A Time For Being Thankful

More and more we see Thanksgiving being pushed to the background by Christmas.  Not the Christ centered Christmas, but the retail oriented one.  No sooner had Halloween ended than department stores began decking their floors with reds and greens, reindeer and snowmen, ribbons and bows.  To a degree I can understand this; Christmas represents an enormous portion of the revenue for businesses.  Black Friday isn't a term meant to describe the color of bruises people get during the sales, but rather the change on the books many retail stores experience of going from being in the "red" to being in the "black" (operating at a loss vs operating in the positive).  Understanding the reason for the push on Christmas doesn't make me like it however.  I feel each holiday should be given its due and not rushed.  I love Christmas music, but not before Thanksgiving.  I find it subtly important to celebrate a season of being Thankful before we celebrate the greatest gift ever given to mankind.

With this in mind I was more than willing to take Thanksgiving off this year when I learned most of my Brothers and Sisters were planning on having Thanksgiving with my parents this year.  I quickly arranged to have 2 weeks off and purchased my tickets home ready to relax and enjoy the special time with Family and Friends.  The past two weeks were definitely filled with lots of both Family and Friends and special memories.  I did even manage to relax a bit after the first few days (I need to remember to not check my work emails when on vacation, I am not so good at letting them go unanswered it would seem).  Unfortunately part of my "relaxation" came in the form of a not-so-fun head cold that pushed its way into my sinuses causing me to spend far more time laying in bed feeling miserable than I wanted it to.  Fortunately I had scheduled two weeks in Utah so I was able to get over the cold before the main events unfolded and was still able to spend lots of time with everyone I had hoped to see while back home.  This year I actually took some pictures!  Thanks to a good friend of mine who gave me several assignments for the trip home I can actually post something other than words.  So for those few who read my blog a special Thanks goes to Bethany for her photograph assignments. 

Here they are in not particular order (I did fail at getting someone in each photo that made the area "special", for some reason I missed that part of the assignment so I guess I wont be getting a passing grade on all of these).

First off my Elementary and High school pictures.  These were a trip down memory lane for me.  It was fun to see how much they had both changed and not changed.  Both have grown over the decades along with the population of this city I call home.

Lehi Elementary, the place my formal education began.  It has changed a bit from so long ago, but the core of it remains.



Finding a picture of my High School that actually resembled the High School as I remember it took some effort.  I had to circle the building till I was able to find the back of the Gym which hasn't changed, the rest of the building seems to be encased by new additions effectively hiding the original buildings behind them. 
 

Next is my home.  The place I grew up in.  Also the place I received my mission call in and where I was when I first learned about the events of  9/11.  This home has also changed a bit on the outside and inside, it is still under construction on the inside as my parents are working on finishing up the living room modifications, so I am limiting this to one picture with an outside view.  I suppose I should note I was alone when I got my mission call and opened it by myself.  No big party as I have seen some families do, that just wasn't me (and still isn't).  I wasn't all that excited initially about where I had been called to serve so I guess it was a good thing there wasn't a big party going on at the same time.



Home.   Different porch, different door, same love and warmth inside.

I was also asked to take a picture of the place in Utah that had the most bizarre story behind it.  I had to think about this one a bit, but then I remember a fateful golf outing experience during my college days.   The picture is of Tri-City Golf Course, approximately where the events transpired.  Me, Bill, and my friend Loren were golfing together on that day.  Bill was having a particularly challenging experience and swung his club around in frustration.  It hit the golf cart's roof support beam, bent around and shot back into his hand cutting and possibly breaking some bones in the process (I don't think he ever went to a doctor to find out).  I have always had a hard time with blood.  It tends to make me pass out, but Bill was on the Ambulance crew and seemed to be Okay, he took off in his cart to take care of his hand and Loren and I continued with the hole.  For a brief moment that is.  I looked up and saw Bill's cart had stopped and Bill was laying on the ground.  I immediately rushed to my cart and drove up to where he was (leaving Loren behind).  He told me he was fine, just experiencing some shock and needed to lay down.  I don't remember what happened after that as my body decided to rebel against me at that point and I promptly passed out.  Loren arrived on the seen to have both me and Bill laying on the ground in various states of distress and not able to really do anything for either of us.  Fun golfing trip for Loren.  I had many good memories of this golf course, this one however will be hard to forget (no matter how hard I try).



Tri-City Golf Course
 

I was asked to take a photo of my favorite temple in Utah.  Fortunately I didn't have to drive far to do so.  This next picture is of the Mount Timpanogos Temple.  It will always be special to me as I was blessed with the privilege of being a Security Guard during its construction and Open House phase.  I got to walk through all areas of the temple, and see it change from being a very nice building to being the House of God.  Jason Libberton is owed a big Thanks for this as he somehow got me included on the Security detail.  Still not sure who he talked to... but Thanks all the same Jason.


Mount Timpanogos Temple on a Rainy Day

 

I have a tradition when I come home to Utah of taking a good friend of mine (and his family) out to eat.  We usually go to a Korean restaurant as he is Half Korean and the food is good.  I wasn't asked to take a picture of this, but am throwing it in anyway.  Loren is missing from this shot, he was home sick this day with the same head cold that seemed to be everywhere in Lehi this November.

Tyler, Nikki, Rachel, Kari, and Becca

Finally I was asked to take candid pictures of my family at the Thanksgiving dinner.  The next pictures are of  many different people all present at the meal.  I will try to add captions with names and such.  I enlisted the aid of my nephews and nieces for some of the pictures, getting us adults to stand still for a picture is so much easier when a cute kid is trying to take the shot verses another adult.  I am very Thankful for a loving family.  Brothers, Sisters, In-Laws, Parents, Grand Parents, Nieces and Nephews.  All of us together under one roof enjoying the wonderful food and company.  This is what makes Thanksgiving special.  No gifts are exchanged aside from the gift of time and the sharing of food, decorations are limited and there aren't many songs for this holiday.  It really comes down to spending time with loved ones and taking a moment out of our crazy lives to be thankful for those around us.  I do also need to mention I have deleted many of the pictures taken by the nieces and nephews that were of... less than flattering angles.   It was fun to see the world as they see it. 

Grandparents Hansen.  I was able to drive up to Idaho to bring them down to Lehi for this special day.

Me and Lexi

Grandma Loveridge with Tonya's family in the background

Takes many hands to prepare a meal for this many people



Heather in the front, Dad in the back (playing with a grand kid)

Lexi

Madi

Mike and Mom

Grandparents Hansen being entertained by Ashlyn

Grandma and Grandpa Hansen



Ashlyn

Kamryn

Jack

Kinz, Steph, and Bill

Lilly



Karsyn and Maddy (Karsyn wanted me to take this picture)

 

I suspect I missed someone on this post, but I tried.  Some of the pictures I could have posted would have gotten me in a bit of trouble with my brothers and sisters (and sister-in-laws).  Candid shots aren't always the most flattering and the world view of a 5 yr old is filled with... well.. buts.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday for me, even with the cold.  I love this family and am thankful to be a part of it.