Happy Thanksgiving

 

 Happy November, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so grateful for the natural and man made beauties of our world. My daughter Anne came from England for the week. She, Peter and I spent a fun few hours at Park City, passing through Provo Canyon &past Deer Creek Reservoir

            

We enjoyed the galleries and many old and new buildings of this old mining town and former 2002 Winter Olympics venues.

Sara, Rachel, and Paul Gilman, Deanne and Jim Welch and Katy and Tom Taylor and I loved the Hunchback of Notre Dame musical at Hale Theater in Orem. We had gone to support another former Palo Altan, Keith Allen, in his role as the Gypsy King, but he was sick that night.

My grand-daughters Stephanie and Elise Carlston performed a very beautiful dance with the Virginia Tanner dance program at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City. (Carlston family)

We enjoyed a Mormon Women's Art exhibit in Salt Lake City. Here are few favorites:

          Fernanda, Evie, Hannah de Schweinitz and Elise Carlston

The artist Joni Neal remembers the cool touch of her mother's nurturing fingers on her brow.

(done by our friend Rachel Stallings Thomander and her mom)

Four generations

                                                Leaving home of her first born

                                     Reflections from Heaven

"There are times I feel Heavenly Mother's presence in a gentle breeze, the rustle of leaves, or a sparkle of light. My heart tells me being in her presence would allow me to see only the best of things. Her light would chase away all negative thoughts and feelings for both myself and others. Her radiance would reflect pure beauty into my heart and vision and envelope me in complete inner peace and serenity."

                                           ********************************************

BYU has a great basketball team. The students are SO spirited.

As are the Cougarettes and the other thousands of spectators including son Peter and I.

One morning in the baptistry at the Provo Temple I was so happy and pleased to meet Veronica Diaz from Concepcion, Chile (whom I recognized from the Santiago Temple where I served as a missionary) and her daughter Soledad Valenzuela, now living with her family in Springville, Utah. We did lots of baptisms together. Small world!

                Some days are cold and clear with beautiful views

All the glorious leaves of my trees have fallen and my garden looks drab...a last shot of fall foliage.

My grand-daughter Kelly had a leading role as the mother in the HS production of Tuck Everlasting. A lot of her Taylor cousins attended.

Friend and former Palo Altan Jim Welch gave a great organ concert last week, with so many Thanksgiving favorites, one of which was with English BYU hornist, Kylie, and another with his soprano niece Christina Broberg. Fabulous! Beloved leader John Tanner, who has recovered from a very serious biking accident, shared Kierkegaard's thought that "life must be lived forward, but understood backwards." 

He said that one of his and my favorite Thanksgiving hymns is "We Gather Together," which dates back to the Pilgrim era in the 17th century. The context is the Dutch Protestant struggle against Catholic rule. The lines he particularly loves are these: "so from the beginning the fight we were winning;/Thou Lord was at our side; All glory be thine!"

Since I was a child our extended family has sung a personalized version before each Thanksgiving dinner. Here's an excerpt. "We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing; We share with each other our Thanksgiving joys; We're thankful for homes, for food, and for friendship, with all of thy children our blessings we'd share.We remember the absent and those gone before us...."

I am so grateful for the long and rich legacy I have received from my forebears, especially from those who had the courage and foresight to come to this country, to forge the freedoms we have today. The country and we have flaws, make mistakes, and have much to work on, but as a nation we are blessed. I hope that we will have the desire and willingness to help others who make those sacrifices and take the risks our ancestors made, so that life can be comfortable and filled with opportunity for them. They are all God's beloved children.

Marked as a national holiday on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, Thanksgiving celebrates the harvest and other blessings of the past year. 

In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the "New World." After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, far north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims, as they are now commonly known, began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth.It is believed that Thanksgiving is modeled on a harvest feast shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people in 1621. The previous year was called the "year of starvation."This American holiday has many legends and rituals attached to its name. Additionally, a traditional Thanksgiving meal typically includes turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. It is one of the busiest holidays as families get together and celebrate this day with a hearty meal. 

Best Wishes for a Wonderful Thanksgiving. My whole family will gather for dinner, talent show, singing, games and reminiscing. Family bonds are so important, as the family is the basic eternal unit. I am grateful to be close to mine.