The Roemer Record: Thanksgiving

It takes three to carve a turkey!

Thanksgiving was nice this year but it was a small gathering. It was just mom and dad, Vernon, Becky, Rachel, Lance, Natalie, Lyla, Melissa, Dallas and our family. I guess that might sound like a lot of people to some but for our family that is a really small gathering. We had fun together even though so many were missing. The nice thing was that everyone did stop by and spend a day or two the day before Thanksgiving or after. So we did get to see everyone. I guess next year is the year where we will all be together and then we will really have a big gathering! I had some paper ornaments for the kids to decorate for Joshua's paper Christmas tree. They did such a good job. They used glitter (lots of glitter) and glue (lots of glue) to decorate their ornaments. I had all their mom's bring school pictures of them so we glued their pictures in the middle. I also made little pockets on the backs and had them write a letter to Josh and put it in the pocket. They all turned out so cute! Josh is going to love to see all the kids on his tree and read their letters. It was fun to all focus together on a project and nice to focus on Josh being a missionary. I really miss him at family gatherings especially but it almost made it seem like he was there because we talked about him so much. I also had everyone write a simple recipe that he could make in Japan. The recipes turned out to be so much more fun than I could have imagined! Leave it to my family to change things up a bit. Some of the kids like Tara's was: get a bowl, now get some cereal, pour the cereal in the bowl, then get some milk and pour the milk on it, then get a spoon and eat it. :) Some of the adults were really funny too, although I can't share Vernon's! :) We even added a few of dad's favorites!!! Now those were funny! :)

Melissa and Dallas trying to draw Josh a Christmas tree

Josh was in Shibuya, which is part of Tokyo. He was in the most densley populated part of Japan. He was with a companion he really liked and was over two English speaking wards. He was hoping to stay in that area for Thanksgiving and Christmas so that he could celebrate them with American families but he was transferred just before Thanksgiving. He was sent to Utsunomiya which is the most northern, non-English speaking part of his mission with a Japanese companion that doesn't speak a word of English! He was also sick and quarantined for a few days and lost seven pounds.He seemed like he was in good spirits though even though he knew it was going to be hard. Wow, what a trial for a missionary mom! It is really hard to just let things happen but it is good because it gets me on my knees and helps me to depend on the Lord more. I know that in the long run this transfer will be a blessing. Sometimes the hardest things in life turn out to be the sweetest. I will put a few excerpts from letters and emails later in the blog.

Abbey and Lyla, best friends and cousins!
Abbey and Lyla really "saw" each other for the first time. They just stared and smiled and then grabbed each others hands. It was SO cute! We got it on video, thank goodness. They are going to get to know each other more and more and want to play together more and more. I am so grateful that Lance and Natalie have Lyla, and we have Abbey together in our old age. Who would have guessed in a million years that Steve and Lance would have daughters together when they were in their forties! I guess these girls had it planned all along! :)

All in all it was a really nice day. I have so many things to be grateful for! I am especially thankful for Steve, our children and the gospel. We are so blessed.