Thanksgiving!

I haven't heard of any plans for Thanksgiving yet. So Jason and I would like to invite anyone who wants to come up for Thanksgiving dinner. We will eat about 1 pm and then play games afterwards. We get a free turkey from Ridleys and we have tons of potatoes. If you would like to come let us know what you want to bring. We will have our annual turkey feather hunt at noon and our turkey bowl at about 4 for the kids. Come for the day or you are welcome to stay overnight. Happy thanksgiving to all!

Blacker get-together?

A few weeks ago when I was staying at Mom and Dad’s, Pam mentioned that she might be bringing her girls up for a golf tournament in McCall on Monday & Tuesday (July 25 & 26).  As Jason and I were visiting and planning out the rest of summer, we wondered how many of you would also like to come up and play!

I imagine that the tournament will start first thing Monday morning, so those of you who want to come Sunday evening and stay the night instead of coming Monday early morning, would be fine.  Maybe we could play through Tuesday or Wednesday evening?  Let us know if that works for any of you, so we can make food arrangements.

Inside, I have 1 king, 2 queens, 1 full, 7 twins, plus floor space (oh, and of course a recliner for you, Dad!).  We also have a few tents we could pitch out in the backyard for those who want to sleep outside.

***This is my feeble attempt at trying to plan something.  If you want to come…great, we’d love to have you.  If you don’t want to come and can’t come…well, I guess we will party without you!  We love you.  It was great to see you all in June (except for Greg…maybe next time, though. We know you are all busy).  Keep us posted…as the summer is flying by!  Anyways, just thought it might be a brief, but fun mountain get-away for you city folk down in the valley!***

Greetings from McCall

Parents & siblings (and grandma Lily, of course!):

I just wanted to thank all of you who participated in Megan’s Flat Stanley Project!  Thanks to mom for making it happen, along with those who were kind enough to pose for a picture with the handsomely, slim and adventurous guy!

(Although there was one of you who doesn’t appear to be as happy!)

 

Thank you, Dad for updating all of us kids on the whereabouts and whatabouts of each of us! 

Congratulations, Steve on a fantastic talk.  I heard (from more than one source how amazing it was). (I got other contacts in your Stake!)  I am glad Ashley has made it back home and has survived her first year of college at BYU without an M.R.S. degree! (as beautiful as she is, I thought she might get swept off her feet by now)  Thank you, Becky, in advance for the bag of clothes…Megan and Kimberly will be ELATED!

Tami, thanks for allowing “Flat Stanley from McCall” into your classroom in Nampa.  The school district is in need of some elementary teachers AND a principal, if you guys ever get the itch to flee to higher ground!  I am sure that Amanda is doing a great job at coaching, as well as making all of the girls run a lap or do push-ups when they don’t obey! LOL!  And I hear the boys are ripping it up on the court!

Greg, I love your new dog adventure – AGAIN!  Didn’t you learn the first time of having a puppy?  Hide all of the shoes!  That’s great and your kids will love it!  It will also give them a good responsibility.  There are other ways of adding to your family size, you know! (just ask us…we have a farm full!)  I am sure your boys are getting bigger and rougher!

Pam, I have 2 bags of clothes for Lily, also.  So the next time I come to mom’s I will try to bring them with me. It is good to see that you survived Spring Volleyball and are still surviving the Primary, even without a consistent nursery worker! 

I went on a walk today and thought I would snap you a few pictures of my journey:

My driveway is finally clear and the snow is SLOWLY receding from the sides of the roadways.

Look closely and you can see 2 little kids sliding down the roof-top slide-off in their snow coats, jeans, and rain boots!  (I walked down to get the mail and they were supposed to be riding their bikes)

The steam off the snow, being warmed by the sun and our 30 degree weather (wahoo). 

The fields are slowly melting and soon we might see GREEN instead of WHITE!

(Just a picture of the treasured WHITE GRASS we grow in the winter!)

And little Emma hunting for Easter Eggs… in the SNOW!

Bryson, Megan, & Kimberly officially introducing their dad, the new S.R.O. to the Elementary School during a school assembly.

The Evolution of the Chicken Coupe:

Day 1 - A small box    

Day 6 – 3 boxes cut & taped together    

Day 12 – Normal pullet coupe    

Day 30 – They are out in the barn and are getting bigger!

Just a few pictures of when they were little…and cute! 

We have 10 hens and a rooster (someone gave to us) named Rambo. 

And this is Faith and Hope – 2 draft horses that our friends pasture at our place.

And last, but not least… little Eli’s excitement to hunt for Easter eggs! 

(And Emma’s lovely combination for jammies! – Becky does any of this look familiar? LOL!)

We hope everyone is healthy and happy down in the valley!  Enjoy your green grass, tulips, daffodils, and blossoming trees!  And of course, being close to the temple!  Life is great in McCall.  Come and visit if you want to get away from the city sometime!  We love all of you!

(oh…and if any of you know of anyone who is getting rid of an older, car, Jason and I are looking for one – cheaper gas than a suburban and truck for town trips & trips to the valley!  Please let us know!)

Focus on the Present

And now, Israel, what doth the Lord they God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord they God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 

– Deuteronomy 10:12

“I don’t worry too much about the future, and I don’t worry very much about the past.  The past is gone, and you can’t change, you can’t correct it.  The future, you can anticipate, but you can’t necessarily do very much about it.  It is the present you have to deal with.  Reach out for every good opportunity to do what you ought to do.” 

– Gordon B. Hinckley

Today is a new day; a new year.  Make the best of what you have!  You can start fresh today…to be a new you and to be your best self!  Remember all of those things you have desired to change, to do, to say, to be – this is your day! 

Keep moving forward in the cause for good and in helping to build the Kingdom of God on the earth!  The Lord needs a valiant army to help accomplish His plan.  Are you on His side?  If so, DO something about it, today!  I love you.  May the Spirit guide you to do right.  May you have angels round about you to uplift you in a world of darkness.  May the Lord bless you for your efforts.  Keep up the fight… every effort is worth it!

Snow Party

I was wondering if anyone was interested at all in coming up to McCall for a snow party during Christmas Break?  I was thinking possibly Thursday - Saturday (December 30 - January 1).  We can do a New Years Eve Party here - no sitters, no traveling... just games, night tubing or snow-mobiling, whatever you want to do!  Anyways, would anyone post a comment if that is something that sounds fun to any of you, or if you have any suggestions. 

Happy Halloween from the Land of Oz!

This is a picture from our ward “trunk-or-treat”.  I would love to see other pictures of family posted, so that we may see what each of you dressed up as for Halloween.  Thanks, Tami Jo for the lion costume for Eli!

Does anyone know what Thanksgiving plans are brewing???  I am not sure it is in our budget to come down another time, but we will be down on Friday & Saturday, November 19 & 20…maybe we could see some of you???

Upcoming Events

Megan is turning EIGHT this year and we will be baptizing her on Friday, October 1st @ 7 PM at the McCall LDS Church. I understand this is General Conference Weekend. Because we live so far away from our Stake Center (the Weiser Stake Center), they allow the children up here to have their own baptisms, rather than travel down to the Stake Center. Therefore, we have set Megan's baptism for 7 pm at the church. For those who would like to come and stay overnight, we would be happy to accomodate you. This is just an invitation... I know you all have busy lives, but I just wanted to invite you all.

Second, I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a Blacker Snow Party...say over Christmas Break? I am thinking sometime around the end of the 2nd week of the break, around New Years Eve... say, Wed or Thur (12/29 or 12/30) thru Sat (Jan 1st). I thought it might be fun to get the cousins together to come and play in the snow - tubing, snowmobiling, sledding, snowboarding, fort building, snowball fights, hot chocolate- whatever you want to do in the snow. We live in a Winter Wonderland and we want to share it with you! Let me know what you all think...and what would work best (if anything at all) for your families.

I believe I have accomodations for everyone to stay here (if you are all comfortable with that). I have a double - full/queen/queen/king bed for the couples and bunkbeds, twin beds, foam pads, cribs, and floor space for the single ones (oh...and a lazy-boy for you, Dad...and uh...a roll-away for you, Mom). Does that sound like fun to anyone?

...and maybe we could celebrate our Christmas Party then??? And do our exchange at that time??? Becky... I am not sure what Ashley's schedule is for coming home from college, so I understand if you will want to spend time with her. I am just putting a "feeler" out there to see who is interested at all. Let me know!

Hopefully everyone is in the swing of school and busy life! Hope to see you perhaps for a Halloween Bash???