The Adams Family...snap, snap...: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that I look forward to. I love it because it isn't centered around receiving or giving gifts. I read online the other day that a survey was taken and over 50% of Americans would be just fine with skipping Christmas. Now, maybe some of those people don't believe that Christ was our Savior but I imagine that the majority of them just didn't want to mess with all the festivities. How sad that we get so stressed out surrounding a holiday that celebrates the most important birth on this Earth! I truly believe that if we were to take out the "gifting" of Christmas, that it would be so much more meaningful and yes, much less stressful.

So, moving into our new home just a week before Thanksgiving couldn't be more fitting for our family. It has brought many trials, but those trials could never cover up the big picture of a beautiful and safe home for our whole family. I truly am so thankful for our home.

Today, Hyrum and Levi's classes had Thanksgiving parties at school. If anyone in our family is going to complain about something it is almost always going to be Brigham so I was so proud of him when not one phrase was said of, "That's not fair!"

I didn't get to stay long at Hyrum's party because I was counting money for the PTA but from what I did get to see, Hyrum was loving it all.

Levi's was memorable.

First, let me tell you a little about our school and area. There is only one house between us and the school (love it!) and we are surrounded by rentals (most of them being duplexes). It is a very poor area and unfortunately with all those factors, the combination usually equals crime and people who just don't take care of where they live. That may be stereotyping but I don't see how sugarcoating it really proves.

The evening that David and I moved our stuff into our house young teenagers were driving by, stereos up as loud as can be and screaming out the windows. We joked, "What in the world did we move ourselves into?"

A few years ago, I would have been so disappointed in myself for letting us move into such a neighborhood for fear of my children. But I truly feel that we will be just fine and there is no denying my experience in the temple. I was worried about the surroundings of our would be home and prayed to Heavenly Father just where we should live. I didn't get anything at first. But as I opened up some scriptures in front of me, the answer soon appeared. It was clear that the Lord wanted me to use this as a missionary experience and to just love them. Then the thought came to my mind that I would be the "neighborhood mom" as these young children living around me would know that I was always there even if their parents weren't.

I have not worried a day since that experience.

So, back to Levi's party. The school was built in the 1950's and it definitely looks and smells the part! I have such a sensitive nose that it would be a hard adjustment for me to work there everyday, lets just say that. But I LOVE the people in the front office and from what I see, the boy's have wonderful teachers.

I walked into Levi's classroom and was put in charge of getting the snack/food table ready. Mrs. B had sent out a letter asking the kids to bring healthy snacks....um, I'm pretty sure that Levi and the teacher are the only one's that brought healthy stuff because that table was loaded with crap! I still can't believe that I saw THREE 2 liter pops of MOUNTAIN DEW VOLTAGE on the table. Seriously?! For Mrs. B's sake, I am so glad this party was at the end of the day.

Then we started the games. There were 4 games and only 1 of them did not include junk food, but the kids were in heaven. One of the games was a turkey version of "Chubby Bunny." You put a large marshmallow in your mouth while saying, "Turkey Tom" three times. You keep adding more and more marshmallows until you can't take it anymore. When Mrs. B said we were going to play this game I immediately thought, "Oh no, I can just see one of these kids choking." Little did I know that it would be my Levi! He was in a group of 6 so instead of putting the marshmallows in their mouths one after another, each child put one in his mouth, said "Turkey Tom" and had to wait for all the kids to get their turn of their first marshmallow. With all the goofing around and laughing it took quite some time for it to reach the first child again to get another marshmallow in their mouths. As you can imagine, a lot of white saliva was running down the side of these kid's mouths. The kids started holding their mouths like they were sore for holding them open for so long and Levi was determined to get the most in his mouth.

-A little side-note....Levi is HORRIBLE about taking huge bites while eating. We often have to get onto him about taking small bites and chewing slowly-

So he gets up to 4 marshmallows in his mouth, says "Turkey Tom" and starts jerking forward. We hurry and get him to a trash can, he spits it out and says he is going to puke.