I sure have a lot to be thankful for! I come from a wonderful family and have recently increased that greatly because of DNA testing and discovering who my biological father was a few months ago.

I have several branches of family: biological, immediate, step and later adopted, in-laws, previous, as well as my friends who are just like family who are mostly related to me through my church, my son’s special needs cheer team, and our homeschooling community.

I am first of all thankful for my immediate family. Hubby, “Buddy”, and my daughter “C” mean SO much to me! Hubby and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary of our first date in less than a week and our 20th wedding anniversary next summer. I am grateful for him and all that he does for our family.  We have been through so much and it has always made us stronger.  ❤  Buddy keeps me young and on my toes. We share a lot of interests and obviously are together almost 24/7 since we homeschool, too. He is a combination of the best of Hubby and I combined.  He has an amazing heart and soul. ❤  “C” lives hours away and I miss her. Even though she is a grown woman, she will always be my little girl.  ❤

My biological family on my mom’s side has always been there for me, no matter what! I love the fact that I am part of this huge, close-knit, and talented family! Even though I am over 1500 miles away, I am fortunate to be able to keep in touch through our modern technology. My grandpa was amazing! I miss him SO much all the time. My grandma and I developed a wonderful relationship especially in her later years and I miss our hours-long conversations so much! I also have amazing cousins, aunts, and uncles. I also love our ancestry history, stories, and memories. Even though I did not know who my biological father was for over 50 years… I had a larger and often more loving family than many people I know. ❤

My new-to-me biological family is a new blessing to me and I am definitely grateful for them. I don’t know them all, yet, and there are still several key people who don’t even know about me. I am thoroughly enjoying meeting my new-to-me family members and about the family history! I love the fact that some have really taken me in and are already showing that they care a lot about me. I also love that I have the opportunity to get to know a few better by having frequent phone calls with them. I am the closest with my older half-brother, his amazing wife, and one of my aunts so far. We have connected SO well! I just wish that I would have connected with them earlier. It still hurts that I missed getting to know my youngest half-brother who passed away unexpectedly days before he was going to be told about me. He seemed like someone I would have connected well with, too. ❤

My family members through marriage are an amazing bunch! They are loving, fun, and accepting of pretty much everyone (not just family). Even though we don’t always agree on things such as politics (some of us do and some of us don’t), we do agree on a lot of basic principles that are honestly more important than political leanings. Hubby and I don’t always agree politically these days, either, but it doesn’t cause rifts. Same thing with his whole family. The people are SO much more important than political beliefs and leanings.  I just wish that they lived closer. Nowadays we only have my father-in-love who lives close to us. I’m thankful that he is only a few minutes away.  ❤

My step-turned-adopted family took me in and made me feel like I belonged. It’s funny though, I was thinking the other day about how several slipped up throughout the years and said things like, “I remember the first time I met you and you were yay-high….” and no, I wasn’t a baby.  LOL They were demonstrating the height of a 3 year old. I remember that one aunt said this repeatedly before I accidentally learned that Jack was not my biological father at the age of 12. I thought that she was becoming senile a bit young.  LOL  After I discovered the truth, I would try to change the subject quickly, so neither of us would get into trouble.  😉   They evidently weren’t in on the fact that it was supposed to be a secret. That or they didn’t believe it should be. I’m still in contact with several on this side and am thankful for them.   ❤

When I say my “previous” family, I am talking about the family I had when I was married to my ex. I miss several of them including my main aunt, brother-in-law, great-uncle, the Birt family, several others including some who passed years ago, and all of the family reunions. I do still (or again, I should say) have contact with my main aunt. She is precious! Unfortunately, you don’t just marry into a family… you also divorce out of a family.   😦   I appreciate that my main aunt wants to be connected to me regardless, though.  ❤

I also truly love my “family” of friends from my church, cheer team, and my fellow homeschoolers. Since my family on all sides are so far from me physically, it makes my love and desire for more family even more profound. These amazing individuals definitely fit like family and I am extremely thankful for them, as well.  ❤

See! I have SO much to be thankful for! I am truly blessed! ❤ Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! ❤