For many of us, the meaning of Thanksgiving includes a large feast with friends and family, an extended weekend, probably some football, and quite possibly a last look at “normal” life before Christmas decorations cover every nook and cranny of the world. This wonderfully busy holiday is, somehow, already here—just one week away! As hostesses of the festivities, it is our job to make sure that people are fed, happy, and generally having a good time. Doing all of these things while keeping everyone mindful of what they have to be grateful for is no easy feat. And then, because we are also the family historians, or memory keepers, we will want to scrapbook the whole experience afterward.

Challenge accepted!

Since we can’t come over to each of your homes to assist in meal preparation (or the aftermath!), we came up with a printable to help with the gratitude portion of the holiday.

As your guests arrive, or whenever it naturally fits during your celebrations, ask each of them to fill out one of these cards. During a designated time, a lot of people like doing this sort of thing before dinner, have everyone share their thoughts. Make sure to keep the cards so that later you can use them to scrapbook about your evening.

Another fun way to use these printables is within your own family. Have each family member complete one of the cards and then create a banner to display in your home as a reminder of all the wonderful things you have to be grateful for.

Even though Thanksgiving is right around the corner, it is not too late to add some personal touches to your plans! For additional free Thanksgiving printables, including conversation starters and thank you cards, make sure to revisit our post from a couple of years ago, here.

What are some ways that you keep the spirit of gratitude during Thanksgiving? Let’s help each other out—the more ideas we share the better! 🙂

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Happy Thanksgiving to all! Next to the Fourth of July, this is truly one of my favorite holidays. I am excited to share with you today my gratitude for blessings I’ve received in both the past and the present.

At this season I am reminiscent of the way my family celebrated Thanksgiving when I was just a girl. I loved the fact that this holiday was so centered around food, and, boy, was this one meal that I could really look forward to: turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy! As a child I thought the excitement of the holiday lay in the delicious dishes placed before me, but as I grew older I came to realize that the real excitement was in the blessing of being with family.

I especially remember the good times that surrounded my wonderful Aunt Lola, who was always the life of the party. Her sense of humor had the rest of us rolling in our seats every Thanksgiving. She would tell story after story, making us laugh and laugh until our sides ached. At those Thanksgiving tables, surrounded by my mother and father, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins, I knew true happiness.

Those family-centered Thanksgivings are some of my fondest memories, and it’s now my privilege to be the one planning those parties for my own children and grandchildren. I have always loved to keep things simple, so I long ago established the tradition of having our Thanksgiving Day feast at a beautiful mountain resort instead of at home. With a fantastic menu from which we can eat all we want, plus the bonus of made-to-order goodies, the restaurant becomes the mouth-watering daydream of one and all during the days leading up to the holiday. My grandkids talk about it for weeks beforehand, repeatedly reviewing their anticipated menu choices. It’s a tradition we all cherish together!

This year I’ll be instigating another tradition for this special day. Using the gorgeous Picture My Life™ Avonlea cards, I’ll have each family member record what they’re thankful for. I’m going to compile their responses into our very own family gratitude mini album. I can’t wait to see the finished product!

On my own card I’ll be sure to add the names of each precious member of my family. I am so grateful to each one for their encouragement and love for me. They, more than anyone else, have been my ever-present strength. I cannot even hope to fully express how grateful I am for them.

I am also grateful today for those that have become my family—my Close To My Heart family! I extend a special thanks to my dear friends, Brian and Monica, who just also happen to be my Executive Team members. I am thankful to them for the support they are to me in every business venture we undertake.

This year I have had many opportunities to mingle with the Consultants of this company, and for that I am extremely grateful. How I have loved being in your presence, hearing your stories, seeing your smiles, and feeling of your excitement. My relationship with you is what brings me the most joy in this business!

I express gratitude for the wonderful employees of Close To My Heart that work so hard to accomplish our company mission. Thank you for all your efforts this year.

I am mindful today, also, of the land I live in. I cherish the foundations that this land was built upon, and I am grateful for sacrifices made long ago by unselfish men and women. My own father was an Army man and I happily support those who continue to give everything to this country. I am grateful for people in every land who cherish the freedom of the human soul and give their lives to protect it.

I am grateful that I can worship as I please. I believe in a God in Heaven who watches down on all of us. I am grateful that He showers me with His love. I know He cares by the way He sends me loved ones—or even complete strangers—to reach out to me in my hours of need.

Year after year, I watch blessings being added to my trove, and today I thank you for what you have personally added to it. May you have a very happy Thanksgiving, and may it be an exciting beginning to a season devoted to looking outward to others.

During this time of year, we’re reminded to take a pause from our busy lives, sit down with our family and friends, and give thanks for all we have. As I think about all I have to be thankful for, I don’t even know where to begin. I have incredible family and friends who are always there to support me in everything I do. I’m surrounded by amazing people, I’ve experienced incredible things, and I’ve made memories that will last me a lifetime. I try not to take even a second of it for granted.

One thing I’m grateful for all year long is the opportunity to be a Consultant for Close To My Heart, which I have been for almost 10 years now. This experience has afforded me the benefit of additional income as well as the opportunity to travel to places I never imagined I would visit. It has helped me learn and grow as a person and brought so much more to my life than just income and trips. It has brought people into my life that I would likely have never met otherwise. It has allowed me to be a part of their lives and them a part of mine, and that is what I am most grateful for.

People ask me why I do this, and the reason is simple: I love it. It’s about so much more than the products offered by Close To My Heart. It’s about the relationships Close To My Heart has brought me and the things I’ve learned because of those relationships. I have learned that when we serve others, we receive so much more than we give. I have learned that the more we help empower and show gratitude toward each other, the better off we all become.

Being a part of the Close To My Heart family has brought me to some of the people I cherish most in my life—they have become true family. I have learned from, laughed with, cried with, and grown with fellow Consultants whom I consider to be my closest friends and confidants. I have met customers who have welcomed me into some of the most intimate times of their lives and, in so doing, have shown me how much I have to be grateful for every day.

I recently held a weekend retreat for my customers, and as I was walking through the room looking at everyone working on their projects I felt very grateful that I was there to be a part of it all. I was in a room full of people who started as my customers, but whom I now count amongst my dearest friends. Through their scrapbook pages, I have watched their families grow each year, and I have grown with them. I have seen scrapbooks expand, spanning the entire childhood of countless children. Those scrapbooks have captured first teeth, first steps, first goals, marriages, graduations, and too many holidays to name! I have also seen scrapbooks made in memoriam of lives—some fully lived, and, unfortunately, some that were cut much too short.

Regardless of the scrapbook, each album seems to revolve around one thing: gratitude. We scrapbook the moments of our lives that we are most grateful for, the ones we cherish the most. When we create a scrapbook and record the lives of our loved ones, we create treasures that will tell our stories as they are passed on from generation to generation. To say that I am grateful to play even a small role in preserving these memories is an understatement.

I feel that gratitude is a choice. It’s a conscious effort to wake up each day and choose to be thankful. I have found that serving others through what I do is something I’m eternally grateful for and something that brings me happiness. I have found that when you make serving others a priority in your life, you begin to want less and appreciate more. You also inevitably become the recipient of someone else’s gratitude, and that’s something that is truly priceless.

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Jeanette Lynton

Meet Jeanette Lynton—wife, mother, artist, and Founder & CEO of one of the world’s leading companies in the papercrafting industry. This blog is dedicated to all who share her love of creativity. Visit often, share your stories, and become family!

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