Giving Thanks 2010

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa Day join us from Michigan. It was quiet (except for Parker of course) and relaxing (except for the minor inconvenience of a frozen turkey on T-giving morn). We enjoyed visiting, swimming at the Fairfield, cooking, and eating.


This was our appetizer course. It was a good thing we had lots cause our turkey took a little longer than we expected.
Appetizers: Baked Artichoke Dip, Schuler's Cheese, Raaaanch, Assorted Veggies, Pretzel Crisps, Wheat Thins, Triscuits, and a Mediterranean Couscous salad.


Mark and Maryn showcasing the cute "I'm So Stuffed" turkey napkins.


The Feast!
Turkey, Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes, Mom's Sausage Stuffing, Turkey Gravy, Orange Glazed Squash, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Green Bean Casserole, Cran-Raspberry Jello, Corn, and Rolls. For Dessert: Pumpkin, Pecan, and Chocolate Pie; Brownie Bites, and Egg Nog. (We didn't get to the Apple Pie or the Pumpkin Bread, darnit!)


Our own little turkey...busy as can be! Grandma was lucky she caught her for a little kiss.


Finally warming up to Grandpa...she was pretty wary of him at first, but when she figured out that he would read to her that's all she needed.

Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!! Of all the many blessings we have to be grateful for this year, you are one of them...we appreciate all you do for us! We love you.

God Hears My Secret Prayer

When miracles happen, they need to be shared. And in that spirit, I wanted to share a tender mercy that I received recently. I don't want to dwell on tragedy, or continually bring back hard, difficult memories, but I do want to share the lessons I've been learning, and blessings I've received as a result of my experiences.

I have had a hard time forgetting the events of that night. A lot of things that surround me on a daily basis continually trigger powerful emotions in me. These triggers aren't constant. One day it's not an issue, but the next it is. One day I'll feel fine, and the next day not. I can't avoid living in my house or seeing places and things that trigger me. I have to learn to live with them and make my peace with what's happened. I have to learn to look for the positive and find peace, instead of feel guilt and fear. It's been a struggle for me. But I'm not alone. Mark feels a lot of these same emotions, but for him it is amplified. I think he carries a heavy burden where that's concerned. He suffers in ways I can't imagine. I wish I could take some of that pain away, a lot of the time. But I know that I can't. However, I do believe that there is someone who can. I have a strong testimony of that.

Last night I went visiting teaching. On my way home, I had to stop off and get diapers. I was listening to a CD that Mark bought for me awhile back. It is a CD by the Lower Lights...they sing revivals of hymns. It's very folksy, acoustic, kind of vintage-y, and I love it. I highly recommend it. Anyway, I was driving on I-251. This is the highway that connects Tonica to the real world. It goes through Oglesby (where IVCC is), and then Peru (where all the shopping and the hospital is). We use it every day, and it's not a road that I can avoid. But for some reason when it's dark, and night-time I have a hard time. I remember driving that road in a police car, following behind Mark and Laurie, who followed behind the ambulance. The events come back to me in a flash, and I am overwhelmed with sadness, panic, fear, and grief. Last night I began to feel these emotions again, and I said a prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to please take away these awful emotions, that I needed to feel light, peace, and love. And I did. It was one of those text book experiences. I was filled with warmth and love. I was able to focus on the lyrics to the song on my CD, "Secret Prayer".

There is an hour of peace and rest, unmarred by earthly care.
'Tis when before the Lord I go and kneel in secret prayer.

May my heart be turned to pray,
Pray in secret day by day,
That this boon to mortals given,
May unite my soul with heav'n.

When sailing on life's stormy sea, mid billows of despair,
'Tis solace to my soul to know, God hears my secret prayer.

When thorns are strewn along my path, and foes my feet ensnare,
My Savior to my aid will come, If sought in secret prayer.

Even writing the lyrics now I get chills. What a blessing prayer is. Why don't I do it more often?!? I mean how easy is it to stop what I'm doing, turn to the Lord, ask for help, and receive it. Sometimes I have a very proud, stubborn heart. I am impatient, and I lose faith when things don't happen the way they happen for others, or the way I think they should. But that is part of the nature of prayer and faith I suppose. It's not always textbook. Sometimes we have to wait, sometimes answers and relief aren't immediate. I know that and I struggle with that. That's why I am especially grateful for the experience I had last night. God heard my secret prayer. And I know He will hear yours too.

Pictorial Updates

Parker and Charlie waiting for the girls' school bus every afternoon around 3:30.


"It's okay boy, they'll be home soon...now come a little closer...heh heh heh..."


Mark and the girls went on a hike at Starved Rock. Our November weather has been amazing and they wanted to take advantage of a nice afternoon. I love these girls. They're so cool.


Fashion!! :-) The girls before a baptism for a little girl in Ave's primary class.


Bunny feet jammas!! An early Christmas present...Thank you Grandma Day!!

Our Little "Ghouls"

"Meow!!" She couldn't stop saying that all night long...cutest thing EVER!


Hermione Granger


"A-lvira"

Gnarly wigs, eh? I think they give each costume that little something extra (tee hee!)



Happy Halloween from our house to yours!!

Let the Eagle Fly

The girls just successfully completed their first stage production of "Let the Eagle Fly"!! As some of you already know they were cast as the daughters of the infamous "Cesar Chavez", civil rights activist and organizer of the United Farm Workers Association. Maryn played 10 year old Anna Chavez, and Avery played 8 year old Elizabeth Chavez. They have been diligently attending rehearsals for the past month. It was a grueling schedule...Tues/Wed/Thurs. nights from 6 until usually 9:30 or this last week before the show, midnight...ugh!



But hard work pays off! The show's opening night was this past Thursday and they did great! It ran through the weekend and either Mark or I attended every performance. Some were better than others, but on the whole we both saw a lot of improvement in the cast overall.


(With their mother, Helen Chavez--on a sidenote I work with her at the Writing Center. Her name is Reilly, she's pretty cool.)


(With their proud, Papi, Cesar.)


(With various mexican farm workers, and Chavez siblings...I can't say that without cracking up.)

Now we can't get the dang songs out of our head!! We'll be driving somewhere and bust out in song, "Si, se puede (Yes, we CAN)!!" or "Viva la CAUSA!!!" It was a hoot and we loved seeing the girls stretch themselves, and do something new and scary. We are so proud of our little latina farm workers!!


(Their (mean) director--Dr. Kuester)

Duty

Yesterday I gave the 4th Sunday lesson in RS. The topic was "Learning and Understanding your Duty". I based the lesson on two talks from May's General Conference. Elder Keith McMullin and Elder Henry B. Eyring. The talks are wonderful. The topic was sobering. In the midst of a chaotic world around us filled with sadness, corruption, and trial we can find solace in doing what the Lord wants us to do. By learning to do our duty, essentially we can improve the ever-decaying world around us. We can make the world a better place by doing our part...our duty.

Thoughts and impressions (and memories) flooded my mind as I prepared this lesson. I can think of no better example than that of my father-in-law when the word "duty" is uttered. And I don't think I am romanticizing things when I say that. Dennis was a man who did his duty...he contributed positively to society, he did his best to make the world a better place, he was constantly in the service of his fellow-man, and ultimately his Savior and Father in Heaven. His hands were the Lord's hands on earth. I don't think I will ever explain it well enough or do the service he performed for us, his family, justice. I will never feel like my words will adequately express my appreciation, my love, and my respect for him. I can only try, struggle/learn, repent, and humbly strive to do/be better.

The following quote from Elder Eyring seemed to jump off the page at me (in talking about an elderly gentleman who had served dutifully in his callings for his entire life): "...His nature had been changed to want what the Savior wanted. He had no fear of death. The desire of his heart was to live to give service to his family and to others of Heavenly Father's children who needed him."

I wish I had expressed this in my lesson yesterday. But I didn't. Not because I didn't WANT to, I felt like I couldn't. I didn't want to go there publicly yet. I knew how it would end, and I didn't want that all over the Relief Society pulpit. But I have been thinking about it ever since. How I needed to get this out. How I needed to express my feelings about Dennis and duty. I would do the whisperings of the Spirit injustice if I neglected to express these impressions and feelings. And so, I write them instead. In the safety of my blog...the only people reading this being my family and friends who know me and knew my father-in-law. You know what I'm talking about. You know who Dennis was, and you understand what I'm talking about when I say he did his duty. You get me, and for that I'm grateful.

I am going to try and have more courage to write out my feelings that are sometimes difficult to express. I feel like I have been holding onto a lot of them for awhile now. After Mark's post, and reading my brother-in-law's and sister-in-law's posts about Dennis, I finally feel like I can have the courage to do the same. We all miss him. The grief has caught us all off guard. None of us could have anticipated the sadness and the loss that we feel. But it's real. Sometimes it's okay...we are happy and remember the good things. Other times it feels like relief can't come soon enough or in the right ways. Like we are forever broken as a result of what we've seen and had to do. Helplessness, guilt, sorrow...these emotions that can grab hold and take your breath away.

But at the same time, understanding and perspective are all around us. We are learning to accept God's will and His plan. That is the one area where I feel comfort and peace. I know that everything happens for a reason, according to God's plan. And I trust Him. I know that He loves me...all of us. I know that He will never give us more than we can handle. If He thinks I can handle this, then I can...I will. I will do MY duty.

Girl Scouts Everywhere!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I volunteered to be a co-leader of the girls' girl scout troop this year. It's something I always wanted to do. I was a girl scout, and I worked for the girl scouts as a young lass...you remember my days at Trefoil Raaa-nch, right? Anyway, I think it's a good organization that teaches young girls positive things to get them movin' in positive directions, make them feel good about themselves, and DOESN'T involve b-o-y-s!!

Any-hoo, we had a Bridging Ceremony for the 4th grade girls (Maryn's class) on Friday night. This is when the brownie girl scouts (1st-3rd grade) BRIDGE up to junior girl scouts (4th-6th). Lucky for us Tonican folk, we have plenty o' bridges to choose from. We found the prettiest one in town and had our little ceremony. It went well except for the part where I tried to teach "Make New Friends" as a round, and the girls looked at me like I was crazy...oh, and their parents too. No biggie, right?!?





Saturday was a service area event called "Tricks & Treats". A service area includes MANY troops from your community...in our case all of freakin' south-central Illinois!! The event was huge, chaotic, and not that organized. But the girls had fun, and that's all that matters, right? It doesn't really matter that mapquest had me end up in a field in the middle of nowhere instead of the campsite, right? It doesn't matter that the angry farmer who owned the field had a huge sign that said, "private property, no trespassing, or dogs will attack!", right??? It doesn't matter that we were an hour late, and I had angry parents calling me while I was driving around the middle of nowhere, right? Nah!!









What did matter was that the girls got to paint pumpkins, have s'mores round the campfire, see a magic show, pass off a scrapbooking badge, and play halloween games. All while wearing costumes and hangin' with their homies. That part was fun, and made great memories.

So what that it took 4 Tylenol and 34 ounces of diet pepsi to make my head stop spinning. Not important. Any-hoo, it put us in the festive fallish spirit, and we are stoked for HALLOWEEN!!

Tonight we have our regular monthly meeting...every third Monday. We are passing off a tennis badge. Random? Maybe, but a parent volunteered. One thing I've learned so far in my tenure is that when a parent volunteers for anything, you pounce. So tennis, it is!! I'll be getting my Serena Williams on tonight! Whoop-whoop.