Turkey and pie - yes please!

Dear family,

What a pleasant day it was today.  It would have been even better if we could have included grandparents, but it is what it is.  I enjoyed getting to do fun things with each of you, and especially appreciate the help getting the house and food ready.  I am a fortunate man!

Love,

Dad

Thursday, November 26, 2020
9:29 pm

Happy Thanksgiving!  David, Lisa, and their kids joined us for dinner.  My tummy is full of good food.  The turkey was only so-so this year.  It was a little dry.  As long as you added gravy and/or cranberry sauce, it was fine. But the breast meat by itself was fairly dry.  Meh.  But the pies for dessert were fantastic.  I'd eat another slice if I wasn't already uncomfortably full.

This afternoon I worked on a lesson for the upcoming fifth Sunday.  Those Sunday School lessons are under the direction of the bishopric.  I feel directed to help people consider where they want to be a year from now and to make plans to achieve what they want.  Setting goals identifies our destination or objective; making plans maps out the steps we need to take to reach that destination.  Too often we set goals without making a plan to reach the goal, and then we feel that our goal is unattainable and we give up.  Even with the best of intentions, if we don't have a plan to guide our actions, we don't know what to do on a day-to-day basis.  This is one of the things I took away from our bishopric meeting on Tuesday, and it reinforced an idea that I have been preoccupied with for a couple weeks now.  So that is what we are going to talk about on Sunday.

After dinner I got a call from Doug McMullin asking if I could come help give a blessing to his daughter Becca. She had fallen and hurt herself.  They moved to Eagle Mountain a year or so ago, but were back visiting Steven and his wife for Thanksgiving, and they live in the Fourth ward.

Thankful: Today I am thankful for the not-so-little things that are a blessing in my life but that are easy to take for granted.  I'm grateful to be able to provide good food, reliable cars, a warm home that meets our needs, and to have time to engage in wholesome recreational activities with my family.  We got to talk to Mark briefly, and that was so nice.  Jessie was a great help in the kitchen and fixed several of the dishes, most of which she can't even eat.  I'm grateful for dishwashers that were running most of the day, and a clothes dryer that is currently full of red clothes.

Ministering: After helping the McMullin's with a priesthood blessing I sent a text to Mike Brown, the EQ President in the fourth ward to make sure he knew Steven is living there.  Also, I helped with a little vicarious ministering today.  One of Jessie's friends and her husband contracted covid and can't go anywhere for Thanksgiving.  Jessie took them dinner tonight from our feast.  They were so appreciative.  What a great example Jessie is!

More later…

I loved this handwritten list Emma came up with all by herself today.

Our turkey after 8 hours in the smoker...