Grammie, Jichan, and Sendai

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We have so much to be thankful for, I hope you all have a wonderful day ~
(Kim & Grandma stuffing the turkey - 1980)

This week has been relatively quiet for us. I had to prepare and give a speech for a school assignment, so I purposely kept my days free to read, write, and practice. Thankfully, I was done by Thursday afternoon so was able to volunteer a couple of hours to stay with Helma while her daughter got her nails done. She has declined so much it makes me sad, but just being able to sit with her and hold her hands reminded me so much of being with my Mom.

Wednesday we had an amazing Addiction Recover class. One of the young men in our group asked another of our young men how he was able to get through his addiction, and this led to a 45-minute discussion where the three who came were helping each other. They are a diverse group - one left the MTC twice because he is still fighting his addiction, one ran away to California and found himself addicted to several things - until he decided he wasn't happy and came home, and the other graduated last year from the Air Force Academy and his follow-on assignment is at Peterson AFB. We have grown to love these young men so much and respect them for acknowledging their weaknesses and trying to make their lives better.

Adam dropped off this cute little guy Friday morning and Sendai has been so happy. Milo doesn't like to play as much as he used to but maybe that's because Sendai can be a bully (or just a bossy girl) 😃 I did see them chasing around the backyard though, so they definitely have fun together. Dad and I have been taking them on walks together, but yesterday afternoon I thought I would be brave and try it by myself because Dad was over his head with paperwork in the office. We did fine until we were halfway down our street and one of the neighbor's (they are in our Ward) dogs escaped through a broken fence and then it became a little crazy. I had two dogs going crazy, barking, and running in circles. The escape dog (full-sized Golden Doodle) was also running in circles around us, I had dog leashes going around my legs while I was dragging the dogs with me to the front door so I could ring their doorbell. Really, if anyone would have recorded it, we would all be able to retire!

Obviously, we all slept well that night ~

About three weeks ago, our neighbor Kirah called me and invited us to a choir concert she was performing in. She is 16, a Junior at Rampart, and a little on the autism spectrum. Ever since she was little she has invited us to school programs and dance recitals so we try and go. Last night she performed with a community choir - people from 15 - 89 years old, about 75 members total, and they did a beautiful job. It was at the Broadmoor so afterwards we walked through the hotel and outside to see the lake. They were just starting to put up the Christmas trees and lights outside. Every year they have a huge gingerbread house on display and though they hadn't started it yet, I could really smell the cinnamon and ginger. We are planning to go back after Thanksgiving and see all of the decorations. A HUGE THANK YOU TO EILIS WHO CAME BY BEFORE WORK AND FED THE DOGS!!! 💖

On the road this week are Adam, Cory and family - to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with Cory's family and some Temple time with Kim and Chris.

Angella is braving the roads and taking the kids to Logan to spend Thanksgiving with her family. She was able to get the perfect Airbnb and I know they are all looking forward to a break from school and work.

BE SAFE AND DON'T FORGET TO COME BACK!