A Month of Thanksgiving--Day 1: Neil

Now that Halloween is over (I wish the candy was. Lucy is awful) and things are settling down I want to make this month a month of Thanksgiving for my family and I thought I'd start with myself by each day focusing on one thing I am thankful for.

Today I am thankful for my husband, Neil. He is just amazing. No he's not perfect but he's perfect for me. He puts up with my quirkiness and control freak nature. I know I drive him crazy at times and vice versa but we love each other and look over these minor imperfections. Since he has been so patient with me this past month with all the messes, sewing, activities, lame dinners I really wanted to surprise him by having a spotless house when he got home to say thank you. I envisioned having all the laundry done (about 10 loads, it's been awhile. He didn't have any clean pants to wear today), all the Halloween decorations put away (he's ready for a change), every room cleaned, especially the kitchen (there was not one clean area on any counter or table) and our bedroom and a delicious gourmet dinner waiting for him but the day didn't go as planned. I spent most the morning trying to make my mean Mikey happy and then Sammy came home from school not feeling well and asked if I'd lay down with him and I fell asleep for 2 1/2 hours. I quickly whipped up some enchiladas which were tasty but didn't have all the side dishes I would of liked. I did get one load washed but never got it in the dryer and the only other thing that got done was about 3/4 of the kitchen. I was so disappointed when he walked in the door at 5:30 but all he said was looks like you've been busy.

Neil is such a great husband. He is always very considerate of my feelings. Since I usually am watching extra kids the house is a wreck but it's mostly just toys and papers from the kids craft projects from through out the day. For awhile there I was getting really down about not being able to keep up with the house. He wanted to lighten my load and asked what is the most important thing to be clean. I have two, the kitchen and the bathrooms. It makes my mornings go way better if the kitchen is clean in the morning and I have to have the bathrooms clean. We don't have a guest bathroom so the boy's bathroom is the guest bathroom and we all know how hard it is to keep a little boy's bathroom clean. After telling him, he has taken those two chores on himself and for the last 6 weeks he makes sure to go around to every bathroom and wipes the toilets, sinks, counters and mirrors down and then cleans the kitchen if I didn't get to it every night. He gives himself a check mark if it's completed on the chore chart (I think there have been only 2-3 nights when he hasn't done it, last night being one) and at the end of the week uses his money to buy a lego minifigure. Not only is he trying to help me but he's trying to show the boys how easy it is to do chores if you do it every night and how you can earn a reward.

Speaking of the boys, Neil is such a great father. In my opinion the best. He always puts us first. When we were first married and contemplating having kids we both agreed we'd like a large family, somewhere between four and eight kids, if possible, and Neil made it clear that he would do whatever it takes to help me around the house and with the kids so that I felt like I was able to handle however many kids we were blessed with. From day one we were in this together. He's kept true to his promise. I am surprised to have 3 boys in a row but after working with the youth I'm so glad to have these boys and feel it's because Neil is so awesome. By his example he's raising some sweet boys who are going to know how to treat their wives and be wonderful husbands themselves. He almost always plays with them if they ask, one reason nothing gets done around here but the boys know he is always there for them. He is so patient with them as he explains things to them and tries to include them on any projects around the house so they will learn how to fix things. Conner really wanted to learn how to ride his bike a couple months ago and after one long evening of failed attempts, he got online and read how to learn to ride. He found out the best way is to go to a grassy hill and other things so that's what Neil did and in one hour Conner was riding his bike and has never stopped. Neil wants his kids to succeed and is willing to help them. He adores Lucy and asks to put her to bed almost every night so he can cuddle with her. He also has a ritual with Mikey where he sings him all these made up songs that only him and Mikey know. They are pretty funny. When Neil's not here and I have to put him to bed, Mikey will ask me to sing the Food song or the Dinosaur song. I don't have a clue what they are.

Neil loves the Lord and does his best to follow Christ's example. He is always serving other people. He serves faithfully in whatever calling he's given. He magnifies his priesthood and uses it to bless our family. He presides righteously in our family and makes sure we have family scripture study and prayer and family home evening. He is such a great example to me.

Neil is also my best friend. I love being able to be alone with him and talk, which usually happens late into the night on Sundays, not a good way to start the week off but so needed. We don't get away as much as we'd like. I keep counting down the years until Conner can babysit and then that will change. Neil is one of the greatest blessings in my life and I am so thankful I waited for him. I know he's one in a million, maybe a billion. I know a lot of people say marriage is hard but I don't feel that way. Of course we have our little struggles but nothing big. We both just try to help and make the other happy. We have the same goals and values. One of my biggest fears is that he'll be taken from this life early. I just know that there's no one out there who could ever come close to him. I love him so dearly and am so thankful for the knowledge that I can be with him forever as we are faithful.