Celebrating Thanksgiving

Hello, family and friends!

*

I hope you all had an excellent Thanksgiving! We sure did. I have a couple of posts full of pictures up for you now. Hope you enjoy looking at them! And I'm sorry it's late - already December and I'm just now posting pictures of Thanksgiving! Oh, dear. :-) Better late than never... isn't that right? :-D

*

Just posting about Thanksgiving brings back such wonderful memories for me, and for my whole family! Such as the CA Celebration with the R family. Or visiting the O's very full house of guests in Guam, or how about a Philipino-American-Vegetarian dinner that we had the next year? (Right, G's? :-) Grammie and Pop-pop were our honored guests in FL, and the K's in Newport, and the H's the next year. And last (but not least!) last year's dessert with the other H family! Each of the memories is such a blessing, and this year gave us another memory, a big dinner at the E's with the Z's! (Hey, that rhymes! And "P's" matches, too! [and that's us, as you all know well!])

*

So, I hope you enjoy the pictures (as well as the captions... ;-) and that you have some great memories of your own!

*

I'll be posting the answer to the last Farm Question (as well as the next Farm Question!) as soon as I can get time.

*

Your faithful webmaster, journalist, photographer, and blogger...

Hannah

As we had been invited to the "E Family's" home for Thanksgiving dinner, we had a little celebratory brunch at home on Thursday morning. I think Abby did a great job on the table setting, don't you? ;-)

The simply adorable hand-print turkey place cards that were a Thanksgiving gift to all of us from Abby.

Mom and Roberta. Isn't that a sweet picture? ;-)

All the "peoples."

Sarah and her friend Aleah

Mom and Dad, enjoying themselves. (Sarah took that picture. Isn't it great!?)

The men had some target practice before dinner, just for fun. Apparently, that is what the real pilgrims did on their first Thanksgiving feast - the men went out and shot, just for fun. Or maybe it really was to impress the Indians... :-)
*
I know that this is a pretty bad picture, but it was really cold outside (though it may not look that way... it was) and so I stayed inside and took all my pictures through the window! :-)

Sistas! (Sarah also took this picture)

Roberta and the piles (and piles, and piles, and piles.... etc.) of dishes - well, what do you expect? There were 25 people! :-)

Joe (Very, very imaginative, I'm sure. Aren't I always saying that?)

Feet!

Abby! (I know this is a red-eyed photo, but since I'm on Dad's laptop and all my photo editing software is on the family PC, I can't do anything about it at the moment! :-)

And now I'll leave you with the "Hannah-Sarah Picture of the Event!"

*

So, how did you celebrate Thanksgiving? :-)

*

Have a splendid day and come back to visit us again real soon!!

Grateful Hearts

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

*

I thought I'd give to you this quote by George Washington that I found on a friend's blog. Hope you have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!

*

"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:

"Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

"And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

"Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

-George Washington

A Post, As Promised

Just like I promised, here are the pictures of "us" in the first snow. Well, I guess they're sort of pictures of us... two of the four are, at least. The others are our cow and barn, as you will see shortly.

*

Hope you're having an excellent day!!

*

Hannah

Sarah... and Wide-Eyed-Dixie

Me. (Very creative title, I'm sure.)

Yes, um... hi, Clover. :-)

The barn. Personally, I think it looks the best in winter time! :-)

*

That's all for now!! Come back again soon!

Farm Question #6

Hey, all!

*

WOW! Can you believe it's Farm Question #6 already?! Time sure flies. And I'm sorry I've been so long between Farm Questions - I think it's been about two weeks...? :-) Okay! Here's the answer to Farm Question #5.

*

Farm Question #5 was...

True or False?

You have to harvest every last thing (berries, fruits, roots, vegetables, and herbs) out of your garden before frost.

*

And the answer is... False!

*

It is indeed true that berries, fruits, vegetables, and herbs must be harvested before first frost or they'll die, however, roots (potatoes, carrots, etc.) can stay in because they are protected by the dirt around them. Carrots can actually stay in the ground all winter, even when the snow falls! It's just a good idea to harvest them because it's a little difficult to go out in the sub-zero temperatures and pick carrots for dinner. :-)

*

As DJ pointed out, in Leviticus 23:22 it says... "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God."

*

So the answer to this question is a double "False" because of both aspects (Scriptural and scientific) of the answer! :-)

*

Okay, now that I'm through rambling about that, here's FQ#6!

*

What is the term for the part of the saddle that "sticks up" from the middle of the saddle? (Tip for locating it - it's just to the left of Mom's shoulder. Mom's in the blue jacket.)

*

(Bonus "points" if you can tell me what type of horse that is by just looking at this picture!)

_

So, if you have the answer, leave it in comment form here, or you can email me if you prefer. Just make sure to put "Blog::FQ#6::11-20-08" in the subject line.

Thanks for playing the Farm Questions!! Until next time,

Hannah

P.S. Thanks and congratulations to DJ for not only getting the correct answer to FQ#5 but also adding some insightful information!

Graduation Ceremony & Following Proceedings

Greetings to all!

*

I have here, as you will soon see, the pictures of Joe's ALERT promotion ceremony!! As well as before and after random shots. :-) I was not there, so I will have to attribute the excellent photography to my dear Mother. (thanks, Mom!)

*

During the nine weeks of basic training, (I am pleased to announce) Joe gained three awards from the ALERT Academy. First of all, a Scripture Memory Award, for memorizing the whole book of I Peter. Secondly, an Endurance Hike Award (that was for the 24-hour hike!). And, finally, Personal Excellence award!! (this means that he exhibited outstanding character qualities, wrote in his journal every day, wrote all the required letters [and more!] and memorized all his verses on time.) May I note that, out of the 60-some recruits that graduated, Joe was among only 14 who were awarded Personal Excellence!!!! We're all SO proud of him!!

*

Thanks for stopping by our blog!! We hope to see you again soon.

*

For the rest of the family,

Hannah

_

For all the parents who had been waiting for nine weeks to see their sons, this sign (on the road to the barracks) stopped them rather abruptly. :-)

Heartbreak Hill. Doesn't look that steep, huh? You just try hiking it with a ton of stuff on your back at midnight! Ask Joe. :-)

Beautiful scenery out there, isn't it? But I don't think the recruits bothered with scenery much! :-)

Joe!

Joe's squad demonstrates some of the skills they learned in the training.

Joe's platoon passing in review. I do so wish I could have been there to see this!
*
Squads each hold six to eight men. Platoons are made up of three to four squads. The whole unit is made up of three (or is it four?) platoons. You can probably email Joe for more information.
*

Unit 40 on the Drill Field.

Recruit Joseph (front and center) gets his awards and is promoted from the rank Recruit to Responder. Way to go, Joe!!

Mom and Dad at the ALERT tower (hard to say exactly what they use it for... it has many uses. Mostly repelling and in-the-air stuff like that.) :-)

Joe by the bunk he slept in for nine weeks! (his was the top bunk) Believe me, he's glad to have his own bed back!

Joe and Ryan - two buddies!

Joe with the person who bossed him around the most during those nine weeks... a.k.a. the squad leader. :-)

Dad, Joe, and Mom - together again!

*

That's all I have on Joe's experiences. For a few more photos and a different view on the experiences, you can visit our friend's blog, too.

*

Ya'all come back now, ya hear?!

Celebrational Happenings

Well, hello again, all blog readers and P family fans!

*

Here we are with photos of the celebration of Mom's birthday. Which, some of you know, I am sure, was on November 7th, and the posting of which was overlooked for some time. So! Here I am now, with pictures and an official report on all proceedings thereunto pertaining. :-) You will notice the absence of our dear brother from these photos, reason being his attendance at the International ALERT Academy Basic Training Program prohibited his attendance. But, happily, he is home again, much to our great relief and immense satisfaction!!

*

So! Have a splendid day and we hope to be honored by another visit from you again as soon as you see fit to grace the web page of our humble blog.

*

Sincerely yours,

Hannah

*

How's that for reporting, hey? All those English lessons paid off!! :-) Thank you, dearest mother! The homeschooling life was difficult and full of trials, yes. But I hope you are satisfied by the outcome (up to this time, at least) and proof of my excellent educational skills. :-)

We took Mom out to dinner on the night of her birthday.

Partygoers!

Yes, Dad. Hello to you, too. :-)

Sarah! What an improper way to eat your fetuccini alfredo! Here...