Thanksgiving is over..............and Christmas has begun………….
For Thanksgiving, the five members of our family still living in Utah drove to Las Vegas in the five-passenger Acura. It was a test of sorts. If we made it to Las Vegas and back without killing each other, we would feel confident that we could survive without a van; if we killed each other then our numbers would be reduced and we would not need a van. Thankfully we survived the trip without bloodshed, our numbers were not reduced and our worries about having to buy another van were eliminated.
Worries were eliminated and relationships were augmented. Not only did we discover we still liked each other when confined in a small space together (the car), we learned (actually it was not a great surprise) that we love being in crowded conditions with extended family. My brother, Blaine, and his family of seven, along with our family of five, joined Marjorie’s family of eight in her four bedroom home. We were close in many ways, all of them good.
· Good was the dinner that Marjorie cooked (GREAT, actually!)
· Good was the fact that I did not do any cooking (GREAT, actually!)
· Good were the dozens of pomegranates we picked from their tree and ate unabashedly. YUM!
· Good (for Miles) was the fact that we (not me actually) watched multiple football games. (Sadly one of them was not a Green Bay game.)
· Good were the sales at Kohl’s where both girls got boots. (I find it rather ironic that we purchase winter footwear in Las Vegas....)
· Good was the fact that I strained my hamstring in our annual soccer game, instead of pulling it. (Being 50 is not an easy thing!)
· Good was the fact that Blaine did not do any take-downs during our basketball game. (Everyone wants to be on Blaine’s team; playing against him can be painful.)
· Good were the bargains we found at garage sales on Saturday. (Garage sales season lasts all year long in Las Vegas.)
· Good was the fact that we ate on white glass plates and clear glass crystal goblets and none of the kids (or the adults) broke any. (AMAZING, actually!)
· Good was the fact that once again—it happens every year—someone in the store, referring to me, said to Marjorie, “And this is your mother, right?” (Not so good, actually!!)
We left Las Vegas Saturday evening and arrived home at 2:37 a.m. Sunday to find everything good here as well. (Thank you, Holly, for taking care of our critters!)
Thanksgiving passed quickly and, just as quickly, Christmas is upon us. If you wish (….and I highly encourage you to so wish….) to send a Christmas card or package to Elder Hislop (a.k.a. Chick) now is the time. We’ve been asked to have all Christmas mailings to the mission home by December 15th. If you are using the US Postal Service, the address is PO Box 13390, Mill Creek, WA 98082. If you are using FedEx or UPS, the address is 16124 35th Ave SE, Mill Creek, WA 98012. UPS requires a phone number which is 1-425-338-5564. Thanks!
Speaking of Elder Hislop (writing actually….), he seems to be good too. His companion is a relative greeny as well—he has been in the mission field only 4.5 months—and they seem to be tearing it up. Chick’s very short letters are full of phrases like “This is so exciting” and “We are working hard”.
Getting a Christmas tree can be hard work (shopping, even for Christmas trees, can be heinous hard work!) but it is hardly work when one gets to go into the mountains and cut one’s own. Saturday we took our annual pilgrimage to Park City where, thanks to the Osguthorpe graciousness, we “worked” the mountain until we found the perfect-for-us tree. Knee-high snow, a snowshoe hare sighting, a high centered dog (knee high snow for me is over-the-head snow for Zorro), a ride on the Razor, crisp air, blue sky……life was good.
Life is good,
Life is good. I will agree with my last statement. However I am going to disagree with my first statement. Thanksgiving is not over and Christmas not begun……
Christmas is a season of thanksgiving. I am so thankful, in this season, for friends, for family, and, especially for Jesus Christ, who was the first gift, God’s gift to us that made all the other things for which we are grateful possible.
And Christmas has not begun because it has no beginning and no end. The gift of Christmas, Christ, does not come only between Halloween (sometimes earlier….) and December 25th. Christ is our all-season Savior.
May your Thanksgiving never end and may Christmas be in your life forever!
Love,
Teresa
For Thanksgiving, the five members of our family still living in Utah drove to Las Vegas in the five-passenger Acura. It was a test of sorts. If we made it to Las Vegas and back without killing each other, we would feel confident that we could survive without a van; if we killed each other then our numbers would be reduced and we would not need a van. Thankfully we survived the trip without bloodshed, our numbers were not reduced and our worries about having to buy another van were eliminated.
Worries were eliminated and relationships were augmented. Not only did we discover we still liked each other when confined in a small space together (the car), we learned (actually it was not a great surprise) that we love being in crowded conditions with extended family. My brother, Blaine, and his family of seven, along with our family of five, joined Marjorie’s family of eight in her four bedroom home. We were close in many ways, all of them good.
· Good was the dinner that Marjorie cooked (GREAT, actually!)
· Good was the fact that I did not do any cooking (GREAT, actually!)
· Good were the dozens of pomegranates we picked from their tree and ate unabashedly. YUM!
· Good (for Miles) was the fact that we (not me actually) watched multiple football games. (Sadly one of them was not a Green Bay game.)
· Good were the sales at Kohl’s where both girls got boots. (I find it rather ironic that we purchase winter footwear in Las Vegas....)
· Good was the fact that I strained my hamstring in our annual soccer game, instead of pulling it. (Being 50 is not an easy thing!)
· Good was the fact that Blaine did not do any take-downs during our basketball game. (Everyone wants to be on Blaine’s team; playing against him can be painful.)
· Good were the bargains we found at garage sales on Saturday. (Garage sales season lasts all year long in Las Vegas.)
· Good was the fact that we ate on white glass plates and clear glass crystal goblets and none of the kids (or the adults) broke any. (AMAZING, actually!)
· Good was the fact that once again—it happens every year—someone in the store, referring to me, said to Marjorie, “And this is your mother, right?” (Not so good, actually!!)
We left Las Vegas Saturday evening and arrived home at 2:37 a.m. Sunday to find everything good here as well. (Thank you, Holly, for taking care of our critters!)
Thanksgiving passed quickly and, just as quickly, Christmas is upon us. If you wish (….and I highly encourage you to so wish….) to send a Christmas card or package to Elder Hislop (a.k.a. Chick) now is the time. We’ve been asked to have all Christmas mailings to the mission home by December 15th. If you are using the US Postal Service, the address is PO Box 13390, Mill Creek, WA 98082. If you are using FedEx or UPS, the address is 16124 35th Ave SE, Mill Creek, WA 98012. UPS requires a phone number which is 1-425-338-5564. Thanks!
Speaking of Elder Hislop (writing actually….), he seems to be good too. His companion is a relative greeny as well—he has been in the mission field only 4.5 months—and they seem to be tearing it up. Chick’s very short letters are full of phrases like “This is so exciting” and “We are working hard”.
Getting a Christmas tree can be hard work (shopping, even for Christmas trees, can be heinous hard work!) but it is hardly work when one gets to go into the mountains and cut one’s own. Saturday we took our annual pilgrimage to Park City where, thanks to the Osguthorpe graciousness, we “worked” the mountain until we found the perfect-for-us tree. Knee-high snow, a snowshoe hare sighting, a high centered dog (knee high snow for me is over-the-head snow for Zorro), a ride on the Razor, crisp air, blue sky……life was good.
Life is good,
Life is good. I will agree with my last statement. However I am going to disagree with my first statement. Thanksgiving is not over and Christmas not begun……
Christmas is a season of thanksgiving. I am so thankful, in this season, for friends, for family, and, especially for Jesus Christ, who was the first gift, God’s gift to us that made all the other things for which we are grateful possible.
And Christmas has not begun because it has no beginning and no end. The gift of Christmas, Christ, does not come only between Halloween (sometimes earlier….) and December 25th. Christ is our all-season Savior.
May your Thanksgiving never end and may Christmas be in your life forever!
Love,
Teresa
 Look Mom! No broken dishes! |  Pomegranates....Home grown, home picked, and home devoured! |  Blow fish or boy? Or both??? |
 ...Still no broken dishes.... |  ...and no broken fingers either! |
Family brain dead togetherness!
 Blaine makes the dishes.... |  ....and Cathy washes the;m. |
 Turkey stable...  Turkey going.....  Cute turkey, cuter girl!   Artist at work |  Turkey on stable  ...GONE!!  Lance is thinking "Eek I am married to a 50 year old!" |  Turkey in stable  ....going......  Somtimes we were a LITTLE BEHIND.....  ...but mostly we were aHEAD. |
Grace and Sallie's 40 ft tree on the Razor
 "Go faster!!" |  Razor riding buddies  The Christmas tree crew |
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