Thankful

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have been thinking a lot about what I am thankful for. Last year this time, I had a lot of anomosity towards this island and the Marine Corps. I couldn't deal with the fact that as a family we had moved half way around the world and now Robbie was going to be gone for 10 of the first 14 months we had been here. It's amazing what God taught me about myself and strength and comfort in him. I survived teething, cranking nights, being a sick mom, flying back across the world with a 20 month old with no plan and not sure where the next flight was taking me to (and honestly I would do it again in a heartbeat...it was scary but fun). I have begun to look at our stay here through much different eyes than last year this time. The island we are on is beautiful. I have never seen skies as blue as they are here nor have I ever see the clouds pop in those skies the way they do here. I also know that I will never get a pedicure that EVER amounts to the ones I get here. Especially for the money. (I know it's a very wordly thing but if you got a pedicure here - you would be grateful for the samething...trust me - the states will never amount to it) And while there are a lot of negatives, being here has allowed our family to appreciate the things that we have back in the states and from now on maybe we can be a bit more grateful. There are going to be more deployments in our short future here and whether they be short or long, I am going to try to make the best of our 18 months we have left on this island. To see as much as I can and to appreciate the small things in life. Please enjoy a few of our pictures below from a recent photoshoot we did. You can see how beautiful this place can be.