This Year For Christmas

A member of the missionary mom group
sent this out with this warning:
"...It's a box of Kleenex poem."

This Year for Christmas

I skipped the sales after Thanksgiving
The thrill just wasn't there.
No pictures taken with Santa Claus,
My decorating has no flair.

His presents are shoes, shirts, and ties,
Two suits and socks...no fun.
I've bought him all white clothes because...
This year I'm giving Christ my son.

I've spent more time in the temple,
Felt strength come from His words.
I've reread November's Ensign,
And my testimony stirred.

Our family prays more frequently.
My tears are quick to run.
Abraham seems closer because,
This year I'm giving Christ my son.

I wonder how those Lamanite mothers,
Gave their sons to war?
Or how the pioneers chose Zion,
Their sacrifice was so much more.

My loss will be his presence,
I'll miss his smile a ton.
For two years we will pray for him,
I'm giving Christ my son.

I stare at his face when he's not looking.
I memorize his eyes, their shine.
He's always hungered for the part of him,
That makes his soul divine.

The stories and lessons he always heard,
His choice and mine are one.
I'll put my faith in God's hand,
This year, I'm giving Him my son.

Past gifts have lost their glitter,
I think I finally understand
Christ's birth should be celebrated
By giving Him a hand.

It's because I know Christ lives and reigns
That all his packing's done.
My gift has taken years to make,
This year...I'm giving Christ my son.

Author unknown

Emilys sings a recitative! (whatever that is?)

My Favorite Podcast

My favorite podcast is "This American Life" by Chicago Public Radio. It's great. Very interesting stuff. Humorous. Just great stories about real people and life. Simply love it. I'm going to try and link an RSS feed. Try it out. Give it a listen. Put it on your ipod. Give it a go.

The Gift of Tongues

Madelyn asked me what the gift of tongues was. I told her that I thought that being able to tie a cherry stem with your tongue was it and that since I can do this, I have the gift. I did say this but only after the real answer. I still think mine is a good one though.

Life for the rest of us.

Emily was right when she said our blog had become mainly about Collin and his mission adventures. The rest of us do have lives. They're just normal busy stuff. Here's a bit about what's been going on. I think Emily mentioned that we were in Santa Monica a few weeks ago for a choir thing for her. What she didn't say was that Rich was involved in a rescue at the beach by the pier. We were sitting there on the beach waiting for Emily's rehearsal to end when I heard what I first thought was a strange sounding seagull. The bird didn't have it's beak open so I looked around to see where this strange noise was coming from. I saw a women knee deep in the water and she was sort of screaming. I wasn't sure if this was a game or what. It appeared that the guy with her was splashing around in the water and grabbing her leg. I wondered if they were playing "shark in the water-I got you" or something. It became evident that she was in distress so I turned to Rich and motioned for him to get up and help her. He jumped up and ran into the water and started helping her drag him to shore. He has plenty of medical and boy scout training and used it. I called 911. The lifeguard showed up after what felt like a long time. About 7 emergency vehicles of various sorts showed up including a helicopter. It was all very exciting. Rich believes that the guy had some sort of seizure in the water. He was sitting up and fine by the time we left which was fairly soon as we had to get Emily. He was still carted away in an ambulance though.
I'm surviving seminary and the club volleyball drive-a-thon which started last week. It appears that Madelyn and Melissa will have one practice at the same time. They're both learning quickly and having tons of fun doing it.
Spencer got glasses and so did his cousin, Nicholas. The audible gasps that we heard when he saw things with his new eyes was very funny! He is, as always, ridiculously funny about everything.
Collin is well this week and told us more about his comp. He is from Rome and the new temple will be about 5 minutes from his home.

The Italian Job

The news from Collin is that he has a new comp. Here are the details from his letter along with a few other funny things.

Elder C. was transferred and my new companion is Elder D. i got an italian companion before Jordan. hee hee. He studied for 12 years to become a Catholic Priest and lived in the Vatican with the Pope John paul and was the Pope's assistant. He got a little vacation before his ordination and 2 missionaries knocked on his door. After they taught him the Book of Mormon, he felt the Holy Ghost and was converted. He has an awesome testimony. Oh, and he can't drive here, so I get to drive now. He knows spanish. And italian, greek, latin and aramaic. Along with english. We went to the turkey bowl in the morning and had fun there. For dinner we went to sister L's house with a bunch of her relatives. We are going there for Christmas as well. She is a very good cook. We totally decorated the apartment and have 2 christmas trees. 1 real, 1 fake. I have more proof besides the belt buckle and cowboy hat that I am serving in east Texas. On Saturday as we pulled up to our dinner appointment, a bunch of people were dressed in camo were hanging out by the front door and a dead buck lay on the lawn. During and after dinner we got to see it strung up and butchered. It was Michael S.'s first deer.