Tree's Up

It's the day after Thanksgiving and we have our tree up. At least the one we got from Grandma Ottley. We don't have any room in the house, so we put it up out on the patio. What do you think?
Here it is again after dark, but with a flash - still not too impressive.
Here's that night view without the flash. Pretty cool, huh? We like it. We are well on our way to being into Christmas. In order to get the tree out, of course we had to clean out the garage, so we got that added benefit.

And one of the great things is that although it's outside, we can see it through the dining room window. What a great sight. It kind of makes it almost worth it for it to get dark so early.

So are you wondering how I got these cool shots? I am pretty surprised myself, because I didn't get out my tripod to take them. So here is one of the more "artistic" shots:

Pretty cool, huh?

Brooke in CA

In the midst of providing a Thanksgiving feast for about a dozen people today, Grandma Joanne put together a little video of a great visit we had earlier this month. We had lots of fun that week, and have the photos to prove it. I may put some of my own up later, but here's a few - put to music no less. Grandma's getting very good at this.

My 25 Words

Today in Priesthood Meeting we discussed President Monson's address in General Conference last October, including the story of Jay Hess. Brother Hess was shot down over North Vietnam in the 1960's during the conflict in Vietnam. After over two years in captivity he was allowed to write home, but he was limited to just 25 words or less. Since hearing of this story last October, I have reflected many times what 25 words I would leave to my posterity. My initial thoughts are:

"Follow the Prophets. Come unto Christ. Sing the hymns. Study the scriptures. Love your family. Attend the temple often. Seek light. Receive revelation. Be grateful."

It may require a bit of refining, but there you have it. Nobody who has spent much time with me would be surprised at the first three, they are the key. What a gift it is to live in a time when we have the word of God through His authorized servants. Basically, they tell us to do all of the other things in my list, and many more that cannot be included in such a short list. Every month we can receive the most important education we can receive from the best periodical published - The Ensign. This includes the two bonus issues in May & November. These are high on my list of things I feel thankful for.