November 2019

Sat. 2nd--The Stake Young Men and Young Women were gathering in Brenham, TX for a service project to help Hope Rising. This organization works with the victims of human trafficking and uses equine therapy to aid in the healing process. It's a very inspiring place and as the director explained what they do and who they do it for, the Spirit bore a powerful witness to me that God is working miracles through Hope Rising. 

Before I was released from the Stake Young Women, I was involved in helping get this project underway and REALLY wanted to participate. So I let my replacement know and she was awesome at keeping me in the loop. Adults attending had to have background checks and fingerprinting done in order to volunteer. Karcyn and I ended up being the only two from the Caldwell Branch participating. So I reached out to the Greens Prairie ward (the unit we are geographically zoned for) and asked if we could tag along with them. I actually ended up being a fourth or fifth car that transported youth.

It was a beautiful day.

A few people mucked out horse stables and loaded some trucks. The big job, though, was to paint the huge metal equestrian fence. There were several steps involved. First we had to take steel wool and scrape off any loose dirt/debris. Then we had to paint the fence with a brown primer. And then when it was dry, we had to paint the fence a super bright red.

I'm not gonna lie. I didn't think we'd even get all the primer on the fence. Especially because the organization didn't expect as many youth as we had (which happened to us last year when we went to the new food bank) and thus, they didn't have an adequate supply of paint brushes and primer/paint. So a few leaders went into town to buy more. And a miracle happened. Before we had to leave, that fence was painted bright red. It was pretty awesome! As a bonus, Karcyn was able to put the 3.25 hours toward the five required per semester by NJHS.  

*Calvin posing with Emaline Upton--our neighbor and friend from church. Although, the Upton girls go to a different school than we do and we go to a different unit in church than they do. Sadly, our paths don't cross very often these days. Even still, Calvin and Emaline enjoy each other's company--and sometimes they give each other a hard time like siblings do.

*The long-awaited mission reinstatement letter finally came! We were expecting an email for Jake's second assignment in Ohio because mission calls come via email now. But President Sharp learned that all reinstatements and reassignments are sent by letter. We were expecting a little more to the letter, too. Haha! Like an end date, for example. I let President Sharp know it had come (because I had just texted him the day before saying we hadn't received it yet one month after we got word about his reassignment). As President Sharp was getting ready to board a plane from Chicago, he looked up Jake's completion date and found that it was Dec. 14, 2020! Just in time for Christmas and then to head off to college a couple days after that.

Sun. 3rd--JJ wrote a letter to Santa Claus during Sacrament Meeting. That wasn't exactly what I had in mind when he said he wanted to write a letter. 

Thurs. 7th--Seriously? He has to only write two letters for his name. They happen to be the same letter and he still forgets to write it on his paper? *sigh*

*Another mission picture of Jake I saw on Facebook. Yay for technology!

Fri. 8th--Jared and I are able to attend the temple once a month, barring hurricanes or other closures. We had two options in November that would work for our temple date. I suggested we go the first Friday of the month. And if for some reason that wouldn't work, we would still have the second day as a back up. I also knew that my friend, Ruth, hasn't been to the temple in a very long time because of the constant care she was giving to her husband these past ten years. So we invited Ruth and Karole along with us.

This became our third RJ (Ruth and Jenn) Day. :)

We all had a wonderful experience together at the temple.

Riiiiight after Jared took the picture above of me and Ruth, he saw a message come in on my phone. It was from Jake. Saying he needed to talk to me and Jared. It wasn't preparation day for the missionaries when texts are allowed. So it couldn't be anything good. But we tried not to jump to any conclusions.

Once we connected with Jake, we learned he was on his way home from seeing a sleep specialist in Cincinnati. His symptoms started getting worse that week. He said he had an episode of cataplexy for the first time. We were a bit confused. He was diagnosed as not having narcolepsy with cataplexy. He said that the specialist in Ohio explained that if you have narcolepsy as an autoimmune response and not as a consequence of a long illness or head injury, you will have cataplexy eventually. Usually it takes years to develop. But not in Jake's case apparently. The specialist ordered a higher dosage of the meds he was on for the daytime. And recommended a very controlled substance to help him sleep at night. Except that this particular nighttime drug (xyrem) which I've been told is in the same class as the date/rape drug, is clearly not one that Jake can have while on a mission. We don't even want him on it at home. Long story short, we told Jake to give the higher dose daytime med a try and see what happens. He'd know soon enough. And if it didn't work and he had to come home, then so be it. We're proud of him no matter what.

Later that night, President Sharp called. I had texted him after we spoke with Jake on the phone. He had spoken with the Mission President and learned that Jake would indeed be coming home. President Sharp was just as surprised as we were at these latest developments. But he knows that Jake gave it everything he had. And then some.

President Ensign and his wife also called us around 8pm that evening. They wanted to tell us that Jake was an amazing missionary, but just isn't feeling well at all. Pres. Ensign had Jake call missionary medical to find out if the meds that the specialist had prescribed were allowed. They weren't. And we were stunned to learn that the meds that Jake was currently on, the ones he took with him to Ohio, were also not allowed. So Jake would have been coming home anyway as soon as he went to get his refill. You can read more about our feelings and testimony regarding this turn of events recorded here in Jake's last mission email.

Sat. 9th--Karole had wanted to take the family to see the movie "Abominable" but we were never able to mesh our calendars before the movie left the theaters. I heard it was really cute. But there was another movie, "Playing with Fire" that looked funny and something the whole family would enjoy. So we made a date to see that on Saturday morning. Sadly, Cooper had to work. He is a busy boy. We're grateful he has a job he enjoys and a steady income and means to save for his mission. But it does come at the cost of missing out on some family things.

The movie was better than I expected, honestly. I'd definitely see it again. On our way home, we picked up JJ's friend, Scott, and took him back to our house for a play date.

*As part of preparing to enter the Young Men program, Calvin needed to do some service. He really wanted to babysit Cole Downs, from our ward, who also lives in our neighborhood. He's almost three. We've loved watching him grow. I used to babysit him a couple days a week when his mom and dad both worked a couple years ago. I was finally able to talk to Cole's mom about a day that would work for her to have some adult time and we arranged for him to come play at our house with Calvin for a couple hours that Saturday. Cole wasn't so sure about being at our house by himself, but it didn't take long for him to warm up. Calvin LOVED doting on his little buddy. They played outside, they played ball inside. They played with the toys upstairs and watched some cartoons. Cole never cried.

*Jared had just finished his first week at the new medical clinic in Normangee as the solo provider there. It was worse than he thought it would be. While the label of "Primary Care" isn't wrong, because that is a huge umbrella term. The more accurate label would be "Geriatrics." Jared didn't see but one patient under 55 that week. And the elderly patients he saw are very sick and very complicated cases. And a bit of a mess, because the doctor that was there before Jared didn't do squat. Unfortunately, Jared was never trained in this field of medicine. The Primary Care practice that Jared worked at for eight years in Oregon was a very young and healthy group of patients. When the cases became too complicated, the doctor would send the patients to Internal Medicine to continue care with them. Needless to say, Jared was feeling very overwhelmed and stressed and was trying not to panic. He realized that it was just the first week and new changes take time. However, it doesn't take long to realize you're on a sinking ship. Unfortunately, he was placed there because his job was no longer viable at the ENT clinic. Jared was stuck. He was extremely worried about the patients--what if he missed something? What if he did something he thought was right, and it wasn't? Not only did he worry about the patients' safety and welfare, but he worried about his job. Nowadays, if things go wrong in your employment, they get attached to your permanent record. So if Jared left this job, those problems would follow him wherever he went. He wasn't willing to put either of those things at risk. He knew he had to talk to, Tina, who is over the rural clinics. But what would she or the hospital do? They already have an open house in Normangee scheduled for the following week. Jared is good at everything he does, but his super power is definitely in the urgent care setting. He loves it and is most comfortable there. Feeling like we were at a really big turning point regarding Jared's job, I got online to do a search for any urgent care positions available in the College Station vicinity or commutable area. Even though we didn't want to quit his job at the hospital or relocate for that matter, thirteen years into his career, Jared should have a little bit of say in what kind of medicine he feels comfortable practicing. I did a couple of searches before I found a posting that made me stop in disbelief. It was for a PA-C, posted a month ago, looking to fill a full-time position at the Bryan Urgent Care--which is where Jared was going to go to 20 months ago before he decided to try ENT. I was stunned. There WAS a spot for Jared exactly where he wanted to be. He even texted the manager (who loves Jared) to find out if it was a legitimate opening. It was. Beginning 12/1. Jared had some leverage. And we had some hope. But now he had to convince the hospital to move him. 

Sun. 10th--Karcyn and Calvin sharing a bowl of gluten free Asian noodles after church.

*Jared and I left around 2:45 to drive to the Houston Intercontinental Airport to pick up Jake. He was arriving at 4:56 on United. That's the only info I got from the mission president. I found the flight number online. And when we drove into the looooong airport entrance (at least a mile, I swear), I thought I knew what terminal he was arriving in. United was listed in terminal C. After parking and finding a screen inside listing the arrivals, we were about 10 minutes ahead of his arrival time. Except that we learned, in horror, that not only was his flight early, the plane had already landed, it was in another terminal! Ahhhh!! Jake's health was bad enough that he said he'd feel safer if he was accompanied home by a senior missionary. Jake called and talked to Jared on that missionary's phone before he left Cincinnati earlier that afternoon after church. Jared quickly called that number to try and find out where Jake was. The elder told us he already parted ways with Jake and was on his way to his return flight.

We hurried as fast as we could to find an airport worker to tell us how we might get from terminal C to terminal A without going back to parking. Lucky for us there is a small underground subway train that runs between terminals. We rushed to get to the train feeling AWFUL that our sick son had already gotten off the plane and was likely wondering where his parents were.

We hopped on the train and we rode along (at a painstakingly slow pace), making a few stops before we arriving at terminal B. And we still had to go to terminal A. Hopefully he was in baggage claim. As we pulled up to terminal B, Jared shouted, "There he is!" There he was, with all his bags, waiting to get on the train to go back to terminal A. His plane arrived in terminal A, but his bags were in terminal B. He figured we'd be going to terminal A because that's what the arrival screen said and he was right. Except that we intercepted him, miraculously, on the train in terminal B. We were SO happy to see him.

We started the two hour drive back to College Station and on to our Stake President's home so he could release Jake as a full-time missionary. We were grateful to have those couple of hours alone, just the three of us, to talk and counsel, laugh and offer comfort. This was different than when Jake came home from Hungary. He was definitely experiencing some anxiety around this recent decline in his health.

Mon. 11th--But no matter how he feels, Jake is always looking for ways to lift and help another. We had experienced some very strong winds that morning. As Jake and I came back into the subdivision from the grocery store on Monday (also garbage day), Jake told me to pull over so he could jump out and get the garbage cans and recycling bags that had blown into the middle of the road.

*Back in September, I was summoned for jury duty. I dutifully got online to report. They walk you through a series of questions about your eligibility to serve and then they bring up a calendar for the next two months. They ask you to block out the days you absolutely CANNOT serve on a jury. There were only a couple dates. Like General Conference the first weekend in October when we went to Snyder. I also had a girls getaway to San Antonio the third weekend in November. So I blocked out that Friday and Monday. Once I completed the calendar portion, I was given my assignment: Tuesday, Nov. 12th. What?? No! My getaway was that Friday! What if they called me to a jury? Why would they schedule me on the one week I can't even be there for the entire time. Ugh. I'm all about doing my civic duty, but this irked me just a bit. I wouldn't have been as worried, but Monday, the 11th was Veteran's Day and the court wouldn't be open. So that's one less day I would have. And while I was excited about my upcoming weekend, I wasn't the one making the big sacrifices of time and travel by air, etc. like my friend, Natassia. She has kids at home who are home schooled and her husband would have to make special arrangements for that, too. We've had this trip planned for most the year. My heart sunk at the thought that it might get messed up royally.

Monday afternoon, I got an email from the jury services director stating that we were dismissed from reporting on Tues. 12th. HOORAY!!! My prayers were answered!!!

*We had invited our friends, the Prosser/Jensen family from Bryan (also serving in the branch) to join us for dinner. Jared and I minister to Kate and Jared and Cooper minister to the family. We wanted to get to know them better. Unfortunately, Alex came home with strep that afternoon and was unable to be there. But we enjoyed having Kate and the kids.

Tues. 12th--Jake and I were running errands in Jared's "new" car, the Mitsubishi Outlander. It's a 2017 and has a push button ignition. No traditional key. As long as you have the key/fob on your body or near the car, you can unlock and lock the car and start it. Well, I'm not used to this kind of madness. My brain has been wired to not lock the car and close the door until you have your keys in your hands. Except that after we got to the store, I couldn't find the key in my bag anywhere. But I could turn the car on. After looking and looking, it was nowhere to be found. But it wasn't in my pockets either. Bizarre. So I took a chance (knowing Jared might have to come rescue us since he was in town for a meeting). I was able to lock and unlock the doors without the fob. Meaning the fob was somewhere close. I locked the doors back up and we ran our errand. When Jake and I got back to the car, the moment of truth: the doors unlocked! It wasn't until we got home and I turned around to retrieve my bag from the back seat when I saw the fob laying on the floor of the car! I knew it wasn't in my bag! We were really lucky that no one else happened to see it there, or we would have been without a car. It's still very disconcerting for me to not have a key used in the traditional way with this car. It's got me all messed up that I can't even enjoy the convenience of it! Haha.

*This is an oldie, but goodie. I found it on my phone when I was deleting messages. This was from a day when I went to go visit Ruth about a year ago. She had been at the store and when she came home, she realized a bright pink sticker had gotten stuck on her shirt. She got a kick out of it because it says "New & Improved" and she had been walking around most the day with it on her. ;)

Friday, 15th--I headed the Austin airport to pick up my friend, Natassia, who was flying in from Indianapolis for a much needed girls weekend. And then we continued on to San Antonio to do a session at the temple.

This was also D-day for Jared. The day that Jared would be meeting with his supervising physician, who is also the Chief Medical Officer, and other administrators to share his personal and professional concerns about the hospital moving Jared to a rural clinic in Normangee with a very high geriatric population when Jared has never been trained to practice this kind of medicine. There were many valid points Jared needed to make. He needed to voice them for himself and for the record.

As it turns out, however, only Tina, from middle management was there. They have to schedule another meeting with the upper administrator, Mark, his supervising physician, and his peer advocate. Who knew when that would be, though. This was the second time they put Jared off. The message Tina passed along was that he needs to "give it more time." This has happened to Jared's colleagues before. I get that. I do. New changes require an adjustment period. But at the same time, if you are uncomfortable and unsettled, there's a problem. And we found ourselves at a major crossroads. If the hospital wouldn't take action and allow Jared to move to the express care in Bryan, then we would be moving ourselves out of College Station. We certainly don't want to leave. But Jared didn't need this stress and worry. I was really bummed for Jared--all that emotional work up for this meeting that didn't even happen had to be postponed even longer.

I was, however, really grateful to be with my friend, enjoying beautiful San Antonio, a two hour lunch at Kneaders, and the gorgeous temple, inside and out.

It was a beautiful time of day to be on the temple grounds. That time right before the sun starts to set and you can see the lights on the inside. 

It was about a 20 minute drive from the temple to the hotel. And it was right in the thick of rush hour. But we made pretty good time. We checked into our double queen room and then we set out to get some dinner at BJs and just in time for their happy hour prices. ;) When we got back to the hotel, we watched a movie and Natassia autographed a box full of books (Ark Tales) that she illustrated.

Sat. 16th--We slept great the night before. Except at 4am, an alarm started going off. Like a phone alarm. But neither of us had set one. Realizing it was the hotel alarm clock, Natassia reached for it and started pushing a button to turn it off. And then another. And then she started pushing any button she could find. It wouldn't turn off! In mild frustration, Natassia unplugged the alarm clock and put it in the closet. That seemed to do the trick. Haha! I stirred mildly during the whole ordeal.

*Natassia and I didn't have any set plans for our full day on Saturday. Which is saying A LOT. I don't know that I've ever NOT had plans. But it was easy to just go with the flow with Natassia. After a delicious (and free) buffet breakfast at the hotel, we decided to venture out to the Japanese Gardens. Also free. And beautiful! I loved the stone "architecture" that was used around the gardens.

It was such a gorgeous day!

These gardens were home to the biggest koi fish I've ever seen!

Me sitting on a stone bridge.

A selfie with a small waterfall. Pretty miniscule compared to the ones Natassia and I saw in Iceland this summer! She and Richard went in May and Jared and I were there in July. ;)

Looking back toward the entrance.

Back at the big, main structure. This was a popular place. There were people getting family pictures taken. There were teenagers in formal attire for prom or homecoming getting pictures taken. And there was even a bridal party.

*After we spent an hour at the Japanese gardens, we decided to check out the Botanical Gardens. It wasn't too far away, about 7 minutes by car. And only $12 for admission plus free parking. The gardens were currently boasting a BIG BUG display. That's a big spider!

A "feathered" koi fish.

This was a first time experience for me at any botanical gardens and I didn't expect that there would be different sections. Like a zoo. When we first walked in, there were vegetable and herb gardens. Super cool. They had a desert section. They had a cactus and succulent section. They had a rainforest section. There was even an area of the garden that simulated three different geographic areas in Texas. 

That ant perched up on the hill is HUGE. I could walk under it. And like the other big bugs on display, it's sculpted out of different types of wood. 

There was some pretty big furniture too! My feet aren't touching the ground!

Bahahaha!!!

Walking behind a small waterfall in a greenhouse enclosure. Not exactly like walking behind the waterfalls in Iceland, but that's what we thought of.

As we made our way back to the entrance, we strolled through the gift shop. We noticed there were seasoned (dead) crickets on display as part of the big bug theme. I looked at the different flavors, but decided to pass. Natassia came over and looked and asked the cashier a little bit more about them. She, herself, had to taste one as part of being an employee so she could tell interested parties, such as Natassia, what they taste like. She told us it was similar to a shelled sunflower seed. She said the Texas BBQ flavor is definitely the better of the flavors.

That's all Natassia needed to know. She was going to try one and before I knew what was happening, in a haze of peer pressure, I had somehow agreed to try one with her. I gave my phone to the clerk so she could record a video of the experience. Another lady nearby whipped out her phone and started recording us on her phone, too. Haha!

Me trying to get a cricket out of the cup.

It's not as easy as it looks!

Dang. All I could get was a head and Natassia said that didn't count.

Psyching myself up.

Nothing says true friendship like eating a dead, Tex-ified cricket.

Sunflower seed, sunflower seed, sunflower seed.

Me being horrified.

Ahhh! Part of it was stuck in my throat!

Yay! I did it!!

And a souvenir for the whole family so they, too, can take the cricket challenge. :)

*Before we left the hotel, we got a tip from our valet driver about The Pearl Brewery. He said it's near the Riverwalk (though we wanted to try something we hadn't done before) and recommended it for delicious food made by locals that you won't find on the Riverwalk because most the food you find there are from big chain restaurants. So we drove to the Pearl. Parking there was also free!

We ventured over to a plaza area or corner block surrounded by other buildings. There was fake grass in the middle of the square with people laying down, sitting, eating, reading, playing all over...much like the area near the Magnolia Silos. There was a specific building, the Bottling Department Food Hall, that was basically the food court. They had a couple burger places and maybe pizza. I really wanted to try Tenko Ramen though. Jared and I went to a ramen noodle house in Houston and it was delicious. When we looked at the menu, we weren't sure what to order. So we asked what their most popular dish was. And this was it: the Tokyo Shoyu which had: pork chashu, scallion, bamboo shoots, nori, marinated egg and roasted snapper tare. And I don't think I'd do very well living in Tokyo. The greenish brown egg did not look appealing. I never tried it. And the snapper tare...was, wow. Too dang fishy for my liking. *sigh* Darn it. Not the best food purchase. I could only eat the noodles and only part of the pork.

Before we left the Pearl though, we stopped at Lorraine's Bakery. I'm not big into French food. Unless we're talking fries. :) I clearly missed the macaroon bandwagon. But they did have some chocolate filled croissants. So I grabbed two for us to eat Sunday morning before we drove home to church so we could have a bit of food in our stomachs.

I was able to fill up with gas on our way back to the hotel without making a huge detour in a city I'm not familiar with, which was such a blessing. Once we returned, we changed into our bathing suits and headed down to soak in the hot tub. According to Natassia's watch, we walked over 10,000 steps that day. Didn't feel like it. We had a great time, super awesome conversation, and could not have asked for more beautiful weather!

We grabbed a bite to eat at Freddy's for dinner, including ice cream to go, and settled down for the night, watching a movie and having more girl talk.

Sun. 17th--Around 4am that blasted alarm went off again! This time, I grabbed it and put it in the closet. Except as I was walking back to bed, I SWORE I heard it going off. But when I went back to the closet, I didn't hear it. So I walked back to the bed, but I heard it again! Ahh! Was I hearing things? Was it the alarm in someone else's room? Finally, I grabbed the alarm and put it in the bathroom with under the pool towels and closed the door. That oughtta do it!

*When we checked out, we let the front desk know about the ornery alarm clock. And then we set out on our three hour drive back to College Station for Stake Conference. It worked out really well for Natassia because she was able to see several people all at once who normally meet for church at different times. 

Elder Kevin Hamilton was the General Authority who was coming to visit. He also had a special meeting with the Stake Youth Council at 9am and Cooper got to meet him and participate in that focused time with him and nine other youth in the stake. Turns out Elder Hamilton was in South Africa when my parents were and they know each other!

Tues.19--This was the morning Jared was meeting (supposedly) with the hospital administrators to let them know all of his concerns and issues about working in Normangee. In order to be proactive and predicting the hospital's next move, Jared had a couple of interviews lined up. We had already begun looking at homes in other cities. We were talking to Karole about what this would mean for her. We had to be ready. Over the past two weeks, I had fasted, I prayed, we went to the temple, I prayed and pleaded some more. I didn't know what more I could do. But I was at peace. Whatever happened, it would be okay. I still didn't know if that meant things would work out the way we hoped, or if it meant change. I was not looking forward to relocating. Not at all. The worst part, though, was seeing Jared stressed and unhappy. 

Jared texted me an hour after the meeting began to let me know they had wrapped the discussion up. The only administrator there was his supervising physician (also the CMO), Tina (middle management over rural clinics) and Jared's peer advocate. Jared told me later that night that on his way to the meeting he felt prompted to say a prayer before they began. Not a personal prayer. He'd done that already. But a prayer with everyone. He was a little nervous about this request. But he followed the prompting and they agreed. Jared offered a very simple but heartfelt prayer asking that the things that they would be able to share would be the things that needed to be said and that they would be able to feel calm and have clear minds. Wow. I was so touched to know that a) he had a special prompting from the Lord and b) that he chose to follow it. Jared said because of that prayer, he was able to lay it all out and had no regrets. A definite blessing. The Spirit helped him recall every point and concern that's weighed on him that we've discussed over the past six weeks regarding this new job assignment. During the meeting, when Dr. Cheng (CMO) would offer a solution or suggested that Jared isn't the first person this has happened to and it's worked out for them, Jared was able to counter with a respectful response and follow up questions that left them without any answers for Jared. He was able to anticipate their questions. Dr. Cheng was brutally honest and prepared Jared by telling him that it is not likely the hospital is not going to move him after he's only been there for eight working days and after they did an open house and put his name in the paper (which, Jared did not ask for). In the end, Jared said the hospital is going to do what they're going to do and Jared would respect the decision. (Not that he'd stick around for it). However, Jared did ask that they please let him know their decision as soon as possible. Dr. Cheng asked for a week. 

Jared left the meeting and headed to his clinic. He called his peer advocate, Joy, later to find out her take on the meeting. She told him that she didn't feel the hospital was going to budge. They just don't do those kinds of things. She also said that after he left, she told the other two in attendance that if the hospital decides to leave Jared in Normangee, she felt there's a high probability that they would lose Jared as an employee. Which is very true and we appreciated her telling them that so Jared didn't have to.

And then it was a waiting game. But at least Jared had no regrets. As I was waking up the next morning, I jumped out of bed with a thought that had just occurred to me. I told Jared, "I get that the hospital was using your colleague as an example of being moved from an in-town clinic to a rural clinic and that she wasn't happy about it at first, but got used it over time. However, her job is a second income for her household. We only have one income. And it's you. There's a big difference there." Jared smiled and said, "I told them that." I was so surprised. "You did??" He said yes--nothing escaped him. He was right. We had talked about the fact that we are a one income family a month or so ago and hadn't revisited that point before his meeting. I was truly in awe. No matter what happens, we know that the next step is what the Lord wants for our family.

Fri. 22nd--Jared and I had a double date with Alex Prosser and Kate Jensen--whose family serves in the Caldwell Branch as stake specialists like we do. I had seen the previews for the movie "Ford vs. Ferrari" a month prior and knowing Alex likes cars and works on them, asked Kate if that's something they might want to see with us. Kate smiled and said that Alex actually worked for Carroll Shelby in Southern California for about 10 years. Alex told us some epic stories afterwards, including how Shelby gave Alex the jacket off his back! We were really happy to hear Alex enjoyed the movie immensely and the way it was depicted. 

Mon. 25th--The kids had a FULL week of school off for Thanksgiving. Monday was a work day for everyone though. Cooper needed to clean out the car he drives, his locker and put his laundry away. The latter job was extended when he pulled out a full load of laundry from the Mazda. *sigh*

*Jake took Karcyn to see "Frozen 2" for a brother/sister date. They said it was amazing. Jake said the music and story line were even better than the first. Wow. That's a pretty bold statement to make.

*That night, Ruth and I had RJ Day #4--our second craft night at the library. This time, we made gratitude pumpkins. We painted them white and wrote "What are you thankful for?" and then left it blank for our families so they could record their responses right on the pumpkin.

We used chalkboard paint.

We took the stems off and held them by the nail underneath so the paint on the bottom could dry. Which was actually kind of hard after a while.

Then we used the hairdryer to speed things along.

While we waited, Ruth tackled the word jumble on the protective newspaper at her seat. I came up with the word "pecan" but only because I googled it. :) She came up with all the other words and the answer to the riddle. She's SO sharp! We worked on the Sudoku puzzle too, but we didn't have a pencil and weren't as confident using a permanent marker. We got a few numbers placed, though!

Our finished pumpkins! That was actually THE best free-hand letter writing I've ever done. Especially on an uneven surface!

Tues. 26th--I woke up a little later than normal on Tuesday morning, because I could. I wandered out around 7am. Jared was getting ready to head out to work when he showed me this sticky note on our fridge. Whoa!! I don't know if I was more surprised that Calvin actually wrote a note to tell me where he and JJ were or that they were up and riding bikes at 6:30 in the morning. The weather has been so warm, so I'm glad they're out taking advantage of the beautiful day. But still. That's early.

And then I realized why they were up so early. They had a mission. They (along with some other neighbor kids) have been digging in the green space. They're digging for clay and have convinced themselves they are going to make clay bricks and sell them.

*At 9:43am, I received a text from Jared. First was his "mind blown" emoji and then the words "We get to stay in College Station for the time being." It took me a second for that to register and then I replied, "WHAT?! They're moving you??" After Dr. Cheng spoke with the other upper administrators about the meeting he had with Jared the week before, they agreed to move Jared from Normangee to the Bryan Urgent Care. All they asked is that Jared would finish out in Normangee through the end of December to give them time to find someone to replace Jared at the clinic. I was stunned. Jared was floored. We had just witnessed a ginormous miracle. Jared had taken on a modern day Goliath and won. Because he had the Lord on his side. I'm convinced that the prayer he felt prompted to say with the group before they began is what tipped the scales. It was through that power that Jared was able to articulate all of his concerns in calm humility while advocating for himself and the power from that same prayer is what touched the hearts of those in attendance. Especially the CMO who was the one who shared how the meeting went with the other big wigs. Wow! That's all we can say. Gives us MUCH to be grateful for this season. And prayers that it's a smooth transition for Jared. He still has to go through the formality of "applying" and "interviewing" for the Bryan Urgent Care position. But that's no biggie.

*Later that night, we were getting the brine ready so we could soak the turkey in it the next day. Except that I thought I was buying whole peppercorns. Not peppercorns with a grater. So Jared busted into it. Thankfully, no fingers or hands were cut or sliced in the making of this brine.

The brine looked pretty, but smelled even better! And as you can see, we just barely eked out enough space in the pot for all the liquid!! Note to self. It takes FOR.EV.ER. for a brine to cool down to room temp so you can put it in the fridge to chill. Don't start it at 10pm.

Wed. 27th--Ever since my return from San Antonio with Natassia, our microwave has been making a loud thwacking sound every time it's on. Like there's something stuck in the fan. Jake, our resident handyman, was getting ready to heat up some lunch when he decided he was going to investigate this noise. (If he isn't his Grandpa Lee's grandson, I don't know who he is!)

Turns out there was a small piece of paper, a sticker from a part, that had fallen and gotten lodged in the motor fan. He was able to retrieve it and voila!! Our microwave was fixed. Yay!!!

Thurs. 28th--HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! This year, we were invited to a potluck in Caldwell with members of the branch who don't have any other family around to gather with. So we gathered together.

Time to smoke a 22 lb. bird!

Smoked meats--it's an amazing smell!! Look at that turkey!!! I don't think we can ever eat turkey without smoking it ever again.

Karcyn helping slice and dice the apples for the gluten free apple fritters, which, for gluten free, are amazing! People gobble them up!

*As I was loading up the suburban with food to take to the potluck, some guy was walking away from our house with a German Shepherd. The guy must have heard me putting stuff in the truck because he turned around and asked me if I knew this dog. I said no, but the dog suddenly turned and barreled right for me. I thought he was going to jump on me or in the back of the car with our food. I slammed the tailgate shut before he could help himself. And ran to get Jared. I told him there was a loose dog and I needed someone to guard the food. 

Calvin came out too and announced, "It's Mishka!"--the German Shepherd that lives across the street from us. Calvin has taken care of her before. So he and Jared called her to them and they walked over to the backyard to see how she might have gotten out. There were no cars in the drive way. They found that there was a big, muddy hole under the gate. That was obviously Mishka's exit strategy. Calvin was able to open the gate and they got the dog back in, but she went straight for the hole to get out again. Jared used some buckets and such that were nearby to try and cover the hole and we hoped that would be good enough to keep Mishka in. We called our friends to let them know. We certainly didn't want anything to happen to her. 

*On our way to Caldwell. Jake was playing with his new toy, a Remarkable--a digital notepad. He was writing an essay for a scholarship that he needed to submit that day. I was able to edit it for him on our drive. It's a pretty snazzy tool. He's already ordered a lap top for college too.

I'm not sure why JJ was sleeping. If I didn't know any better, I would think the nap was so he'd have enough energy to eat. But he doesn't eat, so that couldn't be it! 

We have arrived!

*Calvin didn't want to sit with us, but there were other kids from other families sitting over there, so I let it go. The boy in the blue to the left of Calvin is Wade. He's the Deacon's quorum president who Calvin interviewed a month or so ago in order to prepare himself to become a member of that quorum beginning in January.

We told Calvin if he was going to take a BIG turkey leg, he had to eat the entire thing. He did a pretty good job!!

*Before we went to the potluck, we drove up the road to my friend, Christina's house. She is my Primary Activities companion leader. I heard she had to make 6-9 pies for Thanksgiving and told her I would make an apple pie so she would have one less to make. I jumped out to deliver it to her. Her two chihuahua dogs were tied up on the front porch. They yipped and barked when I got there. They've seen me before. I was there on Halloween Day when Christina and I did some planning. I knocked on the front door and waited a minute or two. There was no answer. I had told Christina that I would be there around 2pm. So I knocked again. This time I heard voices inside. But no one was coming. I knocked one more time and waited. Nothing. So I turned to head back to the car where I could text her to let her know I had arrived. As I took a step toward the car, passing one of the dogs, it jumped at me and bit me right under the knee. I was so startled. It hurt, but not so bad I was crying. I was shocked more than anything. I've never been bitten by a dog before. That's when the front door opened. It was Angie, Christina's daughter in law. I gave her the pie and told her to tell Christina I'm thankful for her in my life. As I turned to walk away, that same dog, bit me on the same leg, on my calf. Except Angie saw it. She yelled at the dog and asked if I was okay. I told her yes, I would be fine and got off the porch as fast as I could without running or looking rude. As I got in the car, I noticed Christina had appeared, having heard the commotion, I suspect. And we were off to the potluck. As I got to the church, I found myself rubbing the bite spots. This was just under my right knee.

This is my right calf--which has since tripled in size and turned green and purple. The pain didn't last much more than a day. Fortunately, no skin was broken. That was so strange. Getting bitten not once, but twice, by the same dog on the same leg. All I can figure is that he wanted pie.

*I'm not sure how it all started, but Cooper wanted to go see "Frozen 2". So Cooper and Jake (who also invited Calvin) were going to go Thanksgiving evening and invited the Gutke kids (Jacob & Heber) to join them. When talking to Sis. Gutke about it, she asked if Fran could join them. So she did and then I asked Karcyn if she wanted to go again, but she'd have to buy her own ticket. She was cool with that. And then I realized that there were two other youth at the potluck and we asked them if they wanted to go. They said yes, but we couldn't reach their mom. So after a little phenagling, we left Cooper in Caldwell to ride with the Gutkes and we took Wade and Jaxon home (in Lyons about 15 minutes in the opposite direction we came to town in) and asked their mom, Stefanie, if they could join us. She said absolutely. So we all piled back in and went home and they waited 30-40 minutes before leaving again. Jake would have to drive the two boys back to Lyons afterwards, but we're really happy the ENTIRE youth of the Caldwell branch that was IN TOWN for Thanksgiving (plus a Young Single Adult) could go see "Frozen 2" together!

This is a "Calvin Sandwich"--he's sitting between two Jacobs.

A group picture.

Fri. 29th--Despite it being Black Friday, Cooper and I had a date (originally scheduled for Wed. but he had to work) to go get some church clothes for a young man who is investigating the church. He is 13-years-old and comes to church by himself. He's friends with Wade and he's darling. He wears a brown and white striped polo shirt every week because it's the nicest thing he has. He asked to borrow a tie from the young men's president. It's blue and they help him put it on. This young man has been coming to church with Wade since before we came to the branch in August. He bore his testimony at the beginning of November. It was really sweet and touching. The next day, while I was thinking about that, out of the blue, the Spirit said, "You can buy him church clothes." I hadn't even been thinking that he needs church clothes. We love him no matter what. But maybe he would like them. Maybe his parents can't or won't buy them for him. But we can. So we did. I wanted Cooper to join me on this secret mission so he could help me pick out ties and shoes that he thinks would be cool. And then he chose to go to Fazoli's for lunch before we headed home.

Sat. 30th--Saturday morning was the best chance we had to bowl together as a family over the holiday. JJ started styling his hair to look like Jake's. Once it dried, however, it looks more like Ralph Macchio's from back in the day. Haha!

Calvin was trying out some different bowling techniques. He has a really good spin. Jared was helping him hone it a bit.

Kingpin (aka Cooper) was happy to beat Jared by 12 points in the first game. But he was not happy to lose to him by two points in the second game. Haha. Cooper even got the two lanes to the right of their lane opened up so he could bowl his two free "league" games that he gets each day. He was done bowling those before the little kids and I finished our second game. I asked him how he did, he said, "Don't ask." He's pretty sensitive about his scores.

The next thing I know, Cooper's over at the middle table folding laundry with a couple of his co-workers who were on the clock. Cooper was not on duty yet. And that kind of slays me a bit. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to see him pitch in and help at work, even when he's not getting paid to do it. I'm just wondering when or if that will ever spill over into life at home. Because it sure hasn't yet!

*Jared and I went to Lowes to look at microwaves. Two days AFTER Jake fixes our microwave fan, I used it to warm up some food. Except when I took the food out, it was still cold. Thinking that maybe I hadn't done it long enough, I tried again. Still cold. Dang it. What are the odds, that the fan finally works, but the heating element doesn't? We figured a service call would cost as much as it would to replace it. So we decided to cut our losses and buy a new one. Too bad the cost to install it over the range and haul the other one away was almost as much as the actual microwave itself.