Thanksgiving Day

It will be a  "Just the Two of Us" Thanksgiving for Charly and I this year.  Our children and other family are all far away, so we are having a relaxing and "kick-back and enjoy the day" kind of Thanksgiving this year.

We slept in much later than what is normal for us, then I fixed cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

We decided not to cook a turkey this year, but we are having a favorite turkey casserole which Charly makes using a recipe his mother passed a long to him.  It is really good "comfort food" and we will enjoy it a little later today.

Charly also made his delicious pumpkins pies which our family has been enjoying for years and which he and I will have all to ourselves this afternoon, after our turkey casserole.

I have a whole stack of fun movies set aside to watch today.  I am sure that I won't get to most of them, but even watching one or two will be a real treat since I seldom have or take the time to sit down and watch a movie.  Today, however, I plan to do some things that I enjoy but don't usually do.

Later this evening, we will get together for desert and a good visit with long time friends, so that will be the perfect end to our laid-back low key holiday.  Tomorrow, we will do just a bit of shopping - but we are not planning to get up early and fight crowds for marginal bargains.  Charly likes to go later in the day to get movies and books that are on "Black Friday" special.

Josh is now in Mexico.  Last Monday, he left the Missionary Training Center where he had been learning Spanish.  Here are some pictures of Josh and his group taken just before they left for Mexico.

They look like a fun group of guys who grew pretty close during their time of living and studying Spanish together.  Lots for this group to be thankful for - an opportunity for growth and service like no other.  We as the parents of a missionary are so grateful for the great decisions he has made that has brought him to this point in his life.

I am thankful for other things as well:

• my faith  - it sustains me through life's ups and downs
• my family - even when they are far away
• my husband - he has made all the difference in how my life has turned out and is my greatest blessing.
• my friends  - they have made a difference in my life and mean the world to me
• my job - it sustains our family financially and give me a daily sense of purpose
• my health - even with the aches and pains of aging - I am doing well
• my home - which gives me a sense of place and security
• my community - a safe decent town with many good neighbors
• my upbringing - the parents who raised me have long since passed, but more and more I appreciate the things they did for me and the way I was raised.  I am sure I did not express appreciation to them nearly enough when they were alive.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to All!

Being Thankful

I have not found all the extra time to write blog posts that I thought I would have once Joshua had left for his mission.  It seems that in the past six weeks, since he has been gone, I have spent most of my time online writing and emailing him.  Then, there was also the family Christmas card and the family Christmas calendar to get done - both of which ended up being more time consuming than I expected. Both are finished now, with only the family Christmas letter left to write.  I decided however, that a blog post was way over due, especially when I feel so over whelmed with blessings that I want to express gratitude for.

Josh (the one of the right - shown here with his buddy Elder Johnson) is doing well, and will be on his way to Mexico early tomorrow morning!  He has been at the Missionary Training Center on the BYU campus learning Spanish for the last six weeks, and now the time has come for him to use what he has learned.  Here is just a bit from his last email which we got on Thursday...

Hello Everybody,

This week has certainly been alot better. It's my last week here I have my flight plans and everything so the next email from me will be from Mexico. It turns out they're putting us all the way through Atlanta, GA so we have like a 5-6 hour flight there and then probably like a 4 hour flight to Monterrey. I'm going to start packing today. I've been here for like 6 weeks and I still don't know very much Spanish. I hope that when I get there and go to a baptismal service I don't accidentally say Donde es bautizado servisio? Cause then I'd be asking where the baptismal toilet is...Not much interesting happened this week just another week at the MTC. I think I'd just like to apologize my last email went a little over the edge. It just gets so stressful at the MTC. Once again I love all of you and will remember you in my prayers.

Love, Elder Jones

I am very thankful that I have an 18-year-old son who is making good choices in his life and is taking two years out of his life to serve the people in Mexico.  This young man is certainly a blessing to his family, and, as our bishop told us last week, he is a blessing to our entire ward (church congregation) family.

I am also very thank for my son-in-law, Joseph, shown here with my grandson Miles (the picture was taken right before Joseph baptized Miles last summer).  When Joshua had a challenging and discouraging week trying to learn Spanish at the MTC, Joseph stayed up late writing a heart felt letter of encouragement to Josh.  This isn't the first time he has written to Josh, encouraging him in the right direction.  His letters carry a lot of weight since he also served a mission and had to learn a foreign language (Joseph served in Brazil) so he really knows what Josh is going through.  I know that his words of positive encouragement make a difference to Josh.   Joey is a great husband and father too and we are truly blessed to have him as part of our family.

Speaking of missionaries, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to make a small difference for one young Sister Missionary (the one on the right in the striped sweater). Last Sunday was her birthday.  Her mom (a total stranger to me, who lives in Maryland) put out a request, through a missionary moms Face Book group I belong to, for someone in Arizona to personally deliver birthday greetings and love to her daughter.  Turns out her daughter's current address wasn't far from me, so I put together a small gift and set out to find Sister Bryant, and give him a vicarious birthday hug from her mom.  It was such a small thing - it only took about an hour of my time, but it helped make a young missionary's birthday happy.  Doing this very small act of kindness for a total stranger made me feel happy for the rest of the day.  It also made me wonder why I don't take such opportunities to serve more often - something that I need to work on!  

I am so grateful that I can read and that I enjoy reading.  This is what I have been reading this past week.  I finished Outliers and Three Steps to Success in parenting and In Life and just stared The James Miracle.  I am also grateful that, as an English teacher, I am blessed with the opportunity to help others love reading and learning.  This past week, I was heartened when a the students in two of my classes expressed to me that they are enjoying the books they are currently assigned to read.  I will consider myself a successful teacher, at the end of my career, if there are a few more readers in the world who learned to love the printed word in my class. 

 

I am thankful for my mother-in-law, Lois Perschon Jones.  She is back in the hospital with late stage Parkinson's Disease and is not doing very well.  This is a picture of my mother-in-law and my daughter, Tiffany taken last year after Tiffany finished Volume Two of her grandmother's memoir.   Lois has always been kind and loving to me, and has treated me as if I was her own daughter.  There have been many years in my life when I felt closer to her than I did to my own mother.  I know that at 85 she has had a good long life, but she is my prayers as she enters, what could well be, the last stretch of her journey here on earth.  I know that God will take good care of her on the other side and that she will one day soon have a joyous reunion with her husband and parents who have gone on before - truly something to be grateful for.

Finally, today, I am thankful for the kind and wonderful people I have met through blogging.  Your blogs are creative, interesting, upbeat and positive.  You have great stories and amazing ideas.  Many of you have been wonderful role models and have helped me change my life for the better.  Thank you all!  Blogging is truly a blessing! 

Have an awesome Thanksgiving Week!

 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father..."

James 1:17

 

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ Getting Ready for Christmas!

It seems like forever since I last participated in with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday, but I am glad to have a few minutes this evening to join in. 

The weather outside is:

warm and lovely!  Our high here in the Phoenix area was 82 today.  This week's forecast is for temps in the 80s all week with lows at night in the high 50s.  This is the time of year that I most love living in Arizona. 

On our dinner table this evening:

leftovers!  Josh was not a big fan of leftovers, but since he has been gone, Charly and I are perfectly content with the occasional mix and match dinner that uses up whatever is left in the refrigerator.  

As I look outside my window:

I see a blue sky with some high thin white clouds and lots of sunshine.  The lemon tree in the back yard is filled with fruit just starting to turn yellow. We'll have fresh lemonade for Christmast!

Right now I am:

writing this post, waiting for the washing machine to finish the laundry so I can hang up the clothes to dry. 

As I look around the house:

several unfinished projects including a large basket of dry laundry that needs to be put away, our family Christmas cards that were ordered from Costco last week, but won't be addressed and mailed out until after Thanksgiving, and Josh's Christmas box wrapped addressed and waiting to go in the mail to Mexico.

Tonight's to-do list:

includes folding laundry, doing some laundry, continuing going through and organizing Josh's closet preparing for Christmas visitors that will be using his room.  I also want to relax and do some reading.

Currently reading:

this social science non-fiction book recommended by my youngest daughter a couple of years ago. It is an interesting read.

 

On the TV:

Whatever I watch while doing some ironing tonight.  I will probably try to watch American Ride - an interesting history show I have been trying to catch on Monday evenings.  

What I recently created:

This cute "copy-cat" Missionary Christmas stocking to send to my son Josh in his Christmas box.

Favorites from the camera:

The contents of Josh's Christmas box.  It has been a challenge to find fun, practical Christmas gifts that can all be packed into a small box weighing less than four pounds. This much stuff will cost about $50 to mail to Mexico. The cards are Christmas greetings from members of our church congregation.  I know Josh will enjoy hearing from everyone.

The teenage girls at church made this poster for Josh.  He will love this!

Josh's Christmas box wrapped and ready to go to Mexico.  We were told (by a clerk at the post office as well as other "Mexico Missionary Moms") that putting Christian/Catholic stickers on the box might help insure that it would actually get to its destination, so we thought we'd give it a try. I am told that mail to Mexico is very "iffy" and that customs agents can open and "appropriate' items for their own use.  We are praying that the box arrives safely to give our son a bit of home for Christmas.

This is my favorite place to be first thing every Saturday morning.  I love the temple and that wonderful, blue cloudless sky.

This is a picture Josh emailed home last week.  It is the missionary badge he wears every day now that he is a missionary.   Since he will be serving in Mexico, the name of the church is in Spanish.

Another picture Josh emailed home last week.  This is Josh with another missionary who he said was a great help and encouragement to him.  This missionary was flying out to Mexico City today, so I am glad Josh at least has this rather blurry picture to remember him by.  

Speaking of Josh, I will end this post with a quick excerpt from the last email we received from Josh. I  must admit that it brought happy tears to my eyes...

"Everything is going alright. Today I got to go to the temple - every p-day, so it's a good opportunity for me. I know that Spanish will eventually come...it feels good to know that I'm almost there - only two more weeks left and I'm sure it'll go by fast cause it already has. I'll be in Mexico before I know it. The other day I had an interesting experience with my MTC [Missionary Training Center] Branch President [Pastor]. He told me that he's seen a change in me these past few weeks...he's a good inspired man. I can't say that the MTC is just a blast or that it's easy, but it requires putting your faith in Heavenly Father and relying on Him like never before...one of the other missionaries in my zone told me the Lord will stretch you but He won't let you fail...I love all of you and pray that God will watch over you."

Enjoy this week everyone.  We all have so much to be grateful for!