Skype & Play

Before my parents left on their mission they made sure we had a computer-video-camera thing. I know that isn't a technical term. It says "logtech" on it, it points right at me as I sit here and type, and it makes it possible to "SKYPE" or call and conference talk/wave. I really like it.


And I like playing with the video options. This is from a call with Emma. Sam and I loved the colors and silly styles...and somehow I figured out how to save them to show you!

I am thankful for SKYPE. I am thankful for the great gift of communication it is for our geographically stretched out family!

Jane (Thankful for Pioneer Reprise)

Roxie has a Grandma Jane (8th head from left back row=baby), and a Great GREAT Grandma Jane (7th head from left back row, holding my mom!)...We named her after both.
She was a beautiful bride.
Had 8 children, and then was a very young widow. My Grandma Laura is the baby in this picture, Mom's mom.
On her 90th birthday. This is the great grandma I remember. Grey-haired, strong Scottish accent.
I am thankful she listened to the Mormon missionaries and had the courage to leave her family and come to America. Thank you, Great Grandma Jane!

Pioneers & Seminary

Today I am thankful for seminary. Most mornings at 5:05 am when the alarm blares I am thankful to be a teacher.

(Some mornings my eyes feel glued shut, and I struggle to stay upright as I review the lesson and re-read the sections I will be teaching.) John brings me a little bowl of granola mixed with vanilla yogurt to eat. I put on a skirt and hurry downstairs to our basement classroom. We sing a hymn. Pray. They answer a question each day and write in their seminary journal. I ask them to read scriptures, quotes, ask questions. Use object lessons. Occasional guest speakers. Breakfast on Fridays. Films that relate to the lessons. Some games. Some coloring. Lots of testifying.

This year's curriculum is The Doctrine & Covenants and Church History. It is easier to explain that I teach "Bible Study Class" to 14 teenagers. (Technically, Bible Study will be next year, as we do the Old Testament, and then New Testament in 2012 and Book of Mormon again in 2013, and it repeats.)

Every school morning we have class. No school, no seminary. Delays or cancellations cancel our class, too. Class starts at 5:55 am and ends at 6:45 am. What are you doing at that time of day? Do you know any teenagers that would get up that early to talk about religion?

They don't always want to talk. Some mornings I have some sleepers. They quietly zone out with their head on their folded arms. So they are being reverent. Listening? Maybe. Distracting? Only when they start snoring.

I am thankful for the wonderful things I have learned as I prepare to teach. I am thankful for good students. Thankful for their participation. For their sweetness. For their questions. For their coming to class.

In my class I have a descendant of this man, Parley P. Pratt.
This is William Smith, on of the younger brothers of Joseph Smith, Jr.
And posing here are 10 of Brigham Young's oldest daughters.

July 24 1897 group photo of all the pioneers still alive that Pioneer Day celebration (one of my favorite holidays!).

Might

I am thankful for the blessing of might. To have influence. To be influenced for good. And I am acknowledging the power of bad might--it's all part of the plan. We can choose. We have agency. I wish it were easier to impress on our children that what they do now matters. They are building the character of whom they will be as adults.
Yesterday I had a few minutes before I left for work. I was blog reading, and found a crocheted edge wool felt flower.
I wanted to see what it looked like.
And made it in half an hour. Sometimes a good example is enough.

Deadlines

Yes, I am thankful for schedules, deadlines, time frames that encourage participation, concentration, application. It helps me prioritize when I have deadlines.

This quilt was made because of a "So You Think You Can Quilt" deadline (but it didn't have to be quilted) and then finished due to a different group deadline- Flying Geese Quilt Guild show.

Company coming creates a deadline. Returning college kids, another deadline.

I get lots of things done, just in time. Deadlines are reassuring, helping me know when something needs to happen. How much time I can spare until the crunch.

I just wish deadlines had another name. Alive-Lines. Due date. Goal. No-more-stalling day.

Reunions/Gatherings

We hadn't seen Maxwell for 4 days while he was on tour. The Maryland State Boychoir had a welcome home concert. Grandma Sandy, Grandpa John, and Great Grandma Billie met us there.Brother John and Sister Jen came up from VA to hear Max sing.
And to eat.
And talk. And hug.

I am thankful my children know most of their cousins, enough to be friends and have fun together. I am thankful for re-meetings, reminders, re-loving.

Thrift Stores

I should have taken a before picture--this is the after. A wired wooden and brass chandelier marked for $6.50 pink tag and pink tags were 50% off. A can of primer and one of pink spray paint changed it. Flickering battery tea-lights balanced on the ends. I originally had thought about painting it black and using glow-in-the-dark paint to use as a Halloween decoration for our trunk or treat. It is still on the porch, and very pink and it does GLOW! Yes, I am that neighbor.

I think of all the great bargains, beautiful things I have found at thrift stores. I love the hunt. The treasure that was someone else's trash. I think of it as a way to recycle.

Thank you, to all the thrift store contributors!