I'll post the pictures of the grands in their Trick or Treat costumes.  Until then, I wish all my blogger friends a wonderful Thanksgiving.  :)

What are you especially thankful for this year?