Thanksgiving festivities

Because I have been given much I too must give...

The elders quorum held a wood-splitting gathering. Greg is deep into reconstructing a car from inside the engine to running again, and could not go. But a part of the family could. Years ago we split lots of wood and served often. Since becoming farmers we often miss because we are deep in mud or problems. It was nice, although stressful to get to the project but we were able to help get the job done. 

This man is 87 years old. He works daily with another man who is simple-minded but strong and able. The two accomplish much good and work every day. I helped supply log sections for them to split. I marvel at what age looks like on different people. 

Afton found a wood moth and managed to hold or provide a perch for it until we were in the pickup driving home when it decided to fly away. 

Thanksgiving morning we attended the turkey trot. These two were not riders but were not willing walkers either. They did however really enjoy breaking ice. We were thankful for the cold that froze the abundant mud. 

Alia walked with Grandma Corn. She did well going 2 miles. 

Anna challenging Livy to run. Livy would not, and instead zig-zgged her walking self to the finish line. Mary and AFton are in the back with Mac. 

Uncle Ty brought his horse and Anna got a ride. She does love horses, still.

Winners Addie 1st, Millie 2nd, Bruce 3rd, and Lia 4th. They got flashlights which is just perfect for this very dark time of year. And hot chocolate all got a hot cup of chocolate. 

Uncle Matt found this old letter from John to him. John still loves football as does the rest of my sons. Mark and Reed actually had practice at 9:30. The last one in Vale. 

At home, Livy did dishes while I made pie and Millie made a turkey inspired vegetable platter. 

Anna, Harold, MArk, Addie, Reed went and served at the community thanksgiving dinner with our friend Sarah and daughter Zetti.

We got to eat pies after dark. 

The kids played games with the very willing uncles, aunts and cousins. They do love to play games. I do not but am happy my kids get the experience. 

John's first holiday away from home was spent at home with his sick companion. They have been apartment bound for 4-5 days. He got ambitious and made himself some pumpkin pie. I was impressed he had pumpkin. 

The finished product. I sent him some recipes hours before and he got cooking. I'm proud of his ambition. Aliza went to a turkey bowl and a basketball competition with fellow missionaries. Then dinner with a family. It's important to learn to be independent and treasure the blessings we take for granted. I told the small children that got to eat first: "I was thankful for good cooks, dads who earn the money to buy the food, family to share dinner with, grandma's house where we could gather, and each of them who came to the dinner."

 There is so much to be grateful for even alone in an apartment in Port Aurther Texas. But it is a heated, furnished place, with food in the cupboards and fridge and the ability to make phone calls and live in safety. Those are all huge blessings. We will try to maintain the spirit of thanksgiving all our days and be grateful in whatever situations we find ourselves. Life is good. 
 

Football prep and North Valley Game

Football continues to consume our family. The school did a pep assembly recognizing the guys who show up every day and aren't yet part of the varsity team. These 7 guys are hard workers who have willingly taken a beating for the past month getting the varsity ready for each weeks championship game. The lessons learned in this month are huge and while it hasn't been fun I know Reed is growing tremendously in his understanding of the game. 

Lia painting her own picture for Mark for the send off parade. I love you Mark I hope you Win it says. 

I also made some signs for the kids to hold up as we watched the bus roll by. 

They had a 4 hour bus ride right after practice I knew they would be hungry so I made about 20 burgers and distributed them as they loaded. 

The next day Greg, Anna, Harold, my dad and I all loaded into Harold's pickup to attend the game. The other team seemed a worthy opponent. In the end, Vale ran over them the numbers showed complete dominance by Vale defense. I grew up hearing the phrase defense wins games, this year I have seen that to be true.

This picture of the defense moving as a strong tough unit is perfect. I would never want these guys coming after me. 

Mark blocking for number 4 who carries the ball most often. 

Talking with coach near the end. 

This has been a long road of learning and leading. Mark works to keep the guys on the goal.  In this game he broke up infighting between teammates and got them both calmed down. He encourages and works hard. He makes mistakes and had a big call of chop blocking called on him. It's high school and it's a game. I grumble if it's worth the time and effort? And I see that it is worth the sacrifice to gain the experience.

So we load up again tomorrow and go to watch our kid. It was so nice to spend time with my dad and older kids. Life is good and we are blessed. 
 

Election and life outside of football

Man this election year has been rough. Two attempts to kill Donald Trump, so much infighting, mudslinging and a country falling into recession and lawlessness, while crazy ideas on sexuality continue to be accepted. It has been troubling to say the least. On the final election night I was worried to say the least. Yet as I look at my beautiful healthy busy family I breathe deep and count my blessings. They are at the top of the list. I remember no matter what they are most important. We are readers we know that families have endured far worse than corruption and moral decay. We know of neighbors who endured and came out triumphant of relocation camps in WWII. We know some (very few but some) families who survived concentration camps. We read the scriptures that tell us about how families endured times of migrations and hard starting over. So that's what I taught we would find a way. But the stress was big on the day of voting. 

A friend informed me that people use to celebrate their right to vote with cake decorating contests. My own great great grandmother hosted voting in her home, she was a fantastic generous cook so I'm sure she served refreshments. I took that example and did what I could. 

We made cookies. I've been trying to get my family to eat less sugar or dessert but I conceeded this night because we needed something sweet to enjoy. We did enjoy the cookies. Mark is pointing to his book because "Folks this isn't normal" summed up the day. I was shocked the next morning to find out Donald Trump had in fact won in a major way. 

The book I've been mentioning should be a must read for all parents today. Wake up get off the screens get your kids off and get outside. I'm thankful we have an outside and real reasons that compel us to be out there. 

This fall I'm all about compost! This is my first Johnson-Su bioreactor. The tubes are for aeration. My kids know and groan that I'm a bit obsessed with gathering leaves and bark to decompose for soil amendments. Thankfully and woefully we have many leaves to be gathered from our own yard. We shall see what this turns into it's mostly free so we aren't out anything to try. 

Aliza made this piece of stained glass in Ames with a member. It was so pretty I'm thankful for the many who share their time and talents with the missionaries. 

She is also learning to crochet and sent this hot pad.

MArk with his science experiment year old turnips that work to loosen the soil and store nutrients. He's watched these all year long and rejoiced at their growth and hardiness. 

 With the changing of politicians comes different ideologies. The new cabinent members are more into regenerative farming and less chemical based inputs. We are working to learn about those. Our heat and dryness make us very different from the rest of the country. It's good to learn and try ideas. Life is good and we are blessed to work and think together. 

Free play

ONe of the ideas in the anxious generation book is kids need much much more free play. Which is to say unstructured slightly unmonitored play. Kids need to take risks and challenge themselves which is more than I like to see but am learning is very important for their spacial, strength and self concious development. So going to water cows no matter the weather is a great deal! Good hats as the weather gets colder. I fell in love with these bomber style hats on an extremely windy day a while ago.

Mark's football poster for decorating the bus. Addie whipped it up in a few minutes on Canva. I have no idea how to navigate that program but she did. 

Free play looks like dirt and exploring and doing what they dream up. 

This treeline was such a blessing it blocked teh strong wind and made our time refilling the truck not too bad. 

Crossing a bridge teaches coordination and balance. The trees in the background were an experiment from the 90's growing poplars for power poles. Now they are down and decaying slowly. 

Pretending to make a fire starts with carrying fire wood.

Checking the tank to see how much water we have. 

Livy with her wreath from mutual. There's lots to learn and experience. We continue to strive to have real connections with real people. 

I do love when learning validates and encourages things we already work towards. Life is good and we are so blessed to be stewards and caretakers of not only land but livestock. There is something truly divine in nurturing life.