Boston Baked Boltons

Yes, I delayed getting my newsletter stuff in and it is my fault that the newsletter is due. I just kept waiting for better stuff to write about, but unfortunately, nothing novel was happening in our lives, just the same old diary stuff: get up, go to school, do homework, practice musical instruments, eat, go to sleep, etc.

Siovhan got into the BYU Broadcast Journalism Program. She is currently studying hard for the tests that come before finals. She was laid off at Trade Select and hasn’t decided if that was a blessing or trial. She wants to be available to work at KBYU if given the opportunity.

Braden made it on the High Honor Roll. It has been something he worked hard for. He tried out for the Milford High Orchestra on Monday and will find out later today if he did well enough to become a member. He loves Geometry and tries to make his mom crazy by making all things number and angle related. The show NUMB3RS is his favorite show. He is still the Troop’s Senior Patrol Leader.

Ben is doing well in school. He loves being an eighth grader. He has become even more social than in past years. His dad frequently reminds him that the days are not revolving around him, that there are other family members with needs and wants. Ben often tells him that the sooner that we all realize it is all about him, the much better off our lives will be. (Of course he says that with a smile, but we know he means it!) He is still taking guitar lessons and we have seen some great improvement.

Mikaela is a smart girl, but she is very much like her dad: she loves to be outside and hates doing homework. She has never had a teacher who didn’t love her, and this teacher is no exception. The teacher loves to tease Mikaela and Mikaela doesn’t always realize that she is being teased her other teachers were so serious. She is currently learning how to play the violin and loves to practice. Did you get that? She LOVES to practice!

I am still doing the Ward Missionary/Young Women President calling. We have reactivated a member who hasn’t been to church in over  four years. She has had a really tough life. She is so receptive to what we have to teach. When the missionaries teach a lesson or when we teach her, she is like a sponge. I have not seen that much desire to learn and to change in a person before. It is miraculous! I feel depressed

when we don’t have lessons to teach. I often ask the missionaries for their input and love being taught by these wonderful young men, who seem so much wiser than this forty-plus woman.

Howard has a busy schedule for December. He will be gone most of the month. He is looking forward to his trip though. He will be in Australia, Japan, Brazil and China. It will be his first trip to China and he had to go through the process of getting a new passport and a

visitor’s visa to China, just for this trip. To be allowed into China, you have to have more than six months left on your passport (actually a lot of the Orient is changing to this rule). Howard had about three months left on his passport, therefore he had to apply for a new one and he only had about three weeks to get all the paperwork done. We are waiting for his passport to come. He leaves on the 28th of November, so it is getting close to the wire. Howard flew out to Utah to spend a few days with Siovhan. He will fly back on Thanksgiving Day. Siovhan will take him to the airport and will then drive to Nephi for the turkey dinner.

We hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! We love you all!

The Fantastic Five

Hi, we made it home just fine. The kids slept the last half of the trip, and it was VERY quiet in the car. It was a nice drive.

We have a lot to be thankful for. I sure do. And I know you feel the same. My daughter is still alive and we have the most beautiful g-kids in the world. You just have more than I do.

This is the messy St. George Trauntveins. I wish I had better news, but Bree is back in re-hab. This time she is definitely staying for 90 days and perhaps longer. The treatment facility she is in now has agreed to keep her until she is ready, meaning until she can handle the addiction. Since they are not dependent on insurance, they have to deal with David or I, her mom. I basically told them not to take her if they weren't going to keep her. They agreed to keep her for as long as needed. She wants to be there, and she desperately wants help. So, we will wait and see.

David and I are taking care of the kids. All of us miss her terribly.

The kids are doing great. Erin is at the top of her class, and Donovin wants to be there so bad he can taste it. They are the reason it is so important to keep up the struggle. Erin is going to make pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving dinner. Four inch pies. Donovin just wants to be involved, preferably eating. David has been taking them shooting the last two weekends. Erin is learning to shoot with her great-grandmother's single shot 22 rifle. She is loving it and has actually hit what she was shooting at. Donovin is right behind her. He hasn't hit anything yet (at least not what he was aiming at). They have also started golfing, naturally, since Dad is so good at it. David says Erin is a natural, and Donovin just loves it. It sure is awful being two years behind, but he tries so hard. He will pass her by soon enough. 

I am keeping house and cooking, and laundry and just loving my grandkids. I will sure be glad when Mom gets back and takes over. We are getting a taste of what life is like without all the stress and the kids are loving it. We will all know what to shoot for when Bree gets home. 

We greatly appreciate any and all prayers.

Love Barbara

The Pitts Down in Pittsville

Hi!

We have all been worried for quite some now that my Mom had Alzheimer’s. We found out thankfully, last Thurs. that it isn't! But she has had some mini strokes. Her neurologist put her on a medication to help ward off the " big one". She only has a 4% chance, with the meds now that it will happen sometime in the next ten years. That is a LOT better news than we had expected. I was thinking it was Alzheimer’s. Her memory is severely affected, though. She can no longer remember things and she isn't able to do what used to do. I miss so many things. But I am so happy that we found out what was wrong and she is finally getting the medication that she needs.

My headaches have been really bad, so I apologize for this email being sent so late.

We hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will be thinking of you and missing you all!

*HUGS*

Love, Kim, Cassie, Kayla and Robbie

New England Squash Pie

(Makes 10" deep dish pie)

This recipe is one of many that can be found in "Thanksgiving by the (Cook) Book" created by the Pilgrim Society and available through The Pilgrim Hall Museum located in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Ingredients

2 cups strained squash

1-cup brown sugar

1-teaspoon cinnamon

1/2-teaspoon ginger

Salt to taste

3 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2-cup cream

Pie shell for a 10" deep-dish pie

Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add sugar and seasonings to squash, mix, and beat well. Beat the eggs slightly, add milk and cream, beat well. Add milk mixture slowly to squash mixture, beating gently to combine well. Pour filling into the shell, being careful not to overfill. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake for 40 minutes until a knife inserted slightly off center comes out clean. NOTE: "One Pie" brand squash works well, and pumpkin may be substituted.

The Magnificent Seven

Brandon is still working hard on rechartering all the scout troops in our district. He is swamped with work and his boss keeps him very busy. He finally got to have an enjoyable evening thanks to David who sent Brandon and Kyle two Jazz tickets that he could not use because he had to work. The game was fantastic (Jazz vs. Suns) and the debt owed to David increased. (Brandon still owed him for the very long golf game David patiently endured on Labor Day because two 11 year-old boys wanted to go too.)

I am finally finished with the solicitation for murder trial. Sentencing was on November 16th, and this time my name was in the newspapers because my boss couldn't go. I am also done feeding all 30 of the teachers lunch for SEPs at school. (I made pulled pork, salad, rolls, etc.) I am getting increasingly busy in scouts with awards and advancements (there are a lot of meetings in scouts). Work is also increasing and my first rape trial will be December 6th. Tomorrow I am hosting the ward playgroup because I am a homeowner. I am still busing all five of the children everywhere.

Alyssa is preparing for Christmas dance shows and choir concerts. She is still Beehive Pres. and is busy planning activities and attending meetings. She had an overnight birthday party for her and her best friends which was a lot of fun for them (but not for me who had to do creative cooking to suit Alyssa's fancy).

Kyle has had a busy few weeks. He did the merit badge pow-wow at BYU and there is a lot of work that has to be done in between the classes. He also was the only youth speaker at the Aaronic Priesthood Preview (the Stake Pres. chose him probably because he knows Brandon from the high council). He worked a long time getting ready for that. Then he accompanied the primary in singing a song for the primary program on Sunday. That was really stressful for him and me. He did really well. He is growing up fast.

Megan is still really busy with ballroom dance, violin, choir, piano, math, and being a social butterfly. She is getting ready for Christmas shows as well. And now she is going to be in the advanced thinking class again, which I haven't really figured out; it seems like a lot of Mensa-ish logic games. She also accompanied the primary during the primary program, without one mistake. I admire people who can play songs that people are singing to, it is more difficult than just playing on one's own. She is so short that it was hard to see her over the people in front of us, it almost looked like the piano was playing itself.

Matthew has thoroughly enjoyed preparing for Thanksgiving and Halloween. It seems like everything is new to him now that he is experiencing holidays in school. He has been placed in the advanced reading group in kindergarten, which he is enjoying. He wants to read the scriptures at night like the big kids without any help, so he is motivated to learn to read faster than they were. He has a new "best friend" each week, which is just like him.

Rachel is a lot of fun. She has started bringing us random things and a lot of them. For example, while I talked to mom tonight, she brought me all of the DVDs out of the family room, one at a time. She will bring Brandon books and papers (all one at a time) and she is so proud of herself for doing it. I can't figure it out. She is getting molars, so she is quite miserable lately. While I was volunteering at school today calling the children's homes that were absent, she dove off the couch so in the background of the message there is a sudden blood curdling yell. I am sure they will think it is a prank call. Funny girl.

The Runnin’ Utes

From the Layton Trauntveins

We’re all here a doing well. Sorina is continuing to make us smile and laugh and awe at her abilities on a daily basis. She loves her cousins, her friends, her grandparents, her pets and well everyone. He daddy went camping with Dane and didn’t take her (oh, the horror!), so the next night they camped out together in the basement. He gave her the choice of inside in the tent or outside in the tent and she chose inside (lucky for dad, since it was raining).

Toren is back in school and enjoying his basketball season. He is also a Wolf in Scouts. He had nice birthday and is hooked on his games: Lego Star Wars II and Star Wars Battlefront II. His baptism will be on Saturday, December 2nd at 5:30 pm in our stake building (same as always).

Dane is also back in school and enjoying Scouts. He received his Second Class, Tenderfoot and First Class Ranks a few weeks and ago and he’s spent the last three weekends working on merit badges. He’s in his schools choir and has his performance on December 11th at 2:30 and 7:00pm. He also has his D.A.R.E. graduation on Monday, November 20th.

Brigitta is working very hard in school. She’s enjoying her position in Student Council and that is also keeping her busy. She helped with the Halloween Dance. She is also enjoying her drama class and is looking forward to her birthday in January and the possibility of getting her learner’s permit.

Shawn is busy with Scouts and work and life. Kimberly is also busy with Scouts and work and carpooling and life in general. We are all looking forward to the holiday season and a little time off to enjoy more family time.

Love,

Shawn, Kimberly, Brigitta, Dane, Toren and Sorina

The Buzzn’ Joneses

We have had quite a month. 

The girls have been sick. Christene had the croup and Mary had an ear infection. In spite of that, they are still learning at a rapid rate. Mary has learned how to make Christene laugh. They both have fun doing that. Christene thinks Mary is the greatest. Christene has learned how to turn over and also how to push herself around in a circle.

Mary started pushing kids younger than she was. We scolded her but she kept doing it. We were at Grandma’s while Rachel was there and she pushed Rachel down. Then Rachel didn’t want to have anything to do with her. After a few minutes, Mary started doing nice things for Rachel. We noted that, Grandma and Julie, and complimented her. She said, “Aren’t you excited!” Well, yes, we were.

Jim has been busy with the bees and Julie has been being mom and cub master. Scouts sure do take a lot of time and planning!

Thanks to all of you family members who have helped with the bees. We do appreciate all you do. Jim’s mom came for a few days and helped with the extracting. We were sad to see her go when she left on Saturday.

Jim’s mom came for a few days and helped with the extracting. We were sad to see her go when she left on Saturday.

We won’t be going to Idaho for Thanksgiving this year. Jim can’t spare that much time away from the bees.

Rocky Mountain “Hi!”

Kirsten, Jared, Whitney, Emaree and Ryan all wish you a happy Thanksgiving. 

We will be out-of-state (Colorado) with Jared’s family for the holiday and a few extra days for a good visit.

The girls are healthy and happy. 

Ryan is doing quite well. 

Thanks for all your prayers, phone calls and e-mails. 

We love you all.

The Butcher, the Baker, and the Mammograph Taker

Life has been about the same (chaotic).

The boys finished flag football so maybe things will slow down; yeah right. We did have the fortune/misfortune of buying a new car recently. Chili gave up the ghost. Big billowing clouds of smoke are never a good thing when you see them coming from your vehicle. Putting $1500 into a 23 year old car just didn't seem like the best thing to do. My sister Jamie's father-in-law buys cars off the auction, so I headed to Vegas to pick up a car. We got a cute little Hyundai commuter car. It's been fun!

Jason is still doing well in school and keeping busy with student council. He also had an opportunity to sing with a small group of children that sang along with our ward choir for a thanksgiving medley.

David is doing better with his reading lately. He's decided he really likes the Goosebumps books, although Mom can't figure out why. He did a great job with his part in the Primary program. He continues to love to draw and is pretty artistic.

Maddie is having tons of fun stamping with mom. She made mom a card that said, "Mom, you make me feel funny inside". I'm not exactly sure what that means and if it's a compliment or not. She has also made cards for Alyssa, Megan, and Aunt AnnMarie, as well as all of her friends in the neighborhood.

AJ stole the show at the primary program. He sat in the front pews with the Sunbeams and sang right out. He LOVES to sing! The thing is as loud as he sang he wasn't screaming and he was on key. On one song he held the last note out super long. It was a little embarrassing, as I looked around and everyone was looking at him and me and chuckling, but it was also just so darn cute. The choir director told me I was just getting him ready for her.

Eric has a new calling in our new ward; ward newsletter editor. This is a great calling for him since he works most Sundays. He is still plugging away on the basement. It's a slow process.

I am in my busiest time of the year as everyone races to get their preventative medicine done before the end of the year and insurance changes, or they lose their flex spending money or the fact that they already have met their deductible. I've ended up giving up several days off in order to appease the surgeons who need needle localizations for surgeries. Ugh! Oh well, it's only temporary. In January it will slow down and I can start preparing for my FDA inspection followed by my ACR accreditation. Maybe I don't really want January to come. I guess we'll just keep plugging away.

The Old Folks at Home

November is the thankful month. At least, it is the one when most of us gather the family around and give thanks for our blessings. I have many to be grateful for and I want to acknowledge that I do.

Mary and family counted blessings as part of Family Home Evening on Sunday. We all drew pictures of things we were thankful “happy” for on big colored-paper leaves. Mary, of course, was glad for the usual things children are grateful for: parents, cousins, aunts and uncles, Christene, grandparents, friends and toys. Grandpa was thankful for the day of Thanksgiving and all of his family. He drew a picture of his family, each one, gathered around a huge table with a turkey in the center. Jim and Julie were thankful for each other, home, children and temples. Jim was grateful that he was strong and could work. We said that Christene was thankful when Mary was soft with her, which I am certain is true. I was grateful for many things: hands and feet that work, eyes that see and ears that hear, a nose that can smell the wonders around, the temple, scriptures and, most of all, family. That should be written, FAMILY!

During this time of harvest and thanksgiving, I like to pause and reflect. I want you to know that even when I seem grumpy I am still grateful for daily life. I so enjoy sitting in the sunshine, looking at the beauty surrounding me and just enjoying being. I also want you all to know that there are many blessings that are mine.

I am thankful that Leonard and I are married (and have been for 45 years) and that we have a family of eight children that has expanded to 16. I love each family member and each grandchild so much that my heart swells just being near them. I like to watch the grandchildren and enjoy the things they say and do. I am grateful for each family member’s individual talents and for the way they enrich my life. I’m thankful to live in a land where freedom allows worship, learning and dreams. I’m thankful for the seasons, the flowers, plants and songs of birds. I appreciate sunshine and rain. (I am still working on snow.) I’m thankful we own a car for transportation, that I have comfortable clothing, and nutritious food. I’m thankful for my home. I actually love this house for its memories of all my children, grandchildren and loved ones enclosed inside its walls. 

I’m thankful for my Grandmother Smith, my parents and for wise teachings. I am thankful for special cousins, sisters, aunts and uncles and the joy of being connected to a family while I was a child. I’m thankful for the generosity and warmth of my inlaws. I’m thankful that I can read. I am thankful that I can write. I am thankful for those who have gone before me in the long line of my heritage. I am thankful that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am thankful for the temple and the opportunity we have for eternal families. I am grateful for my testimony that Jesus Christ lives and that he died so that I might live again. 

I am thankful for good neighbors and kind friends. Basically, I suppose, I just have a full heart—full of love for all of you. I won’t pretend that we are a family without problems. We each have our own. For example, I think Dad and I sometimes feel our age. I was walking down the hall the other day and told Dad I didn’t know what sounded worse, my hip or my squeaking shoes. It was a tossup I think. We are, however, proud that each of you are doing the best with the circumstances you were given. You have all grown and, as we have noted before, we are so happy that each one of you loves the other. That is quite an accomplis hment on each of your parts. Remember, I was there when you were small and I wondered if any of you were going to live to adulthood. I think I should also be thankful that you all did.


Happy Thanksgiving!

How to Observe Thanksgiving

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;

Count on God instead of yourself.

~~Author Unknown~

We were able to visit Bree at her treatment facility in Mt. Pleasant. She seems to be doing quite well. She will be in the facility for 90 days all told. I can’t remember how many have gone past. It was a group meeting and was very informative. There were a lot of success stories there from people who came back to the meeting (something like AA). 


We had Erin and Donovin with us for a few days because Erin did not have school, (Erin’s school was having parent-teacher conferences.) so they were able to go to the meeting with us. Barbara met us there and came to Nephi afterward and slept overnight and headed home so Erin could be there in time for dancing lessons. Monday we took Erin and Donovin up to Provo and they played with the Howard kids. We also went to the Dinosaur museum and the natural history museum. During the week, it was also good to spend time with Rachel, Mary, Christene and A.J. We all had fun together. Mary didn’t like playing in the raked leaves but the others did. Donovin helped Grandpa load them into the back of the lawn mower trailer and take them to the garden after they were done playing.

David was quite happy that Todd stopped by to visit. Todd took David and his family to dinner while Todd was on a business trip in Las Vegas. Todd took time to drive to St. George and also to buy the DVD, “Cars” for the kids. They were still talking about it while they were here.

Jim and Dad have worked on the honey project. Thanks to David, Shawn, Brandon and Eric for the time they devoted (and continue) to devote to extracting this year’s crop of honey and to making the barn work so that honey could be extracted there. I know Jim and Julie will always appreciate the work you all have done. Jim’s mom came down and spent a week helping him with the extracting. Remember, she is a beekeeper’s daughter.

Dad almost has his shed done. He has worked on it all day today. He is now working on the doors. Now maybe he will have time to finish the downstairs bathroom. The shed needed to be done before the winter sets in and the bathroom walls can be finished after winter sets in, whatever that means.

Our Relief Society has been coloring “A, B, C” book pages to be used in teaching the reading of English. I took on five books and then I thought that I would never get done. I FINALLY did and turned them in. Next time I will be less ambitious.

We enjoyed Halloween here in Nephi. Julie, because of scouts, had to man a booth at the ward trunk or treat party. So I went with her and helped Mary have fun. The other two wards in our chapel had the trunk-or-treat party outside so LHT took care of that. He ran out of candy and had to run and get more. You should have seen the candy that I had bought for the party. It was hard to believe that it could all be gone.

Dad and I still think a monthly family home evening would be a great thing to do but also a difficult one because of logistics and time involvement problems.

1. Shawn and family live in Layton, David and family live in St. George. That represents three hours either way.

2. We don't leave the temple on Saturday until 5:30 or 6 p.m. Monday night means that everyone has to travel late. On Sunday, the various wards meet at different times which makes scheduling difficult, if not impossible.

3. Most nights there are soccer games, football (or sport of the season) and dancing lessons, scouts, young men and young women, church duties, school activities, work. Jim and Julie include us in their home evening from time to time. Jim does work late most nights. (AnnMarie says that they hold their Family Night on Sunday because they are too busy to do it any other day.) We are fearful that such a project would end up being that Dad and I would have a home evening, most times, by ourselves. We do that.

4. Some of our family lives far, far away. A family in Kirsten’s ward, to quote her, "teleconferences on Chat rooms (group IMing or instant messaging, might work) for FHE once a week (1/2 of their kids are at BYU, some at BYU Idaho and some home). Also, remember with sacrifice comes blessings. We can all give up some time. We all have computers and Internet access now, why don't we find some way of gathering around for 20 minutes on a Sunday or Monday night and share that love. Just an idea.”

Instant messaging, often shortened to simply "IM" or "IMing," is the exchange of text messages through a software application in real-time. Instant messaging differs from ordinary e-mail in the immediacy of the message exchange and also makes a continued exchange simpler than sending e-mail back and forth. Most exchanges are textonly, though popular services, now allow voice messaging, file sharing and even video chat when both users have cameras. For IMing to work, both users must be online at the same time. It is possible for two or more people to have a real-time online conversation by IMing each other back and forth. 

AnnMarie responded that she had safety issues with chat rooms and did not want any of the children of the family to ever be “on camera” because of her training that “perps” can gain access and target future victims. David said he would be willing to try for a once a month meeting; it would depend on the night selected. It would be possible to just outline a family home evening and have everyone do the same lesson the same night. Email would also work, I suppose. I just don’t know.

We asked, earlier, what everyone thought. We only got a few answers. If you decide you want to try, Mom can continue her pre-life agreement to be the chief nag of the LHT family and add another thing to nag about to the list.

We love you all!

Recipes of the Month

Harvest Blessing Snack

Barbara E. shares this snack mix and the reason behind each ingredient.

Materials Needed:

2 cups Bugles Brand Corn Snacks

2 cups Pretzels

1 cup Candy corn and/or Corn Nuts

Brand Snack

1 cup Dried or Candy Fruits

1-cup Peanuts and/or Sunflower Seeds

Instructions:

("Make a card with these descriptions: Bugles Brand Corn Snacks - represents a cornucopia, a horn of plenty; Pretzels - represents arms folded in thanks and prayer; Candy Corn and/or Corn Nuts Brand Snack - during the first Winter, the pilgrims were each allotted only 5 kernels of corn per day because food was so scarce; Dried or Candy Fruits - Thanksgiving is the celebration of the harvest; Peanuts and/or Sunflower Seeds- seeds represent the potential of a bounteous harvest for the next season if they are planted and well tended.) In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Make this mix as a family and eat while discussing each ingredient and how it relates to Thanksgiving.

Mary's Harvest Muffins

Recipe submitted by Betsy Parks at the Cranberry World Visitors Center;

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4-cup butter or Margarine

1/4-teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1/2 cup CITRUS REFRESHERS cranberry orange juice drink

2 cups OCEAN SPRAY Fresh or Frozen Cranberries, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease muffin tins. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter together in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add this alternately with the juice drink to the butter mixture. Stir in cranberries and spoon into muffin cups, filling 3/4 full with batter. Bake 20 minutes or until

golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

Creating Family Traditions

Whether it’s an annual Christmas nativity play, a special birthday song, a favorite spot to watch the fireworks, or a family board-game rivalry, creating and maintaining traditions is not only a terrific way to create lasting bonds, it’s also a ton of fun! When most of us think of traditions, it’s usually Christmastime that comes to mind first. For many families this exciting time of year is filled with events that make the season what it is: decorating the Christmas tree, making goodies, visiting Santa, and reading the Christmas story--what would Christmas be without these things! Children need predictability and strong family traditions provide that—that’s why we anticipate Christmas so much! And although Christmas is one holiday brimming with tradition, it shouldn’t be the only time these unique family customs come into play. The calendar is filled with fun holidays that have terrific tradition potential.

Fun For All Seasons
Holidays are important because they’re a break from the everyday and they give us a reason to come together and celebrate!

New Year’s
Write down a family resolution and seal it in a letter to be saved for one year. On New Year’s Day, open your letter from the previous year and discuss how successful your were in accomplishing your family goal. Remove the Christmas ornaments from the tree and decorate it with New Year’s decorations like balloons, noisemakers, party hats, and streamers.

Valentine’s Day
Make up silly “Roses are Red…” poems and place them in spots your family will find later on in the day like in lunch boxes or book bags. If you’re a father, give your daughters a rose; if you’re a mother, give your sons a heart cookie.

St. Patrick’s Day
Make a dinner out of only green food (e.g., spinach, green-colored mashed potatoes, grapes, Jell-o). Place one fourleaf clover cutout under someone’s dinner plate. The person who discovers the clover at the end of dinner is exempt from cleaning up.

Easter
Every Easter, write your testimony in a letter and place it in your children’s Easter baskets. Include a new gospelrelated item in your Children’s Easter baskets such as a picture of the Savior or a bookmark with a scripture written on it.

Fourth of July
Make a birthday cake for the country. You could even place sparklers on top for the birthday candles. Help your children put on a Fourth of July pageant in which they can recite a portion of an important document such as the Declaration of Independence or the Gettysburg Address.

Halloween
Create Halloween gingerbread (or graham cracker) houses as an alternative to the Christmas version. Use bright orange, purple, and black candies and frosting, along with plastic spider rings and cotton “spider webs.” Hold an annual extended family or friend trick-or-treat party. Use a hollow pumpkin as a serving bowl for soup, make “brain” Jell-O, and serve spooky punch (using dry ice). Have the family members or friends trick-or-treat to different rooms of the house.

Thanksgiving
Play alphabetical gratitude around your Thanksgiving table and have everyone name something for which he or she is grateful with the next consecutive letter of the alphabet. Place a strip of white butcher paper on top of your thanksgiving tablecloth. Have markers or crayons also placed along the length of the table. Have the guests write down some of the things for which they are grateful throughout the dinner with their name written next to those items. Then gather after dinner to read the gratitude notes.

Christmas
Make an addition to your family’s advent calendar by including service activities that accompany each day such as: clean a sibling’s room, help mom set the table, shovel the neighbor’s walk, take around Christmas treats to the neighbors, etc. Have a Christmas talent show in which everyone can sing or play a Christmas song, or recite a Christmas poem. Each day at breakfast during the week before Christmas have everyone draw slips of paper from a container. One of these slips will be marked with a star. The person who draws the starred paper is that day’s “Christmas Angel.” For that day, it is this person’s responsibility to do random acts of service and then mark the location of the act with a piece of a paper with a star on it.

Special Delivery
The spirit that comes into a home with the arrival of a new baby is unlike any other. This joy is something each member of the family should be able to remember with fondness. It’s also a good idea to provide your baby with mementos he/she can have throughout life as a token of the happiness that came with this birth. Here are some ways you can mark this special event in your family. Give your baby a personalized gift with his name and birth noted. This could be done in a variety of ways and brothers and sisters and grandparents could also be involved. For example, create a baby quilt with the child’s tiny handprints or footprints stamped on a square (or several squares) along with name and date of birth embroidered in the corner. Plant a tree for your new baby. Involve any younger siblings in the process and enjoy the tree for years as you watch both it and your child mature. Have each family member write the new baby a letter. Share your feelings about becoming a mother, father, grandparent, older brother or sister (again, perhaps), and what you hope you can share with the new child. Place these letters in the child’s baby book or a scrapbook for later reflection. Also, be sure to write down your feelings in your journal so you can share these reflections with your child when he/she is older.

Birthdays
Give your child a special family birthday party. If you want to throw a party with friends, that’s fine too, but be sure you have some quality family time. The Trauntveins, thanks to LHT, had a birthday donkey.

Special Family Events
Any event your family treasures can be a tradition. Just remember to do the same sort of things over and over until everyone looks forward to the day or event with anticipation. Maybe it is a camping trip or the day you harvest potatoes from the family garden. It may be playing games on Sunday afternoons or making Sundays in the kitchen on Wednesday night. Maybe it is family home evening. Whatever it is, do the things your family likes to do. You are making memories to last a lifetime and beyond.

Passing it Along
Ask any new grandparent “where the time went” and they probably won’t have a very clear answer for you. The process of watching your child from birth to marriage is one that most parents will say flew by in the blink of an eye. That’s why it is so important to make lasting memories of the most important occasions. Not only that, marking these special events provides a foundation for children. They’ll remember how much love and attention they were given at each milestone, and they’ll want to give their own children a similar experience. Consequently, by marking these moments in a special manner now, you’ll really be marking them also for future generations for years and years to come.

Some of the ideas in this article came from Bridget Rees.

Over the river, and through the wood,

Grandmother Smith always loved this Thanksgiving song. She taught a verse or two to each of her classes each year. We would also sing it at home. Now, all these years later, this song always reminds me of her and of Thanksgiving. Her birthday was Novembe 26 and, depending on the year, it might actually fall on Thanksgiving. 

A Boy's Thanksgiving Day

by Lydia Maria Child.

Over the river, and through the wood, 

to Grandfather's house we go;

the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh

through the white and drifted snow.

Over the river, and through the wood,

to Grandfather's house away!

We would not stop for doll or top,

for 'tis Thanksgiving Day.

Over the river, and through the woodoh,

how the wind does blow!

It stings the toes and bites the nose,

as over the ground we go.

Over the river, and through the wood.

with a clear blue winter sky,

The dogs do bark and the children hark,

as we go jingling by.

Over the river, and through the wood,

to have a first-rate play.

Hear the bells ring, "Ting a ling ding!"

Hurray for Thanskgiving Day!

Over the river, and through the wood no

matter for winds that blow;

Or if we get the sleigh upset

into a bank of snow.

Over the river, and through the wood,

to see little John and Ann;

We will kiss them all, and play snowball

and stay as long as we can.

Over the river, and through the wood,

trot fast my dapple gray!

Spring over the ground like a huntinghound!

For 'tis Thanksgiving Day.

Over the river, and through the wood

and straight through the barnyard gate.

We seem to go extremely slow

it is so hard to wait!

Over the river, and through the wood-

Old Jowler hears our bells;

He shakes his paw with a loud bowwow,

and thus the news he tells.

Over the river, and through the woodwhen

Grandmother sees us come,

She will say, "O, dear, the children are here,

bring pie for everyone."

Over the river, and through the woodnow

Grandmothers cap I spy!

Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?

Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

Originally published in Flowers for Children, Vol. 2 in 1844, the poem has outshone the rest of the poems in that volume. 

Lydia Maria Child was one of the earliest American women to earn a living from her writing. She was the writer of one of the most popular domestic advice books, The Frugal Housewife, later renamed The American Frugal Housewife to distinguish it from a book published in England. She later published other advice books, including The Mother's Book , A Little Girl's Own Book and Juvenile Miscellany, an early

American magazine for children. Her earliest novel, Hobomok, was one of the first American novels to depict pioneer life. When Maria turned to anti-slavery writing with her Appeal for the Class of Americans Called African, much of her devoted audience turned against her. Her most important contribution to history is probably The Appeal, but her poem about Thanksgiving is the best remembered.

Jokes of the Month:

Seen on a bumper sticker: Next time you think you’re perfect…try walking on water.

“I don’t question YOUR existence.” --God

America needs a Faith Lift.

Witches parking only. All others will be toad.

Need a Haircut

A pastor, known for his lengthy sermons, noticed a man get up and leave during the middle of his message. The man returned just before the conclusion of the service. Afterward the pastor asked the man where he had gone. “I went to get a haircut," was the reply. "But," said the pastor, "why didn't you do that before the service started?" "Because," the gentleman said, "I didn't need one then."

How Many Does It Take?

Q. How many Mormons does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Seven. One to change the light bulb, one to say the opening prayer, one to say the closing prayer, and four to bring green Jell-o salads and red punch.

Oh! Hi! Oh!

~Hi all! 

This is just going to be a short one, sorry. We hope everyone had a great Halloween. The kids had a good time here. We live in a perfect neighborhood for Trick-or-Treating. The kids got way too much candy, were able to walk around with their friends, walk through a few spook alleys in peoples garages, and be done before 8:00. Todd was assigned the task of giving out candy and hot cocoa while I went with Tyler & Emily (Michael was too “old” to stick with us).

The kids have been working hard at school to get those A’s (not a small feat in this school district). They are busy with homework, scouts, dance, gymnastics and piano. They are working on their Christmas recital pieces and they are sounding great.

Hailey just started walking 2 days after she turned 11 months, but still prefers crawling as a faster way to get around.

We are gearing up for the trip to Howard & Melanie’s for Thanksgiving. We’re all getting excited to see them and spend time with them. 

We hope you all have a great holiday. We miss you all. 

Again, sorry so short. We’ll have more to write next month.

Todd, Amy, Michael, Tyler, Emily & Hailey