Thanksgiving 2007

The feast was fantastic!


Usually, during Thanksgiving, my eyes are too big for my stomach, so this year I tried a new approach...


Sometimes I wish I could eat at the kiddie table again.


We also had some fun strolling around at a local park...

Service with the Youth

For our combined mutual activity on Wednesday, our Priest Quorum decided to do service at the Bishop's Storehouse.

We had a great time unloading pallets, stocking supplies, packaging nuts, stocking the frozen goods, etc.



We have a great group of youth and we know that they felt the Spirit as they served. They were so happy to do service and actually suggested we do it again, but maybe that was because the storehouse workers provided a bunch of sweets for refreshments =>

Youth Temple Trip

So last weekend, we took our youth to the Washington D.C. temple...visitor center. We reserved a theater to watch the Joseph Smith video and arranged for the missionaries to provide a quick devotional. One of the sisters was Sister Snelson, from Springville, UT. She was all excited to ask me if I knew of any Hoffmanns in Springville, but when I heard her name (and verified it with the name tag...good thing they wear those things in public), the conversation quickly turned to the Snelson mystery. Apparently her and Brooke had always been asked if they knew each other's families, but they had never met. Anyway, the visitor's center trip was great.

We followed it up with some chili cheese dogs and then made our way back home.

It was a great visit and well worth the 4 hour (on a good day - which this was) round trip.

One of our YW brought a friend who was so amazed when she saw the outside of the temple. She kept saying, "wow, wow, wow." And her friend (the one who invited her) kept saying, "you're giving me the chills." I got the chills too. She was expressing how I feel every time I see a temple. But it's interesting how we tend to take some things that really are amazing for granted. I want to be a person who will always say "wow" when I see the temple.

The Answer

Ok, so those were some pretty creative guesses, but none of them were correct. This is one of those funny, embarrassing stories that didn't really embarrass me, but I wanted to build some suspense...

There I was at work, minding my own business as I was changing the headlight bulb in our car on my lunch break. I leaned over (ever so slightly) to get a better look at the headlight from under the hood when I heard this rip. I thought to myself, "what in the world could that have been? I know I'm getting old, but my muscles shouldn't make that kind of noise yet." I continued to work on the headlights until I felt a slight draft. I quickly discovered a large, very large, rip in the crotch of my pants.

So, even though I could feel the hole in my pants, I wanted to know if anyone else would be able to see it. I quietly opened the door to our office and proceeded in stealth mode with my back against the wall (still trying to adopt a normal walking pattern in case someone were to see me) towards the restroom.

When I made it in the restroom, I was shocked at how huge the hole was. Then I had to decide what I was going to do about the giant hole in the seat of my pants for the rest of the day?

Well, I quietly left the restroom and tip toed my way to the supply closet where my McGuyver skills kicked in. I grabbed some clips (meant to hold large stacks of paper) and ninjaed my way back to the restroom. I clipped my pants up, went through a few test scenarios of walking a few steps while I looked at my butt in the mirror to see of anyone would notice 1) the huge hole in my pants and 2) the fact that there was something in my pants that did not belong there - the clips.
I made it back to my office, took an uncomfortable seat for a few hours, shifted constantly, and made sure I was the last one to leave for the day.

By the time I got home to tell Bee about my daily adventure, the clips had all popped off and one was hanging by some thread as it swung between my legs. Bee fell to the ground laughing.

The Question

What is this?
Please submit your guesses by posting a comment.

Stay tuned...

Boston

We were fortunate enough to be able to spend a few days in Boston last weekend! We are very grateful to Sean and Loran for their most generous hospitality!

Walden
The first place we visited during our trip to Boston was Walden. The writer and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau, lived in this small cabin for two years.

His personality was a bit stiff, but at least he posed for a picture.


Walden Woods hosts a beautiful pond surrounded by woods. We saw swimmers, fisherman, runners, boatman, students, and families all enjoying this serene place.

Thoreau kept journals of his thoughts and experiences at Walden and later published work based on his writings. One of my favorite excerpts is from Walden, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived...I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."

Navigating our way around in Boston was made possible in part by the following sponsor...

This was our first experience utilizing GPS and we can testify that it works, even if you miss your turn, and the next turn, and drive slow so you don't miss the next one and people are honking at you...it still works. What a miracle!
This could save marriages (and by that I mean, having to stop to ask for directions).

Downtown
After Walden, we ventured downtown to get a bite to eat and stroll along the "Freedom Trail" which is marked by red bricks and a red line throughout downtown. The trail leads you to many historic sites, like this one.


And these...



They also have tour guides who play Halloween all year round.

We stopped at a popular square known as Faneuil Hall Market Place where there are a lot of shops and restaurants, including this classic...


There are also street performers and other attractions.




After our downtown experience, we ate some dinner and went to the Boston temple.



On Saturday, we met up with Bee's friend, Allegra (aka Legs), and headed back downtown for some more action.



Wicked
We made our way downtown to test our luck at the lottery for tickets to the play Wicked. We put our names in and crossed our fingers and our toes!

We were lucky enough to have our names drawn and we got the last couple of seats for an unbeatable price!

Before we could go to the show, we had to get dolled up...at Macy's!



The Opera House looks small from the outside,

but once you get inside, it's pretty amazing!


We had front row (on the far side) seats so we became really good friends with the Wicked Witch. After the show, we went backstage to say goodbye and she wanted to get a picture with us. We were running late for dinner.....but how can you say no to a witch?


After the play, we went to a local Italian restaurant in North Boston. The place was tiny and so popular that we stood in the freezing rain for 20 minutes waiting for a table.

and it was good!

Then we skipped down the street to a SWEET pastry shop...


They put your pastry in a box and tie it up with a string hanging from the ceiling.

J had to get a Boston Cream Pie....what else?


Bee got a cannoli.
(And in case your playing J & Bee trivia at home, we didn't realize cannolis were real.
We always thought they were just part of a saying, "holy cannoli!")

But real they are...and very tasty too!

Since we saw the play Wicked on Saturday, we figured we should go to church on Sunday to compensate.
The local ward meets in an old boiler factory.

Needless to say, it was a productive 3 hours.

Later, we were able to venture on a private tour of Harvard led by an outstandingly interesting LDS tour guide and Harvard student who spoke at an LDS symposium at Harvard the day before...

The famous gate to Harvard, and the not so famous fire hydrant.

Here are some other pictures from our private tour...





Being the uneducated Historian I am, I didn't realize this was in Boston...

George Washington became General of the American Army under this tree!

The Jetblue Blues
After all the fun, it was time to go home, but what would a perfect weekend getaway be without some familiar trouble with jetblue?

Our return flight was delayed about 3 hours. We spent the time stuck in the airport with an extremely loud and obnoxious Richmond Womens Soccer team.
I watched Curtis play ball and Bee got in some good reading.
We really need to learn to bring something fun to do when our jetblue flight gets messed up.

Ahh, Boston...