Fall Leaves and Turkey Dinner

In honor of a hard working great husband I decided to serve my own hard working great husband. I decided that on one day I would do a project that Chuck has been wanting to do, but unable to because of travelling for work. Chuck likes to work in the yard, but just hasn't had time. I decided that I would spend the day cleaning up the leaves in our yard. It was hard work! I used the lawn mower to mulch most of the front yard leaves and dumped them in the beds around the bushes. It then got really difficult in the ditch, so I raked them onto a tarp and hauled them to the back yard to our compost area. Luckily, by that time the girls were home from school so I had some help with the tarp.

I only was able to get the front yard cleaned up that day. I had worked for about 5 hours on the front and did not know when I could get to the backyard. While I was working a guy from a lawn service came to my neighbor's house to give her a quote on cleaning her leaves and saw me working. When they came back to do her work a few days later, he came over and asked if I needed any help doing more leaves. I negotiated with him and got a good deal on his guys to come finish the backyard for us.

On the same day I was very ambitious and decided to cook Chuck his favorite meal - a full Thanksgiving turkey dinner. We went on a last minute vacation this year for Thanksgiving, so I did not cook our usual dinner. I made a whole turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied carrots, and homemade cranberry sauce.

It was a great day to totally devote to Chuck in honor of Mike McBride.

Story time all the time

Dear Lucy Luba!!

First of all, soon as I got Lucy, I was super excited because shes my type of girl, whether that be her love of history, books, or her impeccable taste in clothes I love all of her! I have myself been very into reading lately so I decided to go down that path and think of service involving reading. However, a few of my aunts and uncles know that I love writing as well, because whenever I am relaxing in there houses I will be writing. So I wanted to incorporate both aspects of literature; reading and writing. The idea came to me when I gave the kids I babysat often (pics of them below) journals that they can write a story in during their bedtime process, then give back to me so I can write in it and continue their story. I would then receive their stories back every Sunday where I will then return it with an even longer story. Now these girls would always want me to take them to primary and whenever I did they would be so excited and tell all their class that this is Dixie our babysitter. There class mates would ask me, why do they like YOU??  I decided then to give multiple primary kids journals so every Sunday they could partake in the same fun that I did with these kids, some of then would include pictures with there stories! The service part was not only the giving of the journals but also working with them when they wanted me to read what I wrote because some words were to hard for them to understand, practicing better writing flow, and how to make a story interesting. Reading their writings every time made me think of awesome Lucy Luba and how much shes loves literature.Though you may live on the other side of the country know that I love you, and I wish you a Merry Christmas! 

By day Garrett, by night Gmon, our superhero.

Gmon, when I think of you, you bring peace to my heart.  A few years ago our family had a gap.  We were missing part of the puzzle that makes us whole.  We had no idea how we were going to move forward with that hole.  Little did we know that gap was filled by a wonderful dad/husband plus two.  You have helped complete our family.  Most men in your role would not want to look to our past, but you are above the rest...you look at the past as something that we can add to, not replace.

When I see this family photo, the first thing I feel is joy and happiness...then I notice what is at the center of the photo, that green bracelet.  Then I feel more than joy and happiness, I can't describe it because I can't seem to fin the right word, something like "Epic" there is more to it.  When I looked up "Epic" at thesaurus.com it says, "Heroic Poem," Gmon, you are writing a Heroic Poem in our family.

Now how can I put this into an act of service?

On Nov 4th, I received an email from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Introducing Light the World. 

I knew I wanted to be involved in this program help others to be involved too.  As primary president I was given early access to the advent calendar which gave 3 suggestions of how we can follow the Saviors example.  As I read them, I saw how wonderful they were.  I decided to make a paper chain for every primary child in my ward, all 78 of them.  1,950 strips of paper later, I had a plan.  

I gave each primary child a red and white bracelet to help remind them of their Light the World thing to do that day. 

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving I gave each of the 78 primary kids a packet of 25 strips, coordinating, red, green and white.  I also added a child option for each day.  

It has been my favorite Christmas Season as every night we paused and thought about how we can be more like our Savior.  You can see our chains on our tree.

Thank you Gmon for being our Superhero...love you, Amy 

To Connor from Charly

For my service I am learning to play the piano. I have taught myself with a little help from Leland how to play “Away in a Manger”. Connor likes to play the piano and he is good at teaching himself new things. Knowing able how to play the piano can help bless others.

Here is a video of me playing my song.

Love,
Charly

To Denim from Leland

                For my Christmas Service, I took extra care of Ernie. Denim is the youngest in her family, and Ernie is the youngest in my family. I change Ernie’s diaper, played with him, and cuddled him while Mom and Dad napped, worked, etc.

                I also met a new friend and got to know her. Denim has had to move several times in the past. I would find it hard to make and keep close friends when moving a lot. So, I tried to make a new friend. I sat by Ava every day at lunch, when I could. I talked to her, and I eventually invited my other friends to come and sit with Ava and me at lunch. I found out that Ava also had to move a lot for her mom’s work, and that she had never been in one place for more than two years. Ava and I are now good friends, and I am looking forward to getting to know her more.

Love,

Leland