BIG FAT GREEK THANKSGIVING!

We went to the home of Irene Keenum for thanksgiving. When she invited us she said it would be a "Big, fat Greek thanksgiving because her family is from Greek descendants. We arrived at 1:00 and visited and helped make deviled eggs. Then everyone began to arrive. They were all you can imagine, loud, friendly,talkative, loud, happy, and generous. We had enough food to feed and army and guess what...We must have fed an army because there wasn't that much food left over. We enjoyed the traditional turkey, stuffing, potatoes & gravy, pumpkin pie and rolls. But with that we had the southern additions of sweet potato souffle, corn pudding,oreo pie, mandarin salad, and green bean casserole. There were more teenagers there than any other age group and we had fun visiting, laughing and crying because one of the "uncles" was in the hospital and not able to join us. Rick was given strict instructions to take pictures and then ask the names of those he photographed...It proved to big of a task with all the stuff going on. So here are the photos he did take. As I was walking home I found the biggest praying mantis I have ever seen. Like everything else this day- it was part of the big, fat theme. I said a big fat prayer for all that I am blessed with. My family, my home, my friends, my love of the Savior Jesus Christ and my job that is teaching me so many new things. Hope your Thanksgiving was a blessing to you. This one was for me because it is the first in 31 years without my children and other family members I love. I enjoyed being around these BIG FAT GREEK friends!

This has been an interesting week!

Sunday began with Rick and I singing in a Choir who performed for the Lilbun Stake. We did a performance of a Musical about Joseph Smith. The Name is, "My Servant Joseph". It was written by Kenneth Cope (for anyone who is interested in hearing beautiful music.) My favorite was a song called Tiny Hands. It was sung by people portraying Joseph & Emma Smith. They both have VERY professional voices and it was a moving song about losing their twins when they were only days old. I was so happy to be a part of the Church's Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith.

Next some friends came over and invited me to go to the grocery store with them because the store was serving Thanksgiving Dinner free. Can you imagine that, free? Yes sirree, we went and as you stepped in the door they were serving turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pasta, spinach and corn. Then as you walked around the store in each department they were also serving other items, frozen section: ice cream, bakery: rolls, small eclairs, pies & more; dairy section: had hot or cold cider & egg nogg; meat section: little sausages and finally the candy section had Hershey kisses. They have done this every year for at least 13 years (because that is how long my friends have lived here &; they go every year. It was a fun night and they gave away coupons for BIG discounts. I also picked up a coloring page and crayons. Here is the coloring page if you want to print it and have the kids color it. If they send it to me (or any other picture) I will post it on my blog for them to see. That is my contest for the month of December. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, we will be thinking of all our loved ones!

Nick, Jasmine & Isis have their first trunk-or-treat!

Hi Everyone…Nick wrote to me and sent photos? Very Scarey!

This year me, Jasmine and Isis had a fun Halloween. The moon came out and suddenly I turned to jasmine and she was covered with fur! I was getting a little scared when I noticed Isis started growing Fangs, and blood was coming out of his mouth! The ultimate torture came to me when I realized I too was turning into a werewolf!

We had so much fun getting dressed up, Isis was a little scared to at first but then he got into the whole spirit of Halloween. Not many people in Australia celebrate Halloween, or do anything fun, but thankfully a friend from America threw a really fun Trunk-or-treat party.

We had to decorate our trunk (boot) and all the kids invited to the party would come around to each trunk and collect their candy (lollies). There were some real spooky trunks, my favorite was the Horamona’s (a Mauri [people from New Zealand] Family) who had a trunk with a big pot of eyeball soup brewing.

We made a Dinosaur graveyard, Attached is a picture (crappy, I know but I took them just as I was taking the trunk down so I couldn’t re-take the picture…) Kids had to reach into a volcano to get their candy, and I even threw in a vibrator to make the candy shake like and earthquake.

Contest...."Some of my favorite people are nuts!"

Well, it is finally fall in Snellville, Georgia. I take a walk every morning at 7:00 am. While I am walking I see beautiful leaves and all sorts of nuts falling from trees. I have gather a few and have taken photographs of them. But when I developed the pictures I saw what I thought were ghost faces in the pictures. Then I looked more closely and I saw the faces of some of my favorite people. "A contest," I thought. So here are the rule. Take a look at the photos and decide what kind of nut you are. Then e-mail, call, or write me with your answer. Each person who guesses the right nut will win a prize. Boys will get a comic book and girls will get princess jewelry.
Good luck to all! Hope you fall weather is as lovely as mine!



Possible answers are: acorn, pine nut, hickory nut, pine cone, oak nut, walnut, pecan

Max, Brigitte, Mason Natalie & Sally, Andy, Luke, Lily, Mabel Halloween 2005

I just received photos from by photographer in Utah (Brigitte Ballard-
Barfuss). I love to see the grandkids all dressed up and having fun. This year they went to the work party and here are their cute photos....who is the real Darth Vader?

Humanitarian Opportunities

About three weeks ago Rick and I were able to combine with members of the Lilburn Georgia Stake and assemble 3,650 clean-up kits for those who have been affected by the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast States. We received another opportunity and will be going to help again. The way we receive information (including the Ward Newsletter) is by e-mail from the Ward specialist. This is a copy of the e-mail we received. This time we will help assemble kitchen kits. We feel really blessed to be safe and happy and are very grateful for our opportunities to help. I don't miss my Red Cross opportunities quite so much.