Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving this year was a blast.  We spent it (along with the other days I had off) as a family hanging out together.  Dinner was of the traditional fare: turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole (more on this below), cranberry sauce, rolls, frog-eye salad (also more on this below), along with 3 kinds of pie.  Our close friends, Heath and Nicole and their two wonderful kids came over to help us devour the feast.  Despite our attempt to keep the meal somewhat subdued by beginning with each of us sharing what we were thankful for, at the end of the night, some of us (I'm looking at you, kids) were completely incapable of taking a decent picture.

Games were played, rug rats were chased, and laughs were had.  I was reminded once again how blessed we are to have friends good enough to consider as family.

*For those of you who may not know what frog-eye salad is, I'll tell you.  Frog-eye salad is a fruit pasta dish made with Acini de Pepe, pineapple, mandarin oranges, peaches, etc... (basically whatever kind of fruit you like, but the pineapple is important).  It is something I had never heard of until I married Sarah but her family has it every year at least at Thanksgiving and often at Christmas as well.  If you're interested, I can probably get you the recipe.

*As far as the green bean casserole goes, we have perfected the dish this year.  For all our lives, both my wife and I have been "traditional" green bean casserole people.  You make it with green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, pepper, and fried onions.  This year, we added something and it revolutionized this dish.  Drumroll please............

Crumbled Bacon.

Yes, for all those out there who already know the power of bacon, this is probably not a surprise.  We had never thought of it, however, and it changed this dish for us forever.  We will never be making it without bacon again if we can help it.  It.  Is.  THAT.  Good.

Anyway, we are thankful for all of you and hope that this past year has given you much for which to be thankful and that you are able to realize as we do that all those blessings come from Him to whom we give thanks.

- Josh                                         

Texas Snow

So when you think of Texas and weather you might endure there, one doesn't really come to the conclusion of the word SNOW. Well on rare occasions it gets cold enough for the wonderful beauty of snow to grace our presence right here in west Texas.

When snow comes, one must stop all things and go out to play in it before it melts away (which it usually does within hours).

It may not look like much, but to us it is. We take what we are given and love it. 

So the kids started out in the backyard and really wanted to make a snowman this year because we really haven't been able to since we moved to Texas.

Since we didn't have enough snow in the backyard we brought our starting forms of a snowman to the front yard to finish the work on good ole Frosty.

Now our Frosty may not be very big for those of you who have ever built a snowman before, but we sure had fun getting every bit of snow we could to make ours.

What snow man is not complete without a hat, scarf, eyes and carrot nose?  Although we didn't have any carrots at the time, I did have a bag of vegi straws (which are chip like, and have a variety of vegetable flavors but are in the shape of a straw). So I gave the kids a carrot flavored straw and they used it for Frosty's nose. We decided to leave our Frosty in the backyard, which we thought would keep it safe.  Well...we were wrong. Within seconds, our lovely dog Shadow smelled the food on its face and ate poor Frosty's nose.

The kids had a blast and really enjoyed having their own backyard to play in.....especially when it snows!!

- Sarah                                  
 

Modern-Day Miracles

I have, for all intents and purposes, been a member of the church all of my life. I have done all of the standard activities including, but not limited to: church meetings, temple trips, youth conference, general conference, meetings with General Authorities, and more. I saw something today, however, that I have never seen personally before.

My daughter and I have been practicing for over a month to sing a duet in Sacrament Meeting at church. The song we chose to sing is the primary song, "A Child's Prayer". Sung as a duet, it is a conversation between a Child and her parent. The child asks if Heavenly Father actually hears and answers prayer, and the parent, reassures the child that they are indeed heard and that children are so precious to Him.

We got up to sing. We were prepared, we had practiced, and if I might say so without sounding too proud, we sounded pretty good. The song started, and as my daughter sang her part, her breath gave out to nervousness and her voice failed. She was so embarrassed. The song stopped. I held her. She ran off the stand in embarrassment. My wife and I followed her out.

What happened next was the most amazing thing I believe I have ever witnessed personally. A group of 6 young women, got up, essentially as one, and went out after her to comfort their sister who was hurting. These young women then proceeded to convince her to get back up and sing and so that she wouldn't feel alone, they would sing with her (even though they had not practiced and were not prepared). At this point, I was also in tears and was concerned that I would not be able to sing my part of the duet. My wife came and sang my part of the duet with me (so I wouldn't be alone - thank you, honey). I am no professional singer, and neither are these girls (though, I must say that my daughter has talents that lie in that direction). There are not words to describe the sound that came from the pulpit this morning, but I can authoritatively say that it was the single most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard in my life.

I am reminded of a scripture in the Book of Mormon. We covenant with God at the time of our baptism to "bear one another's burdens", "mourn with those who mourn" and "comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:8-9). I saw that in action today. I have never seen such a beautiful group of young women in all my life. Today, they were an example of the boundless mercy of the Savior. They taught a young woman that she was valuable and loved. They taught me that even with all the evil influences arrayed against those who wish to follow the Savior in today's world, that there are still some who are willing to raise youth that are powerful pillars of good.

I am blessed beyond measure to associate with these young women and their families. I am grateful for the opportunity that my daughter has to associate with them, to learn from them, to be strengthened by them, and to share HER strength with them.

I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord that remind me as a father that the efforts that we make to teach our children do NOT fall on deaf ears, but that there are miracles that happen even today.

- Josh