Being part of the Military Family makes me thankful for... (Military Family Blog Carnival)

Welcome to the third edition of the (hopefully) growing Military Family Carnival.

Being part of the Military Family makes me thankful for...

Thanksgiving can be a beautiful celebration of all the blessings we enjoy. Many families lay the best table they can, express gratitude for the best of the year, and enjoy the company of family and close friends.

For many military families, this Thanksgiving will be spend apart from those they love most.

Last year on Thanksgiving, we had much cause for joy. My husband had returned home from Iraq, our daughter's heart condition had been successfully repaired, and the rest of the soldiers from his unit were either home or on their way.

Since baby was still recovering, we could not yet travel. So, we invited the unit soldiers who had no where to go to come join us.

Baby was still having major anxiety about being separated from mommy, Captain Dad was experimenting with cooking a turkey for the first time, we had never hosted Thanksgiving before, and we had no idea how many guests to expect.

In the end, I held the baby while passing along words of encouragement and instructions about the side dishes to Captain Dad, we pressed another spouse into service, and we had plenty of good food.

Although I certainly missed being around our extended family, I think that impromptu celebration will always be one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories.

Being a part of the military family reminds me what really counts in life. We have freedom, continually renewed for us by our active participation and the efforts of our warriors. And we have each other, a gift made even more precious by the times we spend apart.

I hope you are spending this Thanksgiving with your soldier...but if you are not, you have my prayers for a safe and quick reunion. May this Holiday and others be filled with blessings for you.

I hope you will join me this week and share a post about why you are thankful:

1. Please post on the theme. If you do not have a blog, ask to hijack a friend's for the day or consider Guest Blogging your post on An Army Wife's Life.
2. Please link back to this post so your readers will come read and maybe participate, too.
3. Add your post title (to get readers interested in visiting you) and specific post URL (not your entire blog) to Mr. Linky.
   

To encourage participation, I will be offering a prize. At the end of the month, one participant will be chosen at random to win a copy of Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.