Thanksgiving dinner

When we were first married the joke in our family used to be the burning toast or the black, smoldering, bread in the oven. Actually she was a religious cook. Every piece of bread she made was a sacrifice or burnt offering! Not so anymore. Mmmm! Thanksgiving was wonderful. In fact, I would say it was the best I've ever had.

Thanksgiving in Tucson

Nancy and I went to Tucson for Thanksgiving and visited Seth, Noelle, and the grandchildren. My grandchildren love me. They think I'm funny. No one else does, but what do I care? We had a great time on our trip and ate too much food. I've decided that diets are for people who are thick and tired of it!

When the children are this age you realize that having kids is like eating half a grapefruit. No matter what you try, you end up with a little squirt! I'm going to suggest to Seth that he put a sign on Little Andy's door: CHECKOUT TIME IS 18. That will set a good expectation. During our visit we went to the park and watched the kids play. Even at 2 you can begin to see what they might be like as adults.

Notice the t-shirt, it says"Fearless." That pretty much says it all. Pay attention to the good advice of others my little friend. It's rough going through life with your contents looking as if they settled during shipping!

Marijuana

I got a notice from Debbie Brinkman at the Littleton City Council. She wanted to let me know that she had introduced a 90 day moratorium on the medical marijuana dispensaries in our quiet little town. Evidently, the medical marijuana locations in Littleton are growing. She said the "code is not specific" and then proceeds to list all the locations. What's happened to our government?

Where's that turkey?

Now where did I put that turkey I bought the other day? With the economy the way it is, I can't afford to misplace one of these. I won't say this has been a trying year, but this is the first Thanksgiving we had a turkey that volunteered! Well, up until now. And last year was not so easy either. Our turkey was sick. All day long it had a thermometer in it.

Exercise

I've been going to the YMCA for exercise lately. One of the guys at the club who walks around the track with me urged me to go to this step class with him. He said it might make him feel better. Ha! I had no idea what I was in for. I don't believe in jogging like that! When I die, I want it to be from an illness! About half way through the class I got confused. The teacher said, "step, cross over, and go back home." But I "stepped and exited home." This put me flat on my back with my legs up in an L. I woke up this morning with a real desire to exercise. So I stayed in bed until the desire went away.

The Denver Broncos

Sunday was not a good day. For the Broncos, football is a game in which eleven men spend hours trying to move a small object a hundred yards. It's the same as the post office! Maybe they should switch jobs. We still have to play the Giants (on Thanksgiving Day), Philadelphia, and Indianapolis. The rest of the games we should lose fair and square.

Nancy's trees

Nancy is making holiday trees. I thought you might like to see what one of them looks like. She does a great job on these and of course having a hobby is making football more interesting for me. Unfortunately, the Broncos don't have a lot on the ball. It's never in their hands!

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Fragments of your dollar

Will Rogers used to say the American tax system produced more liars than golf. The problem now is that there isn't as much left to tax. Fewer people work and businesses don't make as much. There isn't enough left to lie about. If your policies are anti-business, this is the result. Businesses create jobs. At least we'll all have health care. Who will pay for it is a mystery.

Blessed are the young for they will inherit the debt.

Suffering

In The Silver Chair, the fourth book in the C.S. Lewis book The Chronicles of Narnia, Jill is lost in a scary forest. She begins to cry and is very thirsty. As she looks for water she finds a stream and runs toward it. But, lying beside it is a Lion. The Lion begins a remarkable conversation with her and she must now trust him.

CS Lewis said the following words using the mouth of Aslan, the Christ figure, as he talks to Jill, a scared little girl: "I make no promise." Concerning what? The Lion makes no promise that Jill will not suffer. He won't promise that she'll have a better life, more money, no pain, happiness, etc. What does he do? He invites her to drink the water she really needs, and this is fellowship with Him.

I like what SK said, "there is something very upbuilding in the thought that what is said of Christ also holds true of all suffering: what he suffered he suffered once. One must suffer only once: the victory is eternal." I looked up SK's bibliography regarding "what is said of Christ" and found the following; read Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 9:26, 9:28, and 10:10. Take heart Jill, you have a better hope and you're anchored in God who offers all this.

Travel

Sometimes my job takes me to some fun places. Just about an hour or so out of Portland I took this photo of Mt. Hood. Nevertheless, travel isn't all it's cracked up to be. In fact, the last hotel I stayed in was very suspicious. The Gideon Bible was on a chain! And then I remember this place in NY City. On the hotel door I found a placard that asked, "Have you left anything?" It should ask if you have anything left!

More snow

We had another foot of snow on Friday night and Saturday. Here is a photo looking out of the window from Tyler's room. Now that the skies are clear, the weather has really gotten cold. On the way to the YMCA this morning the thermometer in my car said it was 7 degrees. It was so cold I saw freeze-dried coffee hitching a ride back to Brazil. I think it's going to be cold this winter. My next door neighbor Noah just started to build a furnace four hundred cubits long and eighty cubits high.

New GM car

The new General Motors proudly presents its new car for 2010, the Obamamobile. This car runs on hot air and broken promises. It has three wheels to speed it through tight turns. It comes complete with teleprompters programmed to help occupants talk their way out of any violations. The transparent canopy reveals the happy smiles of the occupants. It has an extra power gear for getting off gum. It comes in S, M, L, XL, and 2XL. The 2XL model is pictured below. It won't get you to work but hey, there aren't any jobs anyway. A Company representative commented on GM's new approach, "The Rolls-Royce can't be much of a car. Very few people drive them. So just like our new health care plan, we want something for everyone."

Hunting

Walking near the house the other day, I took this photo of some deer. It reminded me of the conversation I had with Pat the other night while eating moose burgers for dinner. He wanted to know when I was going to go Elk hunting with him. Our conversation reminded me of the photo below and this thought came pouring in, "Could I shoot Bambi's mom?" I told Pat I was a born hunter. Last week I went after ducks, and the decoy got away! Anyway, I told him I would be happy to hunt with him next year. It's my wife I'm worried about. She just bought me a deerskin coat for the hunting trip.

My Father's World

A few days ago we woke up to this at 5:45a in the morning. Looking out the back of the house and seeing such a site reminds me of the eternal. Every natural phenomenon calms me, and the more so the longer I look at it or listen to it. The murmuring of the wind, the alternating song of the waves on the sea, the sighing of the grass, the wind in the pines, the brilliance of the sky, etc., improve with every five minutes... and when I lay under the stars of heaven in my sleeping bag, I see the stars, I don't feel at all alien in this world. It truly is my Father's world. And I am always under my Father's eye.

Big Horn rams

Yesterday, Nancy and I walked up Waterton Canyon for some exercise and witnessed some major headbutting/fighting between these two big horn rams. We were only about 75 feet away at the time. I tried to get a video but every time I turned it on, they waited 5 or 10 minutes before they rammed each other. As soon as I put my camera down, POW! Maybe they had a headache? We stood and watched them for almost 30 minutes. So much for exercise.

And it was all for this. I counted about 6 wives and a bunch of children. Women try their luck. Men risk theirs! You know King Solomon had a thousand wives. That way, the odds were pretty good that one of them wouldn't have a headache.

Ban Ki-moon

Here is Nancy meeting Ban Ki-moon in Alexandria. He considered Nancy's great aunt as a mentor, and never forgot the role she played in his life. He also seemed interested that we have a son who works in Korea.

Media bias

There is a lot of talk about the media bias these days. Carter told reporters on a press bus in Ohio, "You've treated me very well so far." Compared to what? they asked. "To the way you treated Nixon." he replied. How long will Obama get a pass? At least a few cartoonists are stepping up.

Old movies

I just couldn't resist. I like old movies so much, and this was an especially good one.

Grand Canyon

It was about a year ago today I came out of Grand Canyon and back to civilization after a great raft trip with my friends. So I went through my files and found this great photo that Valerie took. I thought you might enjoy it.