Thanksgiving Weekend

We've been busy this weekend, and it's been so nice having a couple of days off work! I've got several pictures to post, so get ready.

Brief recap:

Wednesday night we went over to Ronnie & Patsy's to peel 42 boiled eggs and carve 3 Greenberg turkeys. And the night wouldn't have been complete without the oven fire we battled...

4 Turkeys?

Thursday was TurkeyDay back at Ronnie & Patsy's. There were about 30 or so family that came. Patsy chased Rick with the sweet potatoes, and caught up with him in his truck... as you can see below. And I think he's still making a face in the next picture at the dinner table.... We had lots of fun.

And here's Uncle Vernon explaining something... about deer. Not really sure,

but isn't he cute?

Ok, on to Friday! Rick and I braved Walmart and Lowe's mid-morning. We missed most of the crowd, but not all. Kind of crazy to get out. The best deal I got was on a paper-shredder I needed for the office. Sorry, no picture here for that.

Friday night was the Bush - Bess family Thanksgiving. We all gathered at Lee & Susan's. Mom has all of those pictures, so I can't post those... We missed Craig & Carolyn (who were in Waco.) But the rest of us enjoyed the company and shared about recent mission trips we had been on. I couldn't help but think Granddad and Granny were smiling down on their grandkids. I sure do miss them.

Saturday Rick and I started the morning off with helping to "hang the greens" at church. Here is Rick up on the ladder putting the top on the tree.

We then raced off to Tyler to meet up with mom and dad. They treated us to a movie "Australia," which I would highly recommend. It's LONG... topping out at over 2.5 hours. And in true epic form, it really could have ended at about 5 different places along the plot line. But it really was very good and well written. We enjoyed it.

Dinner at Sam's Club finished out our evening. LOVE strolling the aisles and sampling the fare. I'm a cheap date, what can I say?

Tomorrow we have plans to head to First Monday - Canton - after church. Oh... and in church tomorrow the first of our Honduras video's will play. It's just a 3 minute teaser... created to challenge our congregation to have a slim Christmas, and give to Jesus' birthday instead of each other. I'm hoping to get a copy of the video to post up on my blog. I have about a 5 second spot in it.

The real video will play on Christmas Eve. That version will have Taylor and Rick, and the rest of the team. I can't wait to see it!

I guess that's enough for now... I'll try and get some pictures of the Bush - Bess Family Thanksgiving in the next few days.

Funnies for Thanksgiving

An afternoon in Ft Worth

Once a month, our church youth group travels to Ft Worth. We take meals, water, clothing, and hygiene items to an area where many of the homeless gather. That's Rick, below in the tan jacket, helping to pass out clothing. After we had given away everything, we packed up the empty boxes, and circled together to pray for those that we had encountered. The hot items this month were backpacks, gloves and coats. One particular man was looking for a denim shirt and undershirt because he was starting a job tomorrow. He thought his pants were clean enough... he just needed the shirts. I hope his job goes well and can provide him the means to get off of the streets. This particular trip was not without its bumps. One man was very rude to one of our teenage girls and said some very terrible things to her. It caused a mix of emotion in all of us. We know that what we are doing is not without risks. We are out of our comfort zones, encountering sites that are very unpleasant. And we are hanging out with people that are marginalized, broken, and poor. Many of them have a mental illness as well. But I believe that God holds them close to his heart. That is why we risk, and that is why we go.

Saturday morning

As you can see, this Saturday morning we are working on our family budget. You'll note the traditional Saturday morning coffee mugs... They bring an element of "stability" to the gruelling task.

Granddad and Uncle Sam

I caught myself thinking of Granddad today. And because I only knew him as a child, my memories are particulary child-like: - His socks were thin and almost see-through. Black with stripes. Like hose. - I don't think I ever saw him without a necktie on. - Candy. Always candy. (He's to blame for my addiction to Almond Joys.) - $1.00 for eating everything on my plate. - $1.00 if I'd jump off the diving board without holding my nose. (Heck, I won't even do that as a grown up!) - Prunes. Don't ask! And... - Uncle Sam. In the picture above, you can see an Uncle Sam bank sitting on the credenza behind Granddad. That's the main thing I remember seeing in Granddad's office here at Oaklawn. Granddad always taught us kids to save our money. And he'd let us put a coin in Uncle Sam's hand, push the button, and we'd watch it fall into his bag (the bank.)

What's really cool is that Rick and I are carrying on two of the businesses that Granddad started, the water company and the cemetery. And all right here in the same building that he officed from. I'm pretty certain that I will always fall short of Granddad's business sense. Sometimes it's hard running a business, especially when I don't really consider myself business-smart. But what I do know, without a doubt, is that he loved me SO much. There's a certain soft spot a girl always has for her Granddad. And since I was the only granddaughter, I like to think he spoiled me more than the boys. Uncle Sam now sits on my desk at the office.

And when I look at him, I am reminded of the values that Granddad believed in: Personal Integrity, Honesty, Financial Savings, Honoring God with all our resources, Being active in church... It almost seems like that generation is gone, and with it are the values they believed in. I think that if we all lived like our grandparents lived, the world would be a better place. I wish I could have one more day with Granddad. I don't think I would want it to be with me as an adult, getting to know him from a grown-up perspective. I'd much rather be a little girl again, sitting on his lap.

Endeavour STS-126

Don't forget to keep up with Endeavour STS-126's mission to the ISS. Launch is tonight at 6:55pm CST. It's cool to follow the mission, live, on www.nasa.gov. You can watch live feed from the ISS as the astronauts perform their tasks. This mission is to complete a huge "home-improvement" project on the space station. Check out the launch blog - it's pretty interesting, if you like this kind of stuff: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/launch_blog.html Godspeed, STS-126!

Weekend, ahoy!

We're sailing into the weekend... and I'm ready for it! Plans for this evening include a dinner-theatre featuring the Henderson County Performing Arts Center's traveling troupe. They are performing a cute musical "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" We've got a table with our friends: Stan and Jan, Tim and Tiffany, and Don and MaryAnn. Tomorrow is... NOTHING. I'm looking forward to an easy Saturday. We do have a funeral scheduled at work, but Dad is covering that. So there's a possibility we'll head to Dallas for a day out. Someone, who shall remain nameless, needs a new pair of reading glasses. It's not ME, I assure you. :) This is a random thought, but I wish I had a picture to post of Rick leaping the shrubbery today. It would be worth some money! We were "power-walking" at lunchtime through the cemetery and he decided to showoff. I was duly impressed with his flight over the Garden of Peace. Maybe I'll get a picture next time.

Sat morning breakfast at Athens Cafe

We spent the night at the farmhouse in Athens. Worked late moving offices around... Breakfast at the cafe starts out our Saturday, and afterwards we will resume the work tidying up our new digs. We've seen several people this morning that we know, but it's going to take say lot of work making Athens feel like home. And while it is close in proximity to our town, it still feels so very far away... I think today is the first time I've had a pang of homesickness, and we haven't even moved yet.

Nothing much, just an update

Well, I just realized that I haven't posted anything in several days - almost a week!

We've just been so busy. Too busy. I've decided that I REALLY don't like living at mock-level speeds.

This week, we have had meetings every single night - all for good causes, but sometimes it gets out of control. I can't wait to have a night at home with nothing to do!

So while I AM at home tonight (Rick's at a meeting) I'm busy preparing for a class that I'm helping to teach about "Financial Freedom." And I'd much rather be curled up in bed reading a book just for fun.

Ok, so what else is going on with the Browns? Well, for starters, we are going to launch a big move in the office tomorrow and Saturday. Rick is moving his office from the back of the building up front where my dad's office was. We're moving Dad to the back (shhhh don't tell him that!) And since Rick is moving, I'm moving my office over next to his, so that we can be closer. Awwwwww, isn't that sweet? Yes, but it's also more functional.

And since I don't really have anything to say today, I'll close with a few pictures from the event last weekend "Red Garter Saloon." It is the annual fundraiser for our Chamber of Commerce, and is loads of fun with dancing, auctions, gaming, etc. We had to depart early this year, because Collin had a mishap at Boy Scout Camp and ended up in the ER. Thank God he's ok... just some minor burns.

Rick and Tim holding up an auction item: Me and Charles Stiff, a dear friend of ours Ronnie and Patsy - Rick's brother and his wife

Movie making

It was "lights, camera, action!" yesterday for us. As you can see, that's our son Taylor under the spotlight in the above picture. Trietsch United Methodist Church in Flower Mound offered to help produce a video for our church highlighting the Honduras mission and the House of Hope. They have an awesome media crew and a very professional studio at their church. Several of us that have been to the House of Hope participated in an interview session on camera for the video. It was rather overwhelming at first. The camera was big and the lights bright. And the room was cold! I was shaking, part from the cold, and part from the nerves. We each had about 10 minutes of "conversation" footage. Once we got to talking with the person conducting the interview, the camera and lights seemed to fade away. For me, once I got to sharing, I felt the renewed "high" that I felt when I was there. All of the children's faces were in my minds eye, and my heart ached more than ever for their needs. The video will weave together our footage from the trip in June, still camera shots from other trips taken, and the interview clips from those that have been there. We are tying this all together to promote our Miracle Christmas Offering at our church. "Christmas is not your birthday" is the theme, and we have accepted the challenge that for every dollar we spend on Christmas this year, we will invest that much in the Christmas Offering for the House of Hope. It's a pretty big challenge. But we're excited about it.