What a great weekend! It was so nice to hear that R&R have a contract on their house and that Ryan got home early from his trip. Then it was great to know that Joel is having some success as ward mission leader and gave a talk in church yesterday. Jim will be heading to Tucson this weekend to buy a gently used car, which I hope will be some fun in their busy and stressful life. It's fun to hear about Savannah playing t-ball and Seth playing football and Andrew playing trucks, even though he prefers his trucks to talking to me on the phone :). And Julie and Jim seems to be surviving little Logan's insomnia and getting through school. Last week Laurie called to let me know her angelic week ended on a scary Friday the 13th, when one of her charges got lost visiting another classroom. (Ask her for the details.) Then it's always inspiring to hear of Melissa and Jared and their training program plus having friends to dinner every Sunday. What hospitality! And the posts of baby development are always awe-inspiring.
My most pressing concern right now is preparing a Christmas program for the Young Men/Young Women to perform at 3 rest homes and the church Christmas party. As always, Dad has a wealth of creative ideas - he should be doing it, not me! But it's been fun to get the Christmas spirit early by reading through lots of plays, cantatas, stories, carols and their history, and poems. One story Dad found in the newspaper this week exemplified the Christmas spirit better than anything. Did you read of the Navy SEAL who threw himself on a grenade, saving the lives of 3-4 of his comrades? He was 25 years old. "Greater love hath no man than this..." Being in SD means you get to hear about many military exploits and the amazing heroism of these brave men and women.
I've been planning to join the Blue Star Mothers group in Escondido. A Blue Star Mom is one with a child in any branch of the military. The group supports the troops by organizing postcard/letter drives, care package drives, support for the families, etc. These groups have been around since WWI. There is also the Gold Star Mothers group if your child has been killed in action. During times of war, houses would have a small banner hanging in the front window with blue and/or gold stars representing the number of family members serving/having served in the armed forces. Speaking of World War I, have you read of the most unusual event in military history - the story of the 1914 informal truce between the German and British soldiers on Christmas Eve, when the soldiers laid down their arms and came out to exchange gifts, sing, play soccer? Read about it at snopes.com or just google it! It is amazing!