The Tale of Two Thanksgivings

This year we went to two Thanksgiving celebrations. The funny thing is that they were both with my family. Josh's brothers were with their dad on Thanksgiving and his mom had a quiet dinner with her husband, so he was nice enough to come with me to both of the dinners.

The first was on Wednesday night at my sister and brother-in-law's house. Ryan had to work on Thanksgiving and Mary didn't want him to miss out, so she planned the celebration one day early. Once it was planned, she sent out cute invitations to both his and our families. Then she decorated their house and started cooking. Even though it was a potluck, she still ended up making most of the food. This was her first Thanksgiving and she did a wonderful job! They've only been married a few months, but Mary is a great wife and homemaker. For this occasion, she set up three tables in their front room and decorated them with seasonal table cloths, plates and place settings. My mom and sister, Sarah, made the place settings and they're so adorable!
There were 17 adults and 5 kids with both of our families and the atmosphere was fun and filled with love and happiness. It was a great way to kick off our Thanksgiving celebration!

Our Thanksgiving day started off early because we participated in the Utah Human Race. This is the fourth year this fun run/walk has been done. All of the proceeds go to the Utah Food Bank and I really like running in it because of the feeling that surrounds it. Everyone is participating just because they want to and because they get to donate to those in need. It's really cool!

A lot of people really got into the holiday by dressing up for it. There was a man dressed as an Indian with a full headdress and loin cloth. There were also a few turkeys running around. Josh and I also saw a couple dressed in white jump suits and on the back one said "Where's the yams?" and the other said "Here I yam!". We thought they were really cute.

Josh and I stayed together throughout the race. We set a steady pace and were able to run the whole thing. I was pretty proud of us! I have never run a whole 5k before and it was an exhilarating feeling. I have to admit, though, that if Josh hadn't been with me, I would have walked that last mile. My body was shutting down at that point, but he was my cheering section, and I was able to keep going. It was fun running with my husband!

Later that day we went to my parents house for their traditional celebration. My grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin join my family for the get-together. There is a TON of mouth-watering food and everyone leaves the table completely stuffed. The air is filled with love and thanksgiving and after we ate, we each shared something that reminds us of the holiday. There were cute stories and jokes and my brother even played "The Thanksgiving Song" by Adam Sandler. What a wonderful way to spend the holiday-with all of the ones I love. Sarah did this as well. She's so talented!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I love Thanksgiving because it sets aside a time for us to be grateful for all that we have. And I have so much to be grateful for! I am so grateful to be married to Josh! He's a wonderful husband and this last year has been amazing! I am also grateful for my parents and my brother and sisters and all that they do for us. Josh's family is also one of the many blessings I have. They've welcomed me with open arms and I really enjoy being apart of two families! I am also so thankful for our apartment and that we both have secure jobs at this hard economic time. I'm also grateful for our cat, Moroni, and all the fun she brings into our home. There are many more things I could mention, but I am most grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who provides all of these blessings and for His presence in my life every day!

Ghana

I apologize for how long this post is in coming! It's been about 3 months since Susa came and shared her pictures of her trip to Africa, so I'm way overdue, but I still wanted to share these.

Our good friend, Susa, goes to Africa every year to volunteer at a deaf school. She's a deaf educator and has a great time going there for several weeks every summer. She works with kids from elementary to high school and besides teaching, she has fun dancing and playing soccer with them. Susa is a BIG soccer fan and she usually she takes soccer balls, cleats, and other donations with her. We wanted to help out, but didn't get a chance before she left, so Josh and I decided to send her a package.

Once deciding how big of a box to send (shipping to Africa is pretty expensive) we headed to the Dollar Store. We had a great night picking out everything to fill it with. We wanted to send things they needed-like paper and crayons-but also fun things that they don't have in Ghana-like Pixie Sticks, Sour Gumballs and Glow Sticks. Once we spread our purchases out on the table, I was sure they wouldn't fit into the box, but Josh carefully arranged it all to fit perfectly. We were even able to add a couple packages of batteries that Susa needed as well.

Once we sent it, it took a few weeks to get to Susa and she still had to pay to get it out of customs. She was grateful for it and said that the kids loved it. We weren't able to send enough for everyone (there's about 600 students in the two schools) but she was able to distribute everything pretty evenly. Then about a month after she got back, Susa came to our house to share a pizza and pictures.

These first few pictures are to show a little of the conditions where Susa was.

All laundry is done by hand. Susa said that most of the time the students did hers. Pretty nice of them, huh? I don't know about you, but this made me really appreciate our laundry room!

This is one of their classrooms. It's pretty basic with the wooden desks and chairs. The only place they have to hang up their backpacks and coats is on the walls as you can see behind them. They also only have chalkboards, no dry-erase boards like we have here.

Though the conditions are a lot less than what we're used to, the students are happy and study hard and just love life as you can see in the above picture.

Here's a picture of Susa with some of the students.

Susa was great to take pictures of the students when they used the things we sent. This first picture is of the Glow Sticks. Susa said these were the most sought after because the students had never seen them before. A fight even broke out between two boys because one had gotten a Glow-Stick and the other hadn't. Thank goodness each was able to get one!

This next picture is of the Pixie Sticks. At first the students thought you had to put them in water and drink it. Then Susa showed them how to eat it and they really liked that.

The students were really grateful for what we sent and in almost all of the pictures they were signing "thank you" or "I love you". This is my favorite picture of the children signing "thank you".

These next two pictures are so funny! Here are the students trying the Sour Gumballs. Susa said they would spit them out and then put them back in their mouths because they wanted to get to the gum.


This last picture is of Susa and the some of students who play soccer. Soccer is their favorite sport and they play it all the time. They don't have fields like we do, but just play anywhere there's a big enough spot of land.


Josh and I had a great time putting the package together and listening to Susa's stories! We'll definitely send another one next year. Seeing these pictures makes me realize just how blessed I am. I have so many things that these students don't and don't even know if I could manage without the conveniences I've become so accustomed to. I will forever be grateful to a loving Heavenly Father from whence these blessings come!

Halloween Musings

Happy (late) Halloween! I hope everyone had a great one! Josh and I got dressed in our costumes early and enjoyed the whole day as a "bone collector" and a "nice witch." Josh made his costume and looked amazing! We didn't take any pictures (dangit!) but he got a tacky suit coat and slacks from the D.I. and then sewed plastic bones on the front and insides of the coat. He also put two skulls on the shoulders. Then he wore a white, Albert Einstein-like wig and dyed his beard, mustache and eyebrows white. Add the awesome, crazy voice and hunched-over walk and you have the best bone collector there ever was! I had a black dress and shoes and wore a blond wig with a purple witches hat and a purple broom. It was a lot of fun!

Last night, after getting home from our own trick-or-treating adventures, we put the finishing touches on our decorations, preparing our apartment for the trick-or-treaters we hoped would come. We put up paper lanterns and fixed our fallen down spider webs. Josh put two plastic skulls in the window with candles behind them so they appeared to be glowing. Add a cd with creepy Halloween sounds and we were ready for the night. We then put on "The Proposal" and anxiously awaited the sounds of little feet and voices. At 9:15 our only trick-or-treaters came. There was a knock on the door and no "trick or treat" was said. I told the 3 kids to take whatever they wanted. They all took handfuls and one little girl greedily took a second. Josh and I can't be sure, but we think there was one "thank you" voiced.

I was kindof disappointed with this Halloween experience. When Josh and I were trick-or-treating you always shouted "trick-or-treat" at the door and were polite-even if the person said take whatever you want you didn't try to grab as much as you could. And there was always a thank you said for everything. Has Halloween really changed that much? I think it's sad when children just expect to be handed everything and aren't greatful for what they receive. And it seems to me that trust has also been lost from those long ago days when we were children. I know many stores and churches have trick-or-treating so that children don't do the traditional house-to-house. Again, how sad that parents can't be assured of their children's safety on this one night!